ICYMI: Pappas Launches FIGHT Tour, Underscores Burden of Sununu-backed Tariffs, War in Iran Increasing Costs

September 26, 2026

MEREDITH, N.H. — In case you missed it, WMUR and WCAX recently highlighted Congressman Chris Pappas’s visit to Hermit Woods Winery & Eatery where he discussed the impact of rising fuel prices, skyrocketing health care costs, and Trump’s tariff taxes on their business.

The visit is the latest stop on Pappas’s FIGHT (Fighting Inflation, Gas prices, Health care cuts, and Trump’s tariffs) Tour — a series of events, discussions, and visits across New Hampshire with Granite State business owners, seniors, and families paying more across the board because of the Trump-Sununu agenda.

Chris Pappas is running for Senate to lower costs for New Hampshire families and small businesses and create a freer, fairer future for Granite Staters. Trump-endorsed candidate John Sununu said he is running for Senate because this race is “important to President Trump’s agenda,” and he supports and has downplayed the worst parts of that agenda — including Trump’s war with Iran, Trump’s tariff taxes, and Trump’s cuts to health care.

By Adam Sexton, 9/25/26

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas was on the U.S. Senate campaign trail in the Lakes Region on Friday, touring businesses to discuss the impact of rising costs and fewer visitors.

Pappas visited Hermit Woods Winery on Friday and heard directly from owner Bob Manley about the drop in Canadian tourism.

“If you look at the map on the wall over there, there’s pins from every state in the country,” Manley said. “There are pins from half the countries on the planet, and I think there’s five or six pins from Canada. Now, that’s just wrong. I know that we have seen a lot more Canadians through our door in the years past.”

The dwindling number of visits from the north is accompanied by skyrocketing costs for healthcare for employees to paying more for everything that goes into making award-winning dry fruit wines.

Local sales are hurting, too.

“And I think those reasons have to do with prices, with gas prices, with food prices,” Manley said. “What has to go when you can’t afford to buy food for your table, you can’t afford to drive your car? The kinds of things that have to go are those extracurricular activities, which is what we are.”

Pappas said the biggest driver of increased costs is the war in Iran.

“We’ve got to work to unwind this damage in Washington. We need to end the war. We need to put policies on the table that will bring relief,” Pappas said. “The only way we’re going to bring down costs and rein in the recklessness of this administration is to elect a senator who’s going to put New Hampshire first and give us a chance to change the balance of power in Washington, D.C.”

Regardless of the political situation, business owners said they want to see a new direction on some of the big economic factors like tourism and costs as quickly as possible.

“I hope change is around the corner,” Manley said. “I hope positive change is around the corner, because we’re feeling pretty beat up right now.”

WCAX: At NH winery hit by tariffs, Pappas calls for small business exemptions

By Adam Sullivan, 9/25/26

Soaring diesel prices, higher costs for imported goods, and fewer visitors from Canada are hitting small businesses in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, where one local winery says orders are down and layoffs are on the table.

The Hermit Woods Winery started in Bob Manley’s basement and has grown into a thriving business on Main Street in Meredith, but high prices are impacting the bottom line.

Manley shows off the steel fermentation tanks that make the wine sourced from locally grown fruit. Upstairs is the tasting room, and above that, the music venue. But these days, there are a lot of empty chairs. “We are having probably our toughest year in business,” Manley said.

The wine club members list is shrinking, while production and staffing have been scaled back. Orders cost nearly double to ship these days, and Manley says diesel prices and tariffs likely play a factor. “What I do know is our prices are going up. Our prices for everything are going up,” Manley said.

Prices that get passed on to consumers like Hannah Cochran, who is visiting from North Carolina and tightening her belt when it comes to her budget. “It is hard because it is the little thing, you know. You want to treat yourself. And it’s the $5 or $10 extra that you would maybe spend on something,” Cochran said.

A year ago, tourists began marking on a map where they are from. There are very few pins from Canada. “It’s been shocking. It was almost like a cliff. It wasn’t like a steady drop-off,” Manley said.

“Canadians are voting with their feet and not coming to the U.S. and also voting with their pocketbook and not buying as many U.S. products,” said Doug Irwin, an economics professor at Dartmouth College who specializes in international trade. He says U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods are nothing new, though sweeping tariffs across the board are unusual, especially when they seem antagonistic. “What was different in the past is it was confined to individual products. There was a process by which the U.S. would impose those duties and negotiate with Canada about resolving that problem.”

President Donald Trump has said tariffs will spark more manufacturing in the U.S. In the meantime, New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas has sponsored legislation to exempt small businesses from the extra duties. The Democrat visited the winery Friday as he campaigns for the Senate.

“There are a lot of things that Congress can be doing, but if we are not even there, if Speaker Johnson continues to keep us out of session, then it is going to be hard for us to be able to address the issues that people care about,” Pappas said.

What Manley cares about is when his business will once again be toasting its success. “I don’t know where the bottom is yet,” Manley said. And his message to Canadians: “We are open for business, come on down.”

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