Stephen Harper Highlights BTB in Interview with Robert Rubin

From the Council on Foreign Relations A Conversation with Stephen Harper's Q&A session:

GORDON GIFFIN: So my -- really, my question is, is there a chance of a much bigger initiative between our two countries at some point, to break down the anachronistic rules that impede economic efficiencies in North America, some of which have been done in Europe? I'm not talking about creating an EU with a large governance or anything, but the economic efficiencies.

Last thing I'll say, when I was in Canada working on things like this, I found the impediment to that to be an insecurity in Canada about dealing with the United States, that we were somehow going to assimilate Canada. I don't see that anymore. I think Canada's much more self-confident in dealing with the United States and the world. So if that's the case, is there a chance at doing a bigger deal going forward?

HARPER: Well, Gordon, let me just begin by just repeating -- I know you're familiar with it -- some of the things we are doing, because I think we do have some significant initiative going forward.
We have the -- what we call the Beyond the Border Initiative where we are attempting through a series of individual initiatives and investments and closer cooperation between border authorities, to make things more seamless at the border and to push a lot of -- you know, inspections out around the perimeter of North America to try and arrange our affairs so that, as we say things, are -- things are -- you know, may enter twice, but are inspected only once. And we're doing some of those things.

We also have a parallel initiative called the Regulatory Cooperation Council, where we've identified 29 areas to create greater consistency and harmonization of regulations and more importantly, in my judgment, especially for our side, is to find ways in those areas where we will prevent regulatory -- unnecessary regulatory difference and duplication going forward, where we try and identify some of those things in advance, try and change some of the processes.

And I should mention one very specific project of international cooperation, which is the president just issued a permit for the Detroit River International Crossing, which this is financed largely by Canada, but this will be -- this is a huge piece of infrastructure in what is -- and we often forget the size of this relationship -- what is the largest single trade corridor in the entire world, the Detroit-Windsor trade corridor.
So we have some important initiatives going forward. Could they lead to something systemically more integrated? Look, I think on our side, they could. I think on our side, they could. I agree with your assessment. I think the view -- we had a watershed election in 1988 over the free trade agreement with the United States, and the opponents argued that whether economic integration with the United States -- greater economic integration and trade would lead to wealth or not, it would cause Canada to lose its political independence and identity.

What we've seen is it has led to vast increases in cross-border trade without any such loss of political independence or identity. In fact, this past year, as you know, we've been celebrating the War of -- the War of 1812, which --
RUBIN: I know. (Chuckles.)

HARPER: -- permanently established this -- (laughter) -- this independence and separate identity. So I think that -- there will always be opponents in Canada, but I think that is a real minority view now.

I think the resistance to this kind of thing's far more in the United States than in Canada, for reasons that -- and maybe, Bob and others, for reasons you would better fathom than me. 

Some of it's post-9/11 security concerns, but I've never seen -- the United States in the past decade is -- the sensitivity here about sovereignty and the negative assessments I often read of NAFTA -- completely counterfactual assessments of NAFTA -- I think, are the real barriers. I think the real barrier to making some of these arrangements broader and more systemic in terms of the integration are actually on this side of the border.

BTB 2.0? Stakeholders Crowdsourcing Site Promises Increased Collaboration and New Ideas for BtB and RCC

From BtBObserver, who reports on the new BtB crowdsourcing site Idea Scale: 

Have an idea to make the Canada-U.S. economic and border relationship run smoother? Crossborder stakeholders want to hear your ideas. And they may just shape the work of the Beyond the Border (BtB) Initiative and the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC).

Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER), Canadian American Business Council, U.S. Chamber and other US-Canada partnering organizations have launched Idea Scale, a crowdsharing website where crossborder enthusiasts can post and comment on ideas to improve the Canada-U.S. regulatory relationship.

Check out Idea Scale here.  Whether sharing ideas or just monitoring the mystical art of crossborder regulatory transformation, the site is definitely worth regular visits.

Beyond the Border Newswrap: Putting Canadian Press BTB Worries in Context

By Keith Edmund White
Editor-in-Chief

So Beyond the Border (BTB) is in the news--well, the Canadian news.

And, from these reports, you might think BTB is entering an avoidable, but troubling, crash-landing trajectory.

But are these articles missing the forest for the trees?

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

BTB & Facilitating Cross-Border Trade: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?

By Keith Edmund White, Editor-in-Chief

Good news:  The Beyond the Border Initiative (BTB) and the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) make the news! 

Bad news:  Facilitating cross-border trade and securing the border is tough work.

The Financial Post's thoughtful piece lays out the following Canada-U.S. border economic hurdles:

• Regulatory symmetry > customs issues when it comes to barriers for small to medium sized businesses engaged in cross-border trade.  Why's this important?  The success of the Regulatory Cooperation Council, a two-year project to bring greater symmetry along Canada-U.S. regulatory standards, means the success of businesses on both sides of the border.      
• Attempts to cut-down on border custom wait times shifts compliance issues to shipping, favoring bigger companies who (a) have greater awareness of fast-track programs and (b) possess the advanced tax remittance systems these programs require.

From the November 27th article by Denise Deveau:

The Beyond the Border initiative signed between Canada and the U.S. last year, has as many proponents as it does detractors. While most industry observers support the spirit behind the initiative, when it comes to the transfer of goods across the border, there are noticeable gaps between theory and practical application.

...

Because customs has pushed back border requirement compliance to the shippers, the pressure is actually moving further back into the supply chain, he adds. “If they don’t make an investment in systems that comply, then it’s too bad. Customs would argue, why should we worry about releasing your goods if you don’t make the data available to us?”

...

To date, only larger companies have been able to achieve the status because they are the only ones with the sophisticated tax remittance systems required to qualify. “Beyond the Border is supposed to make it easier for anyone to use it,” Ms. Wagner explains. “But there is a lack of awareness on the part of importers that programs are available and not limited to large entities.”

The lack of awareness and slow uptake will make it increasingly difficult for non-“trusted trader” players to compete, she says. “For Beyond the Border to work, we need that uptake. Otherwise it’s too much investment for too little payoff for businesses.”

...

The data argument may be the most high-profile topic to date, but according to Joy Nott, president and CEO of I.E. Canada (Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters) in Toronto, there’s a much bigger one that dwarfs everything else: harmonizing the overall regulatory environment between Canada and the U.S. 

“That’s far bigger than the data elements that customs wants. In fact it has nothing to do with data, and everything to do with standards.”