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Canadian firms losing out
Year Published: 1992Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX4441 Abstract: The Canadian catalogue industry has lost $780 million to U.S. mail order operations over the past five years, at a cost of 4,000 jobs, because of postal and courier policies brought in by the federal Progressive Conservative government. The policy, introduced in 1985, allows mail and courier shipments valued at less than $40 to enter Canada free of all taxes and duties. The United States, meanwhile, extends no reciprocity, and not only are Canadian mail order shipments entering the U.S. subject to duties and applicable taxes, but a postal user fee and a customs user fee are also levied. As a result, both Canadian and U.S. consumers are better off ordering products of comparable price from a U.S. firm. The policy is expected to cost the Canadian industry anther 7,000 jobs by 1995. |