His shop straddles the US-Canada border. A historic friendship is crumbling on both sides.

Courtesy Louis Patenaude

Canada said it had been attacked. The US said it had been ripped off for years.

And on the exact border between the two, Louis Patenaude had boxes to sort. In the throes of a heated trade war, Half-Way House Freight Forwarding was still open.

Patenaude’s business is a simple one, made possible by a geographic quirk. One end of his three-story building is at 228 Dundee Road in Fort Covington, New York. The other end is at 8777 Route 132, Dundee, Quebec. A thick black line painted across the floor shows where Canada ends and America begins.

Turns out, it’s convenient to have Patenaude’s place nearby if you’re Canadian and want to buy something that only ships within the US. Or if you want to avoid a jumble of shipping fees in favor of Half-Way House’s low rates, usually no more than $20.

That convenience is only possible thanks to decades of free trade, friendship and mutual trust. The Half-Way House is one of the more literal examples: Its structure is older than the current border itself. Patenaude, 65, has roots on both sides. For many of his customers, that’s how its always been.

But like the building’s chipping paint and 100-year-old clapboards, that historic relationship is falling apart. Trade talks between Washington and Ottawa ended abysmally in late August, spurring a new wave of tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of consumer goods.

President Trump quickly slapped 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian products. He also threatened to double tariffs on Canadian cars and parts to 50% starting January 1 and signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”

Canada said it would double duties on US steel and aluminum to 50% starting September 8. It also announced tariffs on paper products, construction materials, home appliances and agricultural products beginning this month.

“The new US tariffs are designed to hurt and divide us,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said.

Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images

Patenaude’s small operation isn’t at the center of some of the most contested industries. If he loses business because everyday items get too expensive, he can’t do much about that, he said.

Still, Patenaude’s family has walked boxes from one corner of his building to the other through multiple bouts of uncertainty. And he’s convinced that these trade partnerships, baked into everything from heavy machinery to mundane trinkets, will be hard to suddenly unwind. The more likely outcome is people get fed up with government, he said.

“Everything that’s happening is all political,” Patenaude said, “as far as I can see.”

Most of what comes through the Half-Way House are old car parts, knickknacks, Walmart packages and “a lot of crap from Amazon,” Patenaude said. He’s gotten tractor pieces and engine transmissions and will accept just about anything.

“It’s basically full-blown commerce,” Patenaude said.

Patenaude said he expects some customers will stop ordering things they merely want but don’t need, especially when it comes to items long-covered by free trade agreements. Everyone who ships to the Half-Way House still must declare their items at a customs office about 100 feet away. That’s where they could feel new tariffs the most.

Economists broadly agree that companies and consumers pay the lion’s share of tariffs, not foreign countries. Some of Patenaude’s customers have been asking how much of a hit to expect. With so much changing, he says he doesn’t “even have a clue.”

Communities along the border could be less susceptible to the sweeping rhetoric of the trade war, said Joseph Steinberg, an expert on international economics at the University of Toronto. Big headlines, heated language and calls to “Buy American” or “Buy Canadian” may resonate more with people who don’t see these relationships up close.

“These are people who are not going to change that part of their lives because of this trade conflict,” Steinberg said, “unless, god forbid, they’re forced to.”

Rising prices could be the catalyst. In March 2025, Canada imposed 25% counter-tariffs on a slew of U.S. goods. May research from the Bank of Canada found prices for those items rose about 6 percent more than non-tariffed goods. That meant about a quarter of the counter-tariff rate showed up in retail costs.

Prices generally went back down to pre-tariff levels about three months after the levies were removed. But prices also depended on how bad retailers thought the trade war could get.

“Announcements about tariffs — even those not directly targeting Canada — can trigger rapid price adjustments by affecting how long retailers expect tariffs to last,” the Bank of Canada found.

Patenaude’s building goes back more than 200 years. In the 1960s, Patenaude’s grandfather bought the place and ran it as a hotel. Patenaude’s father, Paul Maurice, later took over.

At times, Paul Maurice paid business taxes for the Dundee Line Hotel on the Canadian side, plus school and land taxes in both countries, according to “Between Friends/Entre Amis,” a book gifted from Canada to commemorate America’s 200th birthday.

Paul Maurice eventually turned the space into a bar known as the Half-Way House. The operation closed in the 1990s, but some 20 years later, his friends encouraged him to make use of the lucky address and start a freight-forwarding shop, Patenaude said.

Now, the Half-Way House has 3,000 customers who make the trek as often as needed from Ottawa, Montreal and any number border towns. It has a modest website and a Facebook page that lets customers know if the driveway hasn’t been plowed or it’ll be closed for an American holiday. One time, Patenaude asked his online following for help finding a customer who needed to come get his stuff already.

Patenaude could grow the business even more; getting a customs broker license would let him clear goods himself. He said he could probably “making a killing” charging additional fees and shipping packages far beyond the border.

But that won’t be him. The Half-Way House needs too many repairs, he said. And it’s up for sale.

Two parcels. One in New York, one in Quebec. $350,000 each.

