Proposed tax on Canadians raises concerns
When you're used to getting comped at the door, suddenly having to pay the cover charge hurts. So for Canadian visitors, a proposed fee to enter the United States must seem like the final indignity.
Already subject to increased security hassles since Sept. 11, Canadians would also have to pay a fee of $5.50 to enter the U.S. under a proposal buried in the fine print of the budget blueprint released by the White House this week.
The fee would apply to air and sea arrivals, but not Canadians who enter the country by car.
Most foreign visitors already pay to enter the U.S., but those entering from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean have been exempt. The Obama administration estimates that extending the fee to all visitors will raise about $110 million annually, most of it from Canadians, reports Luiza Ch. Savage at Bilateralist, a blog devoted to Canadian-American relations.
As might be expected, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has come out against Obama's proposal, which would need the approval of Congress.
Reading between the lines, though, Harper's statements seem to reflect a shrewd understanding of American politics after the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives. Rather than just opposing the plan, he characterized it as a new tax.
And, as Harper probably knows, that is the magic word du jour, since Republicans have renounced taxes on principle — even, Harper must be hoping, taxes on Canadians.
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