AUGUSTA, Montana — When Lynn Kenyon heard talk of a looming 25% tariff on goods from Canada, the Realtor, shopkeeper and owner of Outlaw Women Saloon in Augusta got in touch with her painted scarves supplier north across the border and put in a bulk order.
Alberta artist Renee Gould makes silk scarves with Western scenes in a modern, art deco style that go for $70 Canadian on her website. There’s a password-protected portal for wholesale purchases. Kenyon stocked up ahead of the threatened start of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods Tuesday.
“She was trying to get over the border and bring stuff before they went into effect,” said Kenyon. “It just raises prices. Because they'll have to charge us more and we'll have to charge them more.”
That’s what happened when the Trump administration allowed the planned tariffs to go forward at midnight.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is nearing the end of his time as prime minister, retaliated with matching 25% tariffs on U.S. goods exported to Canada. It’s the first concrete action after weeks of escalating comments and political jabs across the border.
“We don't have to respond to the taunts,” said former Canadian conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a Feb. 10 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “We have to be smart and stand proud for who we are. Don't take the bait.”
Slow Wobbling Action
The world's largest fishing lure is located in Lacombe, Alberta. It flashes in the sunlight by the Len Thompson Pond at the end of Len Thompson Drive.
In Lacombe and beyond, Len Thompson remains a fishing lure legend.
“He believed that the slow wobbling action which antagonized game fish into striking could be created with a more intricate combination of shape and weight,” and this belief led Thompson to invent the spoon lure in 1929, according to his company’s website.
Brad Pallister runs the Len Thompson company now, picking up where his great-grandfather left off. That means he imports raw materials from the United States, then exports fish spoons to the world. Could the new opposing tariffs tangle his company’s bottom line?
“I'm choosing not to worry about it until I need to worry about it,” said Pallister, who conceded Monday that, “All of our products are made in Canada with American components. That means that my raw materials will be more expensive for sure.”
Spoon lures manufactured by Len Thompson include the “Holy Mackerel” and the “Wonderbread Glow” (a spoon lure with the same color scheme as the packaging for Wonder Bread). The “Canadian Edition” is painted with the Canadian flag.
These lures are manufactured with materials imported to Alberta from Minnesota, New York and several other states.
Will anglers one day soon curse their sticker shock when they stock up on spoons? Pallister hopes not.
“We love our American friends,” said Pallister, expressing a shared bewilderment among Canadians about why Canadian goods are targeted with a 25% tariff, while Chinese goods were hit with a lower 20% tariff.
“Our biggest competitor as an industry is offshore manufacturing — Chinese-made lures,” said Pallister. “A lot of Canadians — we're just so confused” about why the tariffs are happening at all.
The world's largest fishing lure stands as a tribute to the Len Thompson fishing lure company (now Thompson-Pallister Bait Co. Ltd.), in Lacombe, Alberta. The company depends on imports from the U.S. to manufacture its line of fishing lures. (Len Thompson) 
The elegant painted scarves by Alberta artist Renee Gould. (Renee Gould) 
The “Canadian Edition” model spoon from the Len Thompson lure company is a proven partner in an angler’s quest for success. (Len Thompson)
Cold Beer Diplomacy
Rexford, Montana, is a charming hamlet in the pines just 7 miles south of Montana’s border with Canada. The community with fewer than 100 residents has always relied on its cross-border relationships with nearby towns in British Columbia.
Rexford’s original townsite sat along the banks of the Kootenai River. Then in the 1970s, the river was dammed to create Lake Koocanusa — a mashed together combo name inspired by the river and two neighboring countries.
The U.S. and Canada teamed up to build the reservoir, where today recreational boaters motor over for the scenery and a few cold ones at the Frontier Bar in Rexford, Montana.
The watering hole near the water functions like a cross-border social club.
Janny Goff, general manager of the Frontier, which displays the motto, “Where the pavement ends and the West begins,” said the main thing the bar imports is customers.
At the Frontier these days, Americans and Canadians continue to tilt pints together in harmony as American and Canadian flags fly outside, Goff said.
“Our customers are primarily from Calgary and Alberta and western B.C.,” she continued. “And yes, we think they're like us.”
“They do drink American beer,” said Goff, acknowledging those sales could dip if a trade war fully erupts.
That’s because some customers drop into the Frontier while on shopping trips to the nearby town of Eureka, Montana. With tariffs, it’s unclear if shoppers will still make the trip.
Montana’s 545-mile border with Canada is the longest in the U.S. and Eureka is a major node in a chain of border communities stretching between Idaho and North Dakota.
Canadians make up about 8% of Montana tourism, according to a 2023 University of Montana report. In cities like Great Falls, in the north central part of the state, Canadians account for around 20% of incoming visitors.
Alberta artist Renee Gould will travel to Great Falls to show her fine art paintings as part of the upcoming Best of the West Art Show March 20-23.
Lynn Kenyon, who sells Gould’s Canadian-made scarves in Augusta, didn’t know if Gould would be hit with tariffs when she brings her paintings across the border.
“She's a great artist,” said Kenyon. “Her art is my logo for my bar.”
Gould’s paintings depict classic western scenes with landscapes, horses and wranglers — all in the subject matter tradition of Montana painter Charlie Russell. Only in Gould’s paintings there’s a wind farm in the background or power lines cutting across the landscape.
One painting depicts a cowgirl with her arms crossed. It’s titled, “She’s Not Bluffing.”
It’s priced at $1,270 Canadian. With a 25% tariff, that’ll be $1,587.50.
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
