Thomas Gellert couldn’t waste more time, because if he did, there’d be problems for Canadian goat farms.
asserted
he → waste → farms
Gellert and his brother run a major importing business in New Jersey.
asserted
Gellert → run → Jersey
They bring in pallets of food from 60 countries around the world — anchovies, olives, canned meat, mustard, cheese — to be stacked up to the ceiling at their 270,000-square-foot complex that stretches across the industrial shoreline near the Newark airport.
asserted
that → bring → airport
Being in the import business, they’ve had to figure out how to manage the chaos of American tariffs.
asserted
they → have → tariffs
The 50 per cent tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump this summer would cost Gellert about $40 million (U.S.) more a year on his imports of Canadian cheese.
asserted
tariffs → announce → cheese
The cheese tariffs put him in an impossible situation.
asserted
tariffs → put → situation
His family has been importing goat cheese from the same family-run dairy in Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes region for 30 years.
asserted
family → import → years
Together, the two family businesses say they transformed chevre from a niche cheese found at farmers’ markets into a supermarket staple.
asserted
they → say → staple
But shoppers weren’t going to pay more to cover the tariffs, especially not right now.
asserted
shoppers → go → tariffs
“You can’t raise prices,” he said this week at his warehouse.
asserted
he → raise → warehouse
So his choices were: absorb the tariffs or stop buying the cheese.
asserted
choices → absorb → cheese
If he stopped buying the cheese, shoppers would move onto something else, the market they’d worked 30 years to build would disappear, and the Canadian goat farmers who had ramped up production to meet U.S. demand would suffer.
asserted
who → stop → demand
He took a big breath, standing next to pallets of Ontario goat cheese in his warehouse.
asserted
He → take → warehouse
“That’s what eats at me,” he said.
asserted
he → ’ → me
So last week, Gellert sued the White House.
asserted
Gellert → sue → House
The decision made him something of an outlier in New Jersey.
asserted
him → make → Jersey
He’s one of the few American CEOs to publicly take on Donald Trump, and one of the few people in the state who think deeply about Canadian cheese, or Canada, at all.
asserted
who → ’ → cheese
Unlike in the border states, U.S.-Canada relations are not top of mind in New Jersey, according to political strategists.
uncertain
relations → accord → strategists
But with the country hurtling toward midterm elections on Tuesday, New Jersey might be one of Canada’s best hopes for reining in Trump’s power.
uncertain
Jersey → hurtle → power
In two congressional races, at the north and south ends of the state, Democrats are threatening to flip once-safe Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
asserted
Democrats → threaten → Representatives
Democrats believe voters are fed up with Trump, the rising cost of living and the war in Iran, and that they’re about to ride that wave of resentment to regain control of Congress, where they could curb the president’s power during his final two years in office.
uncertain
they → believe → office
“The balance of power is at stake, and there’s only a handful of truly competitive seats in the nation,” said Republican strategist Jeanette Hoffman.
asserted
Hoffman → ’ → nation
“New Jersey is at the epicentre of who can control the House in 2027.”
asserted
who → control → 2027
Phillipsburg, in northwestern New Jersey, holds a street festival every year called Pork Roll Palooza.
asserted
Phillipsburg → hold → festival
The last one happened this month and there appears to have been a statue of a pig made from pink balloons.
asserted
one → happen → balloons
The Pork roll is a specialty of the region — a type of processed meat, pressed into a tubular form, cut into rounds and fried, like a slice of ham but more tangy.
asserted
roll → process → ham
It usually comes on a bun, with egg and cheese.
asserted
It → come → egg
“It’s got that little, vinegary taste to it,” said William Mandry, a lawyer in Phillipsburg, who seems to represent all the best places to eat in the area.
asserted
who → get → area
Joe’s Steak Shop, known for its cheesesteaks, is a client and he’s worked with Nicolosi’s Pizzeria.
asserted
he → know → Pizzeria
He also represents the local Democratic party and was at another pizza restaurant in Phillipsburg on Monday night for a meet and greet with Rebecca Bennett.
asserted
He → represent → Bennett
Bennett, a former helicopter pilot in the U.S. navy, is widely believed to be the Democrats’ best chance of flipping a seat in New Jersey.
asserted
Bennett → believe → Jersey
She is running in the state’s seventh Congressional District against Republican incumbent Thomas Kean Jr., who became the subject of media attention earlier this year for his months-long absence.
asserted
who → run → absence
Kean, the son of a New Jersey governor, later announced he was in treatment for depression.
asserted
he → announce → depression
“She flew a helicopter!
asserted
She → fly → helicopter
He flew the coop!” Charles Boddy, the local Democratic committee chair, shouted to the crowd on Monday night, before Bennett came up.
asserted
Bennett → fly → night
Some in the audience chanted along.
asserted
Some → chant → audience
Most observers believe the Democrats have a good chance of gaining seats in the midterm elections Tuesday, but it’s not clear how many.
asserted
it → believe → elections
The most competitive races for Senate seats are so close, it’s tough to predict whether the Democrats will get the four seats they need to take control.
asserted
they → ’ → control
They appear to have a better chance of taking the House.
asserted
They → appear → House
To do it, they would need to flip three seats — and one of them could be in New Jersey’s seventh district.
uncertain
one → do → district
…and 78 more, not listed.
The Aporia
