President Trump's new 50-percent tariffs on Canadian goods are not only putting strain on the nations' relationship. It's also taking a toll on Louisiana tourism economy.
The state's chief tourism officer says the White House's latest move could deal another big blow to the state by keeping Canadians away.
"It's about 40 percent of our international market, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser said of Canadian tourism in Louisiana. "We've been struggling to get our market back in Canada ever since the President (said he) wanted to make it the 51st state."
Nungesser told WWL's Tommy Tucker that Trump's latest tariffs against Canada will prolong Canadians' holdout on visiting the Pelican State.
Still, Nungesser says he's doing what he can to attract visitors from the Great White North--and their money--to Louisiana.
"We have a great relationship with Canada," Nungesser said. "We always have. So we're going to continue to market there and keep those doors open. It'll come back. It's just going to be a challenge."
Nungesser says he continues to lobby for Louisiana in Canadian markets in hopes of attracting visitors from Canada, but he notes those efforts work only to a certain degree.
"We starting to get some of them back, but not to the extent since those comments were made," Nungesser said. "We had gone up there and gave away Tabasco ice cream in the train stations. (We) had some dinners with the travel agents, and they just were hellbent on: we're not sending people back to America until he's out of office or until he's said he's sorry."
According to Nungesser, Trump's trade war with Canada will only serve to hurt Louisiana's tourism economy by keeping Canadians away.
"Every time these tariffs come up, we feel like that's going to prolong the Canadian market coming back as strong as it was," Nungesser said.
