Canada's cool COOL Trade War with the United States

The posturing over U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) rules continues!

I know, just what you needed to get your Monday kick-started...

(Note:  I really want to interview the people in the Dep't of Agriculture that drafted the original and now reworked COOL, or MCOOL, rules.  I feel like they'd give a delicious bureaucratic description of this very technical, but very live trade issue between two of the world's friendliest nations.)

Check out BTBObserver on Canada's latest COOL retaliatory warning shot.

A New Canada-U.S. Border Fee? Prospect of a New U.S. Fee Worries Both Sides of the Border

Will the United States slap travelers with a new fee when crossing the Canada-U.S. border?

The White House's proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget includes boilerplate directing DHS to study the "feasibility" of imposing a new Northern and Southwest cross border fee.

Beyond the Border Observer, a blog from the Woodrow Wilson Center's Canada Institute, provides some useful background and roundup of critical responses in Canada and the United States. 

BTBObserver Plug: Improving Border Logistics-Increased and Matched Expedited Customs Clearance Merchandise Thresholds

At Beyond the Border Observer, a project of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Canada Institute, Keith Edmund White offers an article exploring a recent regulatory change at the Canadian-U.S. border.

At a minimum, anyone interested in facilitating international trade that hasn't yet come by the term "border logistics" should take a read.

(Note: This plug represents shameless self-promotion.) 

From the post:

This Monday the United States and Canada increased and matched the value thresholds for “expedited customs clearance” to CDN$2,500 and USD$2,500 respectively. Canada also announced that their border agency would match America’s level for low-value shipments that are exempt from NAFTA Certificate of Origin requirements.

This seemingly small but important achievement resulted from the Beyond the Border (BTB) Initiative, a bi-national effort between Canada and the United States to cooperate on security and border management.

...

Now, as reported by Mark Rockwell at Government Security News, the changes to the Informal Entry Limit and Removal of a Formal Entry Requirement regulation brought three changes for merchandise going through U.S. customs valued between $2,000 and $2,500. This merchandise now: 

-bypasses surety bond requirements,
-gets a faster clearance process, and
-enjoys a reduced Merchandise Process Fee (MPF) of $2, instead of $25 (assuming e-filing).

And this regulatory change represents smart regulatory modernization for 4 reasons... 

Read more at Beyond the Border Observer.

BTB RCC Wrap Up, Next Week, and Shameless Self-Promotion

By Keith Edmund White, Editor-in-Chief

Exciting Posts Next Week & Shameless Self-Promotion 

Readers, please forgive the delay in postings.  We have a slate of blog postings and expert Q&As in the hopper for next week.

In the meantime, CUSLINexus will engage in some self-promotion.  Check out Keith Edmund White's recent postings for Beyond the Border Observer blog:

Week in Review:  BTB and the Regulatory Cooperation Council,
BTB Delivers:  Pilot Program Offers Faster Border Commutes for Trusted Traders

BTB and RCC Progress Reports

And, keeping up with the BTB & RCC theme, readers should know that the first annual progress reports were released on these bi-national joint initiatives to enhance border security and cross-border trade. 

The BTB progress report can be found here, and the RCC progress report can be found here.

And read Keith's post on these reports at Woodrow Wilson Center's Beyond the Border Observer blog.

More BTB & RCC Resources

For more information on the status of these two important bi-national efforts, check out the following sites:

Canada and United States report progress on perimeter security and economic competitiveness, Prime Minister of Canada, 12/14/12
White House Releases Report on Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation Council with Canada, The White House, 12/14/12
Beyond the Border, 2013:  Inching Toward a Deal, iPolitics, Colin Robertson, 12/12/2012
Beyond public view:  Harper's Beyond the Border initiative a year later, rabble.ca, Stuart Trew, 12/13/2012
Beyond the Border website
Regulatory Cooperation Council website

Border News Wednesday Round-Up

Some attention-grabbing Canada-U.S. border headlines.

Border Shooting.  Yesterday afternoon a Canada Border Services Agency officer was shot by an unidentified man at The Peace Arch crossing between Washington and British Columbia.  The shooter then took his own life, with the border agent reported in stable condition.  The border crossing, “the third busiest port of entry on the northern border[,]” has been closed since the shooting, but is slated for reopening at 4 p.m. today.  [Source:  WashingtonPost.com]

Cross-Border Crossings Would Be Twice as High if No 9/11, Report Finds.  A great two-day conference just wrapped up in Burlington, Ontario.  The TRANSLOG 2012 Conference explored border logistics, the cross-border talent pool, and border transportation issues.  One attention-grabbing tagline from the conference:  Meredith MacLeod at thespec.com reports “[i]f the 9/11 attacks hadn't happened, more than twice as many Canadians would be crossing the border to shop in the United States each year.”  Her source:  University of Windsor’s William Anderson, the first presenter at TRANSLOG 2012—an event hosted by the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL) and Supply Chain and Logistics Association Canada (SCL). 

But Canadians Are Filling Up Border City Hotels.  HotelNewsNow.com reports that Canadians who shop in the U.S. are filling up U.S. hotels.  One interesting wrinkle to the story: Canadian shoppers who spend 24 hours or more get to bring back to Canada up to $200 in goods without a Canadian duty or taxed imposed.  If a Canadian shopper ups his or her U.S. visit to 48 hours or more, that duty/tax free credit goes up to $800.  (Note:  Both amounts are in Canadian dollars, naturally.)

The Coming North American Union? Beyond the Border Regulatory Gears Are Turning.  Lamenting America’s loss of sovereignty, Dana Gabriel—for Dissident Voice—does write on some interesting developments in the Dec. 2011 Beyond the Border Initiative:  (1) The Transportation Security Administration’s extension of TSA Pre, an expedited screening initiative at 27 U.S. airports; (2) the United States Department of Agriculture has launched a pilot program for a pre-clearance screening process for Canadian fresh meat; and (3) greater cooperation between Canada and the United States when it comes to ship inspections on the St. Lawrence River.   The impact: while some have criticized the slow-moving Beyond the Border Initiative, it’s clear that U.S. officials are beginning to streamline regulatory hurdles on the U.S.-Canada border.  I wonder how many of Gabriel’s updates came courtesy of Woodrow Wilson Canada Institute’s Beyond the Border Observer: which blogs today on the United States Coast Guard and Transport Canada launching a pilot program for the joint inspection of certain ships in the St. Lawrence Seaway.