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

(CNN) — 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.

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.

‘Between Friends’

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.

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