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Chill in the air: Canadians in Florida cancel visits as tensions with U.S. snowball

Alana Holmstrom snaps a selfie in March 2017 with her daughter Kate Wentzell and husband Devin Wentzell at one of their favorite beaches, North Gulf Shore Beach in Naples.

Although most Canadians would admit to being the equivalent of "Minnesota nice," some are deciding to forgo traditions when it comes to their sibling down South — and they're making no apologies.

Alana Holmstrom treks from Canada to Florida each year, staying for weeks at a time with her parents in Naples. But this year, her family — including her husband and 8-year-old daughter — are seriously considering traveling elsewhere.

Alana Holmstrom smiles for a photo with her daughter Kate Wentzell in April 2018 at Keeywadin Island while doing the Eco Tour with Pure Naples. "It's our second time doing it and we absolutely love going out there and learning," Holmstrom said.

Many Canadians who live or visit Florida fear a trade war due to the increasingly strained relations with the U.S., with some deciding to boycott U.S. goods and vacations.

"I love Naples and it feels like a second home, but it’s hard to visit when tensions are high," said Holmstrom, who originally was from Kenora, Ontario. "It’s more the principle of not going down. We are Canadians ... we don’t fight with anyone."

Holmstrom and her family now live in Fort McMurray, Alberta. They have been visiting Naples for eight years, but before that, they vacationed in Mexico for almost 20 years.

"Unfortunately, I feel that the president is creating unnecessary tension," Holmstrom said. "Why, I don’t know. I scratch my head to understand why he does the things he does or says. I’ll reserve my opinion about him, as it’s not polite."

More:Trump's insults, tariffs inspire Canadians to organize boycott of U.S. goods

Trump insults prime minister

As President Donald Trump left the Group of 7 meeting of industrial nations in Quebec on June 9, he tweeted about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him "very dishonest and weak" for pushing back against tariffs.

The G-7 Summit is the annual meeting of leaders from the United States and six of its main allies, but the two-day meeting ended amid a trade dispute among leaders over Trump's imposition of tariffs.

Canadians boycott U.S. goods, vacation elsewhere

Debbie Mernaugh-Crick and her family have visited Florida every spring break for the past 10 years, including Orlando, Madeira Beach, Sanibel Island, New Smyrna Beach and Cocoa Beach.

This year, Mernaugh-Crick and her family — Toronto natives — were planning to spend the winter in Phoenix. But since her family planned to drive, they would end up spending a considerable amount of tourist dollars in each state they pass through — something Mernaugh-Crick hopes to avoid. Instead, they are considering vacationing in Costa Rica for five months.

"Many of my friends and I are trying our best to buy Canadian," Mernaugh-Crick said. "The trigger for me was when Trump and his sidekicks started attacking Trudeau personally. You just don’t speak that way about another head of state."

More:Trump's team accuses Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of stabbing him in the back

Mernaugh-Crick joins a growing number of Canadians who are deciding to boycott U.S. products and visits. Canadian magazines are currently circulating “boycott Trump” lists and “buy Canadian” lists, Mernaugh-Crick said.

Canada is the U.S.' second-largest trading partner — right behind China. U.S. goods and services trade with Canada totaled an estimated $673.9 billion in 2017, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The U.S. is Canada's biggest trading partner, and has imposed tariffs on Canadian lumber, steel and aluminium. 

"They talk about (the boycott) all on social media," Mernaugh-Crick said, including the use of hashtags such as #BoycottUSA, #BuyCanadian and #VacationCanada. "It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the next few months."

Nathalie Landry was born and raised in Montreal, but moved to Fort Pierce and Port Saint Lucie to be a teacher. She moved back to Canada two years ago, but still visits Florida frequently.

"We never thought we'd be in a trade war with the U.S.," Landry said. "So people are definitely talking."

Landry said Canadians are worried about losing their jobs, especially in the steel industry.

