On a warm March weekend in the American border town of Lewiston, New York, bakery owner Aimee Loughran is putting the finishing touches on a special order: a state trooper badge-shaped cake for a local officer’s retirement party.
It should be the last task of a busy Saturday at her Just Desserts shop, which sits just 20 minutes north of the rushing waters of Niagara Falls. Dotted with cafes, restaurants and historic buildings from the 1800s, the Lewiston strip is usually catnip for tourists, including the Canadians whose homes can be seen from the banks of the nearby Niagara River.
Local demand for Loughran’s cake and pastries, however, has not made up for a dramatic slump in tourist spending, triggered by a now year-long boycott by Lewiston’s northern neighbours.
Angered by Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs and annexation threats – and compounded by fears of border detentions and…
