Maple syrup makers face uncertainty amid Canada and China tariff chaos

Small jars of this season's maple syrup show the variation in hue from day-to-day at Judd's Wayeeses Farms in Morgan, Vt., on Friday, April 11, 2025. AP Photo/Robert F. BukatyMORGAN, Vt. — Making maple syrup in New England’s fickle spring weather can be an unpredictable business. Now President Donald Trump’s ever-changing tariff policiesare adding anxiety about an industry that depends on multinational trade.“Any kind of disruption with our cross border enterprise, we feel it,” said Jim Judd, a fourth-generation sugarer who owns Judd’s Wayeeses Farms in Morgan, Vermont. “It’s uncertain enough making maple syrup.”Judd, who has been making Vermont’s signature product since the 1970s, says multiple countries contribute to each container of the sticky sweetener. Stainless steel fixtures used connect sap lines and boil the liquid into syrup can originate in China. Packaging often comes from Italy. And the vast majority of equipment is sold by Canada, which produces about four-fifths of the...