Tariffs squeeze Alaskan businesses that rely on Canadian suppliers

Tariff bill on a US$9,000 shipment

9,100 US$

An Alaska aviation owner expected to pay about US$9,000 for helicopter parts from Ontario, then received a second bill for US$9,100 in tariffs.

And us?

Canadian products worth about $1 billion a year go to Alaska, from refined petroleum and food to lumber and machinery. Alaskans can't easily switch to US-made alternatives when tariffs raise the price.

The owner of an Anchorage skate maker says he can't tell Canadian customers what they will owe: "It feels like we're sending our skates into the great unknown."

— Paxson Woelber, Ermine Skate

The squeeze has become an election issue in Alaska's US Senate race, where most polls give Democrat Mary Peltola a slight lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Americans vote in the midterm elections on Tuesday.