Over the Easter long weekend, thousands of bargain-hungry Lower Mainland residents fled Arizona-like temperatures here in search of good deals south of the border. With the Canadian dollar hovering at par, premium outlet stores likely scooped up hard-earned Canuck bucks that had been exchanged for U.S. greenbacks.
This is nothing new. Cross-border shopping tends to rise and fall with the exchange rate - and dipped appreciably when the loonie was low between the early 1990s and 2003.
For the most part, the government has taken a hands-off approach, netting millions in customs duties and foregoing millions from people who bring items across but don't declare or are within their legal limits. But some would like to see the government to do more to keep shoppers close to home.
Reducing tariffs is seen as one way to make Canadian retailers more competitive. Some fiddling has already taken place, with a reduction in imports for sporting gear and baby clothes. But many worry a corresponding increase in tariffs on a number of countries that used to get a break because their economies were small and struggling now no longer do. China was one such country.
It's true that tightening that loophole may hike consumer prices 3% in the short-term until importers can cut better deals. But it's hard to justify this special deal, which was originally conceived as a form of "aid," for a country like China, which has the largest economy in the world.
Canada needs to strengthen its own manufacturing industry to become more diversified and, to this end, the government has cut import duties on manufacturing equipment while ending deals for competing countries.
What can Canadians do to help support our economy, which pays for the health care, social services and infrastructure that support us every day? They can do a better job at math for one. As Target shoppers are starting to find out in Ontario, it's more expensive to do business here, and even the big U.S. retailer's prices north of the border reflect that.
Then, when they head south, they can add travel time, border lineups, the cost of gas, food and accommodation to their so-called savings to see if they still come out ahead.
