US screws Canada again

Yukon Jack · November 20, 2011

Why are the conservatives always the worst at getting tough with the Americans?

So the US disrespects its largest trading partner for Colombia

? wow go to hell US, youll never get 5.50 from me

how is this supposed to help trade relations?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/24/pol-us-ticket-tariff.html

Canadian and Mexican travellers to the United States are once again going to have to swallow a $5.50 tax if they enter the country by air or sea.

A U.S.-Colombia free trade deal, passed last Friday, includes a clause that removes an exemption from the tariff for travellers from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Canada and Mexico had been exempt from the fee since 1997 under the North American Free Trade Agreement, but American politicians needing fresh cash for government coffers have resurrected it.

International Trade Minister Ed Fast said the Canadian government is disappointed.

"Raising taxes at the border just raises costs on consumers," he said in a statement. "Canadian officials have raised concerns about the removal of this exemption at the highest level. We will continue to raise Canada’s concerns with U.S. lawmakers."

Last week, U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson told a business crowd in Ottawa that a Buy American clause wouldn't hurt Canadian business as much as continuing trouble in the U.S. economy. Jacobson said U.S. President Barack Obama's failed attempt at a stimulus bill would have improved the U.S. economy, which is the best way to help the Canadian economy.

The return of the tariff comes as Canada and the U.S. are supposed to be finalizing the details of the Beyond Borders deal, which officials say will improve trade and security at the same time.

NDP international trade critic Robert Chisholm says it makes him wonder what the government is doing in its negotiations.

"Why is it not paying attention? And clearly, the United States is not taking Canada seriously when it comes to these negotiations," he said.

"I was surprised and disappointed," by the government's answer that they hope the Americans reconsider, Chisholm said. "They keep being surprised by all these moves and I find it concerning."

So, don't fly!!

With the superior highways the United States has, which, by the way is only a dream Canada could have about 50 years from now, why would anyone want to fly from anywhere in Canada to anywhere in the U.S.?

And let me add:

For six years I commuted from my home in Canada to the Head Office of the Company I worked for for almost 40 years. I crossed the border at the Peace Bridge, or Lewiston, or Detroit about 300 times from 1997 till 2003, when I retired.

The six years I spent working in the US were the happiest of my almost 40 years of my career with the same company. Americans, unlike Canadians, were ready to give me a praise for a job well done. They were ready to accept me as an equal, regardless of of my position on the company ladder. They were ready to treat me as a person who deserves respect for long service, rather than prefer giving a shapely new young female employee preferential treatment for nothing more than being young and female, as the yahooes did in Canada.

Talk all the trash about Americans, my experience will always trump your prejudice.

Edited November 20, 2011 by Yukon Jack

Smallc · November 20, 2011

So....why do you live here?

Argus · November 20, 2011

No, it is not a fee for Americans only....

But, apparently, the USA fee is also not just a fee on Canadians and Mexican either.... so the original post seems a bit disengenuous.

The fee actually applies to EVERYONE entering the USA. And the fee is only by air and ocean travellers. The millions of people in cars and rail traffic are excluded.

Personally, I think this is much ado over nothing.

Absolutely.

And if you're flying to the states, presumably you're going to be spending many hundreds of dollars, if not thousands. Five bucks is just not worth worrying about.