XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: sk.politics, man.politics, mtl.general   
   From: puela@nyet.ca   
      
   CBC News Posted: Dec 10, 2014   
      
      
   Conservative-planned tariff increases take effect Jan. 1 on goods ranging from   
   toothbrushes to bikes   
      
   Canadians could soon be paying more for a range of products, despite a move   
   Tuesday by the Conservative government to lessen the gap between the prices   
   paid by Canadians and Americans for the same goods.   
      
   A 2013 federal budget decision to raise tariffs on items from 72 countries   
   takes effect Jan. 1, 2015, and is expected to net $300 to $350 million for the   
   federal government.   
      
   That change is to take place just weeks after the Conservatives introduced a   
   bill that would give the Competition Bureau the power to investigate price   
   differences and compel companies to provide documents to back up their pricing.   
      
   The list of countries that will see their tariffs rise includes major exporters   
   like Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore and South Korea.  Those   
   countries had been on a list of less developed countries that were subject to   
   lower tariffs since 1974.   
      
   It's likely the cost of those tariffs will be covered by consumers rather than   
   manufacturers and retailers.   
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   Economist Mike Moffatt, an assistant professor at Western University's Ivey ​   
   Business School in London, Ont., says there are a number of reasons Canadians   
   pay more than Americans.   
      
   Aside from the practice of country pricing, Moffatt listed:   
      
        Tariffs.   
        Energy costs.   
        Taxes.   
        Payroll taxes.   
        Minimum wages.   
      
   There's a lot the federal government can do to lower prices aside from having   
   the Competition Bureau probe them, Moffatt said.  The first would be to reverse   
   the tariff increases planned for Jan. 1, which will hit "a thousand different   
   product categories," ranging from toothbrushes to bicycles, he said.   
      
      
   High tariffs remain — and could increase   
      
     "[The government] could go further and reduce tariffs all around.  There are   
   still very high tariffs on running shoes — it's close to a 20 per cent   
   tariff.   
     Lots of tariffs on clothes [too]," Moffatt said.   
      
   "I think one of the reasons why it doesn't is because all of those things would   
   cost the federal government money."  <<==   [more for Harper & Co; more from   
   pockets of Canadians]   
      
   Industry Minister James Moore said the government wants to lower tariffs, but   
   has to react to world markets and world pressures.   
      
   "Of course we believe in lower taxes, lower tariffs, and more markets for   
   Canadian goods internationally, and we're working to lower tariffs as best we   
   can," Moore said in an interview with CBC News.   
      
   "But at the same time, why not empower the competition commissioner with the   
   same tools that his equivalents have in other parts of the world, with the   
   ability to do substantive investigations and to expose price gouging against   
   Canadian consumers?"   
      
      
   Country pricing tackled in bill   
      
   Moore's newly introduced bill is designed to tackle country pricing — the act   
   of attaching different prices to goods depending on where they'll be sold.   
      
   Country pricing is a problem, said consumer expert John Lawford, but it's hard   
   to sort out what is the biggest driver of higher prices in Canada.   
      
   "Everything's jammed up in this gigantic ball" of complicated reasons behind   
   the prices Canadians pay, he said.   
      
   "There's a pricing difference, we all know, but nobody knows why. So as soon as   
   you start talking about tariffs, somebody starts talking about exchange rates.   
   As soon as you start talking about that, somebody switches it to country   
   pricing.​"   
      
   Lawford says the new bill, the price transparency act, is "extremely elegant"   
   and that Canadians can now start talking about the exchange rate, monetary   
   policy and tariffs since country pricing will be off the table.   
      
      
   More about fundraising   
      
   Moore referred in his announcement to a 2013 report by the Senate national   
   finance committee that examined the Canada-U.S. price gap. The Senate committee   
   heard from a number of experts about why the gap exists, including then-Bank of   
   Canada governor Mark Carney, and made four recommendations.   
      
   At the time, the Canadian dollar was close to or above par with the U.S.   
   dollar.   It's now closer to 87 cents U.S.   
      
   Three of those recommendations seem to have been ignored by the government:   
      
   1    A comprehensive review of Canadian tariffs.   
   2   Analyze the costs and benefits of increasing the de minimis threshold for   
   low-value shipments in Canada (which would let Canadians spend more on online   
   orders before having to pay some tariffs).   
     3   Have the heritage minister study the costs and benefits of reducing the   
   10 per cent markup that Canadian exclusive distributors can add to the U.S.   
   list price of American books imported into Canada.   
      
   Moore was heritage minister at the time the committee studied the issue and   
   released its report.   
      
   The fourth recommendation, to continue to integrate the safety standards   
   between Canada and the United States through the Regulatory Co-operation   
   Council, is moving slowly along with the Beyond the Border trade and security   
   agreement.   
      
   Liberal industry critic Judy Sgro sees another reason behind the price   
   transparency act after a Conservative Party website that reproduces part of   
   Moore's speech sprang up to ask for donations.   
      
   "I think today's announcement was more about fundraising for the Conservative   
   Party and trying to make consumers think, as they're out there very actively   
   spending their money at Christmas, that the Conservatives are doing something   
   for them when it's really more about fundraising than it is about anything   
   else," Sgro said in an interview with CBC News.   
      
   NDP industry critic Peggy Nash said she's concerned about whether the   
   Competition Bureau will have the resources to investigate the price gap.  Moore   
   said Tuesday that the bureau wouldn't get any additional funding for its   
   expanded role.   
      
   "The reality is they've had a 10 per cent staff cut over the last few years.   
   They're down about 69 positions in the Competition Bureau," Nash said.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)