May 6, 2025
A 25% tariff on Canadian imports has left Montana farmers in limbo and worried about their livelihoods, given Canada is Montana’s largest trading partner.
“Many of our farmers, their closest supplier or their closest buyer is from Canada,” Walter Schweitzer, president of Montana Farmers Union (MFU), told NBC Montana.
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“And they’ve been receiving letters telling them they don’t know if they’re going to be able to honor their contracts this year because of the tariffs.”
Now Schweitzer’s union is taking legal action and supporting a proposed bill — The Trade Review Act of 2025 — that it hopes will offer some tariff relief.
‘Decades to rebuild’
According to the U.S.Census Bureau, Montana exports more goods to Canada ($869 million annually) than its next seven largest foreign markets.
Of those, 39% are agricultural such as live cattle, dried legumes and barley.
Meanwhile, Montana imports $6.8 billion in goods from Canada each year. In 2023, it imported $411 million in agricultural products, including canola oil, dried legumes, mustard seeds and wheat.
“Farmers and ranchers have invested decades in developing reliable markets for our products,” Schweitzer said in a statement. “Overnight, these random tariffs have destroyed markets that will take decades to rebuild.”
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While his union supports “strategic” tariffs, Schweitzer said President Donald Trump’s tariffs don’t fall in this category. He said billions of dollars are at stake for Montana’s farmers and ranchers; crop prices are already falling.
The MFU is joining members of the Blackfeet Tribe in asking a U.S. District Court judge for a court injunction to stop the implementation of tariffs on Canada.
It is also supporting a bipartisan bill currently before the House Ways and Means Committee: The Trade Review Act of 2025,
The Northern Ag Network says the bill aims to “bring stability and accountability to U.S. trade policy by reestablishing limits on the president’s ability to unilaterally impose tariffs without the approval of Congress.”
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How the Trade Review Act could help
If passed, the Act would require President Donald Trump to notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing or increasing a duty on imported goods. It would also require an analysis of the economic impact of any such action.
Schweitzer said the authority to impose tariffs should reside with Congress “because it provides a forum for public debate and input and ensures the benefit outweighs the harm.”
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Any new tariffs would expire after 60 days (unless the tariffs passed a joint resolution of approval) and Congress could terminate tariffs at any time (through a joint resolution of disapproval).
The Act could provide a way to review — and potentially overturn — tariffs that negatively impact agricultural exports. It could also create a possible pathway for legislative pushback, resulting in smarter, more strategic tariffs (or none at all).
By requiring congressional approval, it could reduce the volatility that farmers are currently experiencing with on-again, off-again tariffs. Stability is key for farmers, since they make long-term production decisions based on trade outlooks.
And, it could help to preserve export markets and possibly prevent retaliatory tariffs from trading partners. While Canada is Montana’s largest trading partner, Montana also trades with China, Mexico and several European nations, all subject to tariffs.
The executive branch has “overstepped its constitutional and statutory authority on these tariffs,” MFU’s Schweitzer said in the statement. “Montana farmers and ranchers can’t afford any more uncertainty or any more financial stressors — especially not random tariffs.”
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Vawn Himmelsbach is a veteran journalist who has been covering tech, business, finance and travel for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, Metro News, Canadian Geographic, Zoomer, CAA Magazine, Travelweek, Explore Magazine, Flare and Consumer Reports, to name a few.
