WASHINGTON — As Canada waits for President Donald Trump to follow through on imposing hefty tariffs on goods in February, Vermonters are bracing for the impact on their state’s economy.
Democratic Senator Peter Welch heard these concerns firsthand during a roundtable with his constituents on Monday in St. Albans, Vermont. His open dialogue included local business owners, farmers and state lawmakers who explained the impact that the 25% tariff threatened by Trump could have on their communities.
“One [concern they expressed] is that the tariffs are extraordinarily disruptive, and will threaten jobs and their profit margins. Number two, they say that whatever the tariff is, the only way they’ll be paid is by the consumer, so it’s going to increase prices,” Welch told the Globe in an interview. “It’ll increase our electric rates in Vermont and increase the cost of the products that these manufacturers are making.”
Advertisement
Welch said tariffs could disrupt markets and worried about their impact on the cost of electricity and agriculture in Vermont.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
“We get much of our power from Hydro-Québec, so if there’s a 25% tariff, that could add 25% to your electric bill overnight,” Welch said.
He added that the manufacturing industry could take a hit on products such as the Concept2 rowing machine which is manufactured in Morrisville, as well as the equipment for maple syrup evaporators.
Advertisement
Vermont imports roughly $2.6 billion annuallyfrom Canada, its largest foreign trading partner, according to Connect2Canada. Energy, agriculture, equipment and machinery are the largest industries.
“There’s real-world consequences that are immediate that will affect jobs, companies and people in Vermont,” Welch said. “You could find that similar group of people in any state in the country, whether they voted for Trump or Harris, and they would say the same thing.”
“There’s a shared goal with Trump in that we all want a strong economy,” Welch continued. “Trump believes that the use of these tariffs will make us stronger, but what I heard today is they’ll make us weaker.”
Trump reiterated his threat to reporters on Friday, saying there was “nothing” Canada, Mexico or China, which Trump said will also have tariffs imposed, can do to head off the implementation.
Advertisement
Kendall Wright can be reached at kendall.wright@globe.com. Follow him on X @k_wright4.
BARRE, Vt. (WCAX) – Voters hit the polls across the country on Tuesday, weighing in on everything from high-stakes political races to municipal funding.
In Vermont, towns looked to their residents to approve a myriad of projects.
Across the state, Vermont voters considered ballot items pertaining to flood mitigation, infrastructure projects, and a new career center.
After a full workday and an evening of volunteering at the Barre Community Justice Center, Becky Wigg took to the polls.
Advertisement
“I moved here five years ago during the pandemic and really found my community,” said Wigg.
She voted yes to Barre’s $2.4 million flood-resilient housing project and the $3.3 million new public works building, which will be built out of the flood plain.
“I voted yes for the bonds because I believe in Barre. I want to live in a thriving community where everyone has a safe place to live, an affordable place to live, and we have the public services and resources that we need,” said Wigg.
Barre’s unofficial election results show both ballot items were approved.
“Really transformational projects, these are generational things that we’ve been trying to solve, and I’m very, very pleased that the voters showed their confidence in these projects and approved them,” said Barre City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro.
Advertisement
The Hinesburg Record reports that bond issues of repairing two flood-damaged bridges and installing a new well were approved.
Brighton approved their $9.6 million bond to upgrade the town’s wastewater system. Cabot approved spending a quarter million dollars on flood mitigation.
Plainfield’s request to borrow $600,000 as part of a $9 million project to build 40 new homes failed.
And so did Berlin’s bond to form a four-season rec center, as reported by the Times Argus.
Also on central Vermonters’ ballots was the option to build a $149 million new technical education center.
Advertisement
Central Vermont will need to pool results from different towns to find out if the career center will happen. They expect the results on that to come out on Thursday.
The 54-year-old from Chittenden County lives with a disability. When she needed better health insurance, she said her doctors recommended Vermont Blue Advantage, a type of Medicare provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield that could offer her extra benefits and reduced costs.
