Canada dodges damaging U.S. ports tax

Canada’s shipping industry appears to have dodged a threatened U.S. cargo tax.

The push for a tax on cargo from Canada and Mexico was excluded from the new Water Resources Reform and Development Act, signed into law June 10...

The final legislation doesn’t include the proposed 0.125 per cent tax, which would have been collected by U.S. Customs on all cargo carried into the U.S. via Canadian ports.

Some Washington state lawmakers say their ports are currently disadvantaged by the American tax system.

They say it’s unfair that certain ports have been forced to put disproportionately high sums into a national harbour maintenance fund, making them less competitive against Canadian ones...

The Canadian government had feared that the sweeping, 10-year funding plan would incorporate the tax. Washington state Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives had proposed such a levy in similar bills.

In a recent U.S. speech, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt even hinted at the possibility of trade retaliation.

The Canadian side argued that its ports are gobbling up business from Asia because of faster maritime routes and fast-expanding infrastructure...

The idea of a tax isn’t completely dead, but without the help of a larger piece of legislation, it’s likely to falter, as it has in the past...

This has been excerpted from the 11 June 2014 article by The Canadian Press, and is available in its entirety at http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/supply-chain/canada-dodges-damaging-u-s-ports-tax-138283.