路易斯·帕特诺德供图

加拿大称其遭到攻击。美国则称其多年来一直被剥削。

在两国交界处，路易斯·帕特诺德还有一堆箱子需要整理。尽管贸易战正酣，但“中途之家货运代理公司”依然照常营业。

帕特诺德的生意很简单，这得益于一个地理上的巧合。他那栋三层楼房的一端位于纽约州科文顿堡邓迪路228号，另一端则位于魁北克省邓迪镇132号公路8777号。地板上画着一条粗黑线，标示着加拿大和美国的边界。

事实证明，如果你是加拿大人，想买一些只能在美国境内发货的商品，那么帕特诺德的店就在附近就非常方便了。或者，如果你想避免各种繁杂的运费，选择Half-Way House的低价服务（通常不超过20美元），那这里也是个不错的选择。

这种便利得益于数十年的自由贸易、友谊和互信。“中途之家”就是一个更直观的例子：它的建筑历史比现在的边界线还要悠久。65岁的帕特诺德在边界两侧都有着自己的根。对他的许多顾客来说，情况一直如此。

但就像这座建筑斑驳的油漆和百年历史的木板一样，这段历史悠久的关系正在瓦解。华盛顿和渥太华之间的贸易谈判在8月下旬惨败，引发了新一轮针对数百种消费品的针锋相对的关税战。

特朗普总统迅速对价值约200亿美元的加拿大产品加征50%的关税。他还威胁称，从1月1日起，将对加拿大汽车及零部件的关税提高一倍至50%，并签署了一项行政命令，将安大略湖更名为“美洲湖”。

加拿大宣布，从9月8日起，将对美国钢铁和铝制品征收的关税提高一倍至50%。此外，加拿大还宣布从本月起对纸制品、建筑材料、家用电器和农产品征收关税。

加拿大总理马克·卡尼表示：“美国的新关税旨在伤害我们，分裂我们。”

科尔·伯斯顿/法新社/盖蒂图片社

帕特诺德的小作坊并不位于竞争最激烈的行业中心。他说，如果因为日常用品价格过高而导致生意下滑，他也无能为力。

尽管如此，帕特诺德一家还是多次在动荡时期将箱子从他家大楼的一角搬到另一角。他坚信，这些贸易伙伴关系渗透到从重型机械到日常小饰品等方方面面，很难突然瓦解。他说，更有可能的结果是人们对政府感到厌倦。

“在我看来，现在发生的一切都是政治性的，”帕特诺德说。

帕特诺德说，中途之家收到的东西大多是旧汽车零件、小摆设、沃尔玛的包裹，还有“一大堆亚马逊的垃圾”。他收到过拖拉机零件和发动机变速箱，几乎什么都收。

“这基本上就是一场全面的商业活动，”帕特诺德说。

帕特诺德表示，他预计一些顾客会停止订购他们只是想要但并非必需的物品，尤其是那些长期以来受自由贸易协定保护的商品。所有向“中途之家”发货的顾客仍然必须在约100英尺外的海关办公室申报他们的物品。他们最有可能在那里感受到新关税的影响。

经济学家普遍认为，企业和消费者承担了关税的大部分，而不是外国。帕特诺德的一些客户一直在询问预计会受到多大的影响。由于变化如此之大，他说自己“完全没有头绪”。

多伦多大学国际经济学专家约瑟夫·斯坦伯格表示，边境社区可能不太容易受到贸易战中铺天盖地言论的影响。那些没有近距离接触过这些关系的人们，或许更容易被耸人听闻的标题、激烈的言辞以及“购买美国货”或“购买加拿大货”的呼吁所打动。

斯坦伯格说：“这些人不会因为这场贸易冲突而改变他们生活的这一部分，除非，天哪，他们被迫这样做。”

物价上涨可能是催化剂。2025年3月，加拿大对一系列美国商品加征了25%的反制关税。加拿大央行5月份的研究发现，这些商品的价格上涨幅度比未加征关税的商品高出约6%。这意味着大约四分之一的反制关税最终反映在了零售价格上。

关税取消后大约三个月，价格通常回落到关税前的水平。但价格也取决于零售商对贸易战可能恶化程度的预期。

加拿大银行发现，“有关关税的公告——即使并非直接针对加拿大——也会影响零售商对关税持续时间的预期，从而引发价格的快速调整。”

帕特诺德的建筑已有200多年的历史。20世纪60年代，帕特诺德的祖父买下了这栋建筑，并将其经营成一家酒店。后来，帕特诺德的父亲保罗·莫里斯接手了酒店。

据加拿大赠送给美国以纪念其建国 200 周年的书籍《朋友之间/Entre Amis》记载，保罗·莫里斯有时会为加拿大境内的邓迪线酒店缴纳营业税，此外还要缴纳两国的学校税和土地税。

保罗·莫里斯最终将这处空间改造成了一家名为“中途之家”的酒吧。帕特诺德说，这家酒吧在20世纪90年代关闭了，但大约20年后，他的朋友们鼓励他利用这个幸运的地址开一家货运代理公司。

如今，这家“中途之家”拥有3000名顾客，他们从渥太华、蒙特利尔以及众多边境城镇前来，根据需要频繁往返。它有一个简洁的网站和一个Facebook页面，用于告知顾客车道是否尚未清理积雪，或者是否会因美国节假日而关闭。有一次，帕特诺德还向他的网络粉丝求助，希望找到一位急需取回物品的顾客。

帕特诺德的生意还可以进一步扩张；如果他能拿到报关行执照，就可以自己清关了。他说，他或许能通过收取额外费用和将包裹运往国外来“大赚一笔”。

但他不会接手。他说，中途之家需要太多修缮，而且它正在出售。

两处房产。一处在纽约，一处在魁北克。每处价值35万美元。