She’s been on the plan for five years, she said, and it covers all her frequent doctor visits and monthly prescriptions.
But she’s going to lose that insurance soon.
Advertisement
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont announced Oct. 1 that it would drop Medicare Advantage coverage in 2026, leaving the thousands of Vermonters like Meyers scrambling to secure new plans before the turn of the year. Vermont Blue Advantage covers over 26,000 people in Vermont, the company told the Burlington Free Press, and has more complete coverage than traditional Medicare, including dental work and prescriptions.
The company, which is paid by the government to run the program, says it costs too much. The “Vermont Medicare Advantage market is unsustainable for Vermont Blue Advantage to be able to offer reasonably priced and affordable products to serve as an alternative to traditional Medicare coverage,” Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont said when announcing the plan.
Got a minute? Please take our quick reader survey to help us work for you
That’s been the national trend, with Medicare Advantage plans whittled down across many states. But for a low-population place like Vermont, the disruption for people is magnified.
A big problem with choosing a new Medicare Advantage plan is that there just aren’t many offered in Vermont. The same day Vermont Blue Advantage announced its cut, UnitedHealthcare did the same. United, itself one of the largest purveyors of Medicare Advantage plans across the country, serves almost 8,000 Vermonters, the company told the Free Press.
Advertisement
Medicare Advantage plans in Vermont
As of September, over 51,600 Vermonters were insured by a Medicare Advantage plan, and over 168,000 people were eligible, government data shows.
Advantage plans are run by private companies but funded by the federal government. They are for people 65 and older or who have a disability. More than half of U.S. residents eligible for Medicare Advantage are insured under it, according to KFF, a national health care reporting and research outfit.
Vermonters skew under that trend at 34% for 2024, KFF reported. But the number has been rising. A decade prior, only 7% of eligible Vermonters used an Advantage plan.
Even so, the options are slimming. Insurance plans shuttering has become almost an annual tradition in Vermont. Two Advantage plans — operated by MVP and WellCare — folded this past January.
Advertisement
Come next year, the only option for those seeking an individual Medicare Advantage plan is Humana, which serves Bennington, Caledonia, Essex, Orange, Windam and Windsor counties, or less than half the counties in Vermont.
People losing health insurance feel ‘abandoned’
Larry Mindell of Williston said he and his wife signed up with Vermont Blue Advantage after MVP cancelled its coverage. He said they feel “abandoned” by the companies and worry this may only be the beginning of a sharper downturn.
“I say ‘abandon’ because that’s what it feels like, and it’s happening to us for the second year in a row,” Mindell said.
Mindell has been working with an insurance broker to find a new plan, but that’s not an option everyone has.
Some were able to be proactive in changing their plans. The Vermont Treasurer’s Office announced Sept. 11 that starting next year, retired teachers receiving health insurance from Vermont Blue Advantage will be covered by equivalent plans from HealthSpring.
Advertisement
The change will impact over 7,000 retirees and beneficiaries in Vermont, says the Treasurer’s Office. The decision came after Vermont Blue Advantage proposed a 50% premium increase in July, and it proved to be a good one as Blue Cross Blue Shield pulled the plan altogether just a few months later.
Other people were not prepared to lose their insurance.
Frankin County resident Barb Fichter has been living in Vermont since 2022 and said it took her a few years to find an Advantage plan she was happy with before choosing Blue Cross Blue Shield’s offering in January 2024.
Now, she’s back to where she started.
“It’s so disconcerting to wade through alternatives, and I fear I may just be on regular Medicare with no prescription drug coverage or dental coverage,” Fichter said. “I’m going to have to weigh out which things I’m going to have to give up because I can’t afford the costs or co-pays.”
Advertisement
When is Medicare open enrollment? Special enrollment if you’re losing coverage?
The annual open enrollment period for choosing new Medicare plans runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. There is a special enrollment period for those who will be losing coverage, allowing them until March 4 to find a new plan.
But as the current plans end by Jan. 1, 2026, people will have a gap in coverage if they wait to sign up for a new one.
Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.
