Trump’s America has demanded that Canada and Mexico spend much more on border security than we do.
It should be obvious that one’s border is the responsibility of that country. In fact, when my daughter moved to Texas to be with her new American partner, she did so illegally, and I pointed out that she had a moral responsibility to respect the US laws.
Whether we agree with the US direction toward isolationism, it is their choice, democratically made, and we should respect their laws in their country. Of course, today’s Trumpism is a warning: never trust the Americans to keep their word on any agreements they make.
But Trump wants Canada and Mexico to provide much better border security to keep illegals and illegal drugs from entering his country. That should be American responsibility. We are responsible for keeping our borders secure against incoming risks, like drugs and guns, both of which enter Canada at alarming rates.
Not surprisingly, the Americans relied on Canada to pay for a solution to the illegal Roxham Road crossings from USA to Quebec. Indeed, several states actually bussed illegals to our border to encourage them to cross.
Now, Ottawa has agreed to tighten border security to benefit the Americans. It will cost several billion dollars. So why are we spending this money to improve things on the US side, when the money could be spent to tighten loopholes on goods coming into Canada?
At the same time, we are doing nothing to respond to Trump’s threats regarding the disparity in trade in areas where they are vulnerable, but where Canadians with wealth also would pay a price that is higher than the poor would pay.
Travel is one of those areas, and our border dispute is a prime flashpoint for taking action.
In the last quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, travellers from Canada to the US spent approximately $13b, and another $8-10b in the other two quarters. That’s $23b, hardly a huge amount in the overall trade picture, even though it is not calculated in the trade balance between the two countries. We may bring back on our trips many more billions in goods purchased in the US and entering Canada duty-free. The day trips to nearby US border cities primarily occur to buy US goods, coming back mostly duty-free.
The people going south and returning are not the working poor. They are middle class or higher, and every duty-free dollar they spend is a dollar that could have generated taxes for the general Canadian population.
Our flights to US are relatively cheap, too.
Now, let’s impose a hypothetical 15% traveller’s duty on every flight to American destinations and every one coming back from the US. Let’s have a tourism day tax, like many European countries have introduced, so that people who can afford to travel to the US for pleasure help defray the cost of the new border expenses.
What is the first impact? Imagine how many businesses in Florida, Texas, Nevada and Arizona would be hammered by the loss of the Canadian tourist? Ask cities like Grand Forks, North Dakota how much impact a lack of tourism from Canada had on their retail sector? Most Americans would not feel the hit from this duty, but the ones that would be targeted would feel it immensely, as significantly fewer Canadians would travel south.
And what impact would it have in Canada? Those that could afford top travel also could afford the modest taxes, duties or tariffs. In the meantime, we would do as Trump threatened Mexico: we would be indirectly forcing the US to pay for the border, but this cost would be because the Americans wanted heightened security.
At the same time, the revenues would more than offset the increased costs for border patrol to protect American interests and could be invested in improving our own incoming risk protection, by increasing border gents and kiosks where we could screen better to reduce gun and drug smuggling into our country.
Isn’t it time we introduced pain to the greedy, instead of always offloading onto the needy?