Canada-U.S. border plan offers a road map for open trade
Prime Minister Stephen Harper trumpeted the new perimeter security and economic competitiveness deal with President Barack Obama as the opening of the next chapter in Canada’s relations with the United States.
“It is the most significant step forward in Canada-U.S. co-operation since the North American Free Trade Agreement,” he said in a speech at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Sounds impressive but what will it mean to you? At least initially, not much. Regulatory co-operation means you will be able to go to your grocery store and buy “peameal bacon,” a term that is apparently “not permitted” in Canada now, even though we invented bacon rolled in yellow cornmeal (our regs demand it be called “back bacon” apparently).
The other prong of the deal is action to keep the border as open as possible. As the various pilot projects are rolled out, air travellers might miss fewer connecting flights and their baggage may arrive more often, as double baggage screening is eliminated. At land borders, wait times should fall as “trusted traveller” programs like NEXUS are expanded and pre-clearance for cargo means that the honking great truck in front of you is waved through more quickly.
But the real gains will be less obvious — namely, a reduction in costs at the border that the government’s best estimate puts at $16-billion a year or 1% of GDP. One of the pilot projects will see goods landed at Prince Rupert in B.C. checked and loaded there and shipped to Chicago by rail, without the current requirement for re-inspection when it crosses the border in Minnesota.