Flaherty eyes Canada-U.S. retail price gap

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Source: The Canadian Press

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is prepared to look at reducing tariffs and to use "informal persuasive powers" if needed to bridge the Canada-U.S. price gap on consumer goods.

The finance minister told the opening of Senate committee hearings on the issue Wednesday night that he regards the exercise as more than just posturing.

"If the committee recommends that we change this tariff or that tariff, we'll look very closely at what's feasible," he told reporters after his brief testimony.

"We've reduced, eliminated a lot of tariffs, they are protectionist and we're believers in free trade," he added.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/19/pol-flaherty-us-canada-gap.html

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1. The US/Canadian dollar

is at par. This has been a boon for border towns in the US. We even had 600 hundred walk-ons (the ferry from Victoria) for our little Crab Festival this month. But going to Canada now is another story. The prices are prohibitive and I miss going there. Maybe getting rid of tarrifs would be a good thing.