On the American side of the downtown border bridge linking Calais and St. Stephen, several dozen residents, city leaders and elected officials earlier this month lined up for the opening ceremony of the International Homecoming Festival.
Now in its 52nd year, it's a dayslong celebration of cross border friendship and camaraderie, with events on both sides of the St Croix River.
Behind an American Legion color guard, they march onto the bridge.
A delegation from St. Stephen, accompanied by a kilted bagpiper, walks out to meet them.
In the middle of the international bridge, the two groups merge into one.
The tagline of this year's event: "We hug it out."
Brian Cornish is a council member from St Stephen.
"Whatever happens in politics, doesn't happen in Calais and St. Stephen," he said. "We still love the American people, and hopefully they do us too. Simple as that."
But love alone may not be enough for Calais businesses to keep their Canadian clientele.
Since President Donald Trump rolled out 25% tariffs on many Canadian goods in March — and Canada responded with reciprocal tariffs — monthly border crossings into Calais are down about a third compared to last year.
That's in line with a statewide trend, and the loss is rippling across town.
At Johnson's True Value Hardware store in Calais, Calvin Walker stands in front of an enormous riding lawn mower.
"This mower right here is a commercial mower. This sells for about $12,000," he said. "This is like the Cadillac of all mowers."
Walker works in sales. Until a few months ago, he estimates about a third of his customers were Canadian, mostly coming in for big-ticket items like mowers, grills and kayaks.
That was before the tariffs.
Walker said he has offered discounts to try to entice Canadian shoppers, but the stream of cross-border customers has slowed to a trickle.
"I mean, I don't believe these tariffs are good for any of us in this border communities, or any of the border communities in our country for that matter," he said.
Like the majority of voters Washington County, Walker said he voted for Trump. But he's concerned about the long-term impact of the president's trade policy.
Across Calais, the loss of Canadian shoppers is being felt unevenly.
Several grocery and retail businesses said sales are down anywhere from 10% to 35% due to fewer Canadian shoppers.
A couple downtown restaurant owners, on the other hand, said they haven't seen much of a change at all.
Calais mayor Marcia Rogers says it's actually Canada's reciprocal tariff that is having the most direct impact locally, because it discourages New Brunswick residents from bringing goods back across the border.
"Retail businesses, it's hurt more than our restaurants, because obviously they're not bringing something back," she said.
That's sent retailers such as Heather Henry-Tenan scrambling to make up the difference.
"We did a lot of quick pivoting, right? What else could we do?" she said.
On a recent afternoon, Henry-Tenan stepped into the package hub — a small warehouse filled with cardboard boxes at her family business, C & E Feeds.
"It looks like a lot of packages here, but I'm telling you, this is empty," she said.
She said she typically serves more than 10,000 Canadian customers, who can have their parcels delivered here to avoid the high cost of international shipping. Then they come pick them up in person.
But when the tariffs hit, Henry-Tenan said revenue dropped 50% almost instantly. So she added a garden supply center and an online store to try to reach more customers. That's helped make up for much of the business that she lost, though she said it's still below pre-tariff levels.
Across the river in St. Stephen, during the morning rush at the downtown Tim Hortons, there are signs that the President Trump's trade war is taking a lasting toll on Canadian customers.
"We took such pride in our St. Stephen and Calais, Maine relationship, and it's really hurting that relationship," said Rose Mitchell, a pre-K teacher in St. Stephen, while having breakfast with a group of friends.
Mitchell said she used the cross the border twice a week or so to go shopping, mostly for classroom supplies, sometimes for clothing.
"As the tariffs go up, of course I'll still go for gas," she said. "But probably nothing else."
As shoppers and business owners alike grapple with new trade war economics, Calais Mayor Marcia Rogers said Calais and St. Stephen have made it through sharp declines in border crossings before, in the aftermath of 9/11 and, more recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've been partners, family members, neighbors for two centuries now, and we will make it through this," Rogers said.
Federal administrations come and go, but the cross-border friendship between the two communities, she says, isn't going anywhere.
