U.S. gas station owner in border city sees fewer Canadian customers

Metatube

Mike Hill, the owner of a gas station in the border city Blaine, Wash., says he's seeing a drop in Canadian visitors because of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada. 'Nobody wins out of this,' Hill said.   »»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: http://bit.ly/1RreYWS  Connect with CBC News Online:  For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: http://bit.ly/1Z0m6iX Follow CBC News on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3TnHioe Follow CBC News on Twitter: http://bit.ly/1sA5P9H Find CBC News on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1WjG36m Follow CBC News on Instagram: http://bit.ly/1Z0iE7O Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3leaWsr  Download the CBC News app for iOS: http://apple.co/25mpsUz Download the CBC News app for Android: http://bit.ly/1XxuozZ  »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.

Transcript

00:00This trade war has been a major source of stress for small business owners.

00:03One of them is Mike Hill, a gas station owner in Blaine, Washington, for more than 30 years.

00:09It was once frequented by Canadian travellers, attracted by cheaper gas prices.

00:13I want to give you some perspective.

00:15A litre of gas in White Rock, BC, so just across the border, is $1.85 a litre.

00:21But at Mike's gas station, it costs $1.58.

00:25So that is 20 cents cheaper a litre.

00:28But now he's struggling to see customers.

00:30And as you saw, Mike joins us this evening from that gas station.

00:35Mike, in good times, how much does your business depend on Canadian customers?

00:41Yeah, about 80% of my customers are Canadian customers.

00:47We call locals.

00:48White Rock, South Surrey customers are locals.

00:51And it's just kind of a rough deal on these border towns when things like this happen.

00:579-11 was terrible.

00:59COVID was terrible.

01:00And this, we get hit a lot harder than most towns.

01:04And I believe the gas savings are still the same.

01:08They can save anywhere from, like you said, 20 cents a litre.

01:11It's about $0.75 to $1 per gallon you can save.

01:16So if you've got 20 gallons, you save $20.

01:19US.

01:21Yeah, yeah.

01:22Even with the weaker dollar, the weaker Canadian dollar, the savings are still huge.

01:27And so, again, in normal times, I know people would, because I live in Vancouver,

01:31people would be heading down there to pick up a few groceries and definitely fill up with gas.

01:37So when this tariff war came into effect, did you see the impact right away?

01:43Within like four or five days, you know, it was pretty quick.

01:48It made, it really frustrated the Canadians.

01:52I understand it's, the world's frustrating right now.

01:56But I think the Canadians are, they're hurt, you know.

02:02And it's, I don't know what to do.

02:05We get caught in the middle of this mess.

02:07And it's hard.

02:08You go 10 miles south of here, everything's fine because they all buy gas.

02:13We get, anything we get coming through here is just people going to Canada.

02:19And a lot of people come across and go back.

02:22We still have a lot of our locals, I say, from White Rock and stuff that come down.

02:27They still, but just the volume, we probably lost 45%.

02:31And it's rough.

02:34It is right now.

02:35Yeah, 45% of your business, you're down that much in the last few weeks.

02:41So if this continues, what does that mean?

02:44Are you going to have to lay off people, reduce hours?

02:47What's going to happen at your gas station?

02:49Well, I don't know.

02:50It's hard.

02:50I always get these questions asked, right?

02:52And never been in this situation.

02:54It's like, well, we were in it with COVID somewhat.

02:58You know, it's like a whole new, I think we're just kind of sitting back right now,

03:02seeing, hoping this thing lasts for another week, if, or a day.

03:07And with BC getting a new premier in there, I don't think anything was going to happen

03:13until he got in there anyway.

03:15So it's just, it's a no-win situation.

03:19And, you know, nobody wins out of this.

03:23It's that.

03:25We get a lot of people, though, from across the border that still come by gas,

03:30but not, you know, we're down 45%.

03:33I understand.

03:35So let's finish with that then.

03:37For our viewers in Canada, including a lot of people in British Columbia,

03:42what's your message to Canadians?

03:45We love you.

03:49We're caught up in this mess.

03:51Sorry that all this is going on.

03:54And we're down here.

03:57We've been waiting to get you guys back here.

04:01And it's just, we're caught up in this mess.

04:07My message to Canadians is, hey, don't let one,

04:12one big issue ruin a whole life of Canada and the U.S. doing great together, you know.

04:22And we got one issue now, let's talk it out instead of having a crazy war or something.

04:27It's nuts.

04:28So my thing to Canada is, we love you and we want to see you here.

04:31And you're pretty much my, you know, your South Surrey is pretty much North Blaine.

04:38But that's pretty much what I got.

04:41Well, we see the Canadian flag behind you sometimes when you move.

04:44It's just, you know, a sign of how close Blaine, Washington and South Surrey

04:51and White Rock, British Columbia feel.

04:53Thank you very much for speaking with us.

04:55Mike Hill is the owner of Hill's Chevron gas station

04:58just across the very real border in Blaine, Washington.

Category

Transcript

Recommended