Trade War Percolates between United States and Canada

Canada is by far Montana's largest foreign trading partner—and the relationship is especially important to agriculture, energy, mining and transportation.

Montana exported about one billion dollars in goods to Canada in 2025. That represented about 47 percent of all Montana goods exports.

In fact, Montana sells more goods to Canada than to its next several foreign markets combined.

The largest categories of Montana goods going to Canada are agricultural products, minerals and metals, and energy products.

Agriculture accounts for about 42 percent of Montana's exports to Canada.

One of the largest individual categories is live animals, worth about 274 million dollars. Montana also exported approximately 46 million dollars in cereals, 39 million dollars in vegetables, 17 million dollars in agricultural machinery, and about 12 million dollars in animal feed and food-processing residues.

Minerals and metals account for another 26 percent of Montana's exports to Canada. That includes about 172 million dollars in ores, slag and ash.

Energy products make up approximately 17 percent of Montana's exports to Canada, including about 154 million dollars in fuel oil.

Montana also exports stone, cement and other mineral products, machinery and transportation equipment to Canada.

So the trade relationship isn't just about grain. It involves Montana ranchers, farmers, mining companies, energy producers, manufacturers and equipment dealers.

And a large amount of that trade moves through Montana's northern border.

The Sweetgrass border crossing is Montana's largest international land port.

Federal transportation statistics show that in 2025, about 17-point-8 billion dollars worth of freight trade moved through Sweetgrass.

That included approximately 251,200 truck crossings and 13,400 rail crossings.

The freight was divided between imports and exports. About 57 percent of the value was Canadian goods entering the United States, while about 43 percent was U.S. goods moving into Canada.

The average truck wait at Sweetgrass was about six minutes, according to the federal data.

The leading commodity at Sweetgrass was potash and grain—another indication of the importance of agriculture and fertilizer to the cross-border economy.

And Sweetgrass isn't the only Montana crossing handling Canadian trade. Trucks and rail shipments also move through ports farther east and west along Montana's 545-mile northern border.

Montana's transportation system is closely tied to that trade. Interstate 15 connects Sweetgrass with the rest of Montana and the national highway system, while rail lines provide another important route for bulk commodities.

There has been some decline in border traffic.

A Montana Free Press analysis of federal transportation data found that during the first 11 months of 2025, the number of full shipping containers crossing Montana's northern border by truck or rail fell 21 percent from the record level recorded during the same period in 2024.

The decline comes as trade between the United States and Canada has become increasingly complicated by tariffs and uncertainty.

That issue has become even more important this week.

The United States has imposed 50-percent tariffs on roughly 20 billion dollars worth of Canadian goods, including products ranging from agricultural goods and honey to furniture, clothing, cement and hockey equipment.

Canada has announced plans for dollar-for-dollar retaliation beginning September 8.

President Trump has also threatened additional tariffs on Canadian automobiles and auto parts beginning next year.

For Montana, the stakes are significant because Canada isn't simply a neighboring country—it is the state's number-one export market.

Any disruption in cross-border trade can potentially affect Montana farmers and ranchers selling products north, businesses buying Canadian products, truckers and railroads hauling the goods, and communities whose economies depend on traffic across the border.

And for Northeast Montana, the Canadian connection is particularly important because agriculture and transportation are major parts of the regional economy.

The bottom line is that billions of dollars in goods move between Montana and Canada every year—and the Sweetgrass crossing alone handles hundreds of thousands of commercial truck and rail movements.