"These are people most vulnerable at losing their jobs," Landry said. "And so these tensions and trade wars are frightening for those in perilous manufacturing jobs that depend on a strong economy."

Canadians fear trade war with U.S.

Ann Elliott hails from Stratford, Ontario, but lives in Gainesville during the winter.

"I find it very strange that Trump is verbally attacking and criticizing leaders like Trudeau and praising dictators like North Korea’s leader," Elliott said. "Canadians are very upset by Trump's recent attacks."

Elliott said U.S. and Canada relations have been fine for as long as she can remember, up until this point. She said she worries that new tariffs on both sides of the border could have long-term impacts on the economies of both countries.

"I fear things will get worse until Trump changes his attitude toward Canada," Elliott said. "Canadians do care about their neighbors down south."

Millions of Canadians still visit U.S. each year, despite unfavorable exchange rates

Nearly 3.48 million Canadians visited Florida in 2017, up 4 percent from 2016, Visit Florida announced. Overall visitors to Florida totaled an estimated 116.5 million in 2017.

In Lee County, nearly 640,000 people visited internationally, with Canada and Germany being the top contributors, according to the 2017 annual visitors report.

"It is consistently one of our top foreign markets," Lee County public info specialist Janet Wilson said.

Collier County had 18,600 Canadian visitors this year from January through April, which doesn't include snowbirds.

Page 7 of the 2017 report shows the number of visitors from Canada staying in paid accommodations and how it is consistently one of Florida's top foreign markets.

Exchange rates have caused the number of visitors each year to decrease, Collier County Tourism Director Jack Wert said.

The Canadian dollar is worth 75 cents of a U.S. dollar, making it less favorable for Canadians visiting the U.S.

"Obviously their dollar doesn't go as far here in the U.S., so we aren't much of a bargain," Wert said. 

Trump describes America as a "piggy bank that everyone keeps robbing"

Trump called for an end to tariffs and trade barriers at the G-7 summit in Quebec June 9. Trump told reporters that "The United States has been taken advantage of for decades and decades," he continued, describing America as a "piggy bank that everyone keeps robbing.".

Canada, Mexico and Europe were angered by the high steel and aluminium tariffs and are planning retaliatory measures.

"I think Americans feel that Trump is protecting these jobs by putting America first, and we get that as Canadians — but America needs us too," Landry said. "We export a lot to the U.S. But I'm not sure Americans feel like they need us."

Trump said if it gets as far as a trade war, then the U.S. would "win that war a thousand times out of a thousand."

"American people in general have showed lots of support towards Canada, so I think Americans generally appreciate us," Landry said. "The president does not represent what Americans feel about us."

More:Canadian PM Justin Trudeau calls U.S. tariffs 'totally unacceptable' and 'an affront' to Canada

"Too much made of tensions"

Meanwhile, Randy Swanson of Gimli, Manitoba — an Icelandic community just north of Winnipeg — thinks that "too much is being made of tensions."

"It’s unfortunate that the president seems focused on a trade deficit that doesn’t exist," Swanson said. "Sure, some items have tariffs that should be looked at. But numbers show Canada buys more goods and services from the U.S. than vice versa."

Swanson owns a house in Fort Myers, and lives there almost half the year with his wife.

"It’s unfortunate that the president doesn’t seem to understand how integrated our economies are already," Swanson said.

As far as trade practices go, Swanson said, only time will tell.

"The U.S. economy is doing extremely well, so it’s puzzling as to what jobs are being lost any more," he said. "(Trump) talks about how many jobs are being stolen on the one hand and yet how great the economy is, how low unemployment rates are ... just seems weird."

Swanson spends most of his summers in Gimli or 10 miles south where he and his wife keep their boat. This year, Swanson and his wife will spend time in Minneapolis; Edmonton; and then a couple of weeks in Portugal.

"We have great friends in Fort Myers, love them all, and understand that the United States is far more than any one person," Swanson said.

USA Today contributed to this story.