On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 01:25:16 -0500, the renowned Don Foreman
wrote:

They do seem to, but it's not limited to US suppliers. I just
bought some stuff from Future Electronics (based in Canada).
No duty charges because the goods were shipped from a US location, but
shipping charge was $9 for stuff that could have been shipped USPS
for 60 cents in a small padded envelope.

The problem is that UPS charges at both ends. A *lot*. They also try
to mislead on their invoices, IMO. But real distributors such as
Future, Avnet, Pioneer, Arrow etc. tend to charge a bundle for
shipping whether foreign or domestic.

I think many suppliers defer to UPS to deal with Canadian customs, and
UPS makes a tidy profit for doing so.

Most US suppliers don't really want to do anything outside the US,
period. They have a fat profitable market and anything else is
considered a hassle and a distraction. Unfortunately, USPS does not
provided much of an alternative, because it's still an inefficient
state-run monopoly, unlike most other developed countries where at
least the retail end has been privatized (no line-ups). Post-911,
AFAIUI, they also penalize exports by requiring all packages to be
physically handed to a post-office clerk. UPS comes to the door and
picks the packages up.

The Canadian gov't does not
like money flowing south, makes it as inconvenient as possible.

Nonsense. On imports, the product and country of origin must be
identified and any applicable sales tax (usually no duty on anything
US made and many other things) paid, I don't know how it could be any
simpler without a customs union (which would get into all kinds of
unpleasant issues). "As inconvenient as possible"? Where in the world
do you get that from? I've imported to both countries, and Canada is
more free to imports than the US. Consider bond requirement in case of
retroactive assessments, for example, which isn't even a question in
Canada. FCC waiver hassles with huge potential fines. You can't even
mail a single bl**dy factory-sealed chocolate bar into the US as of a
month or two ago. Complex quotas on many categories of goods. Etc.

All the politically expedient protectionism in all its forms hampers
an orderly revaluation of the USD, which would make US exports easier
and more lucrative and imports less attractive.

say this from personal experience as a consultant. I was detained
for over an hour in Vancouver until I was able to make it clear that I
was supporting a Canadian division of a US Corp and was being paid by
the US corp in US funds from US accounts. I still had to assert
several times that I'd be doing "no useful work"; I'd attend
engineering meetings but I'd not make anything useful that they'd
rather a Canadian should be making.

Any country should verify a visitor's status and legality/tax status
of them working in the country. How it goes depends on how you answer
their questions as well as the facts. You don't think the US, UK etc.
hassle business visitors this way? Or is that ok? Degreed engineers
(American/Canadian/Mexican engineers going in any direction) are
generally free to work (as an employee) in any NAFTA country
temporarily (up to a few years, renewable) under reciprocal rules, but
there are a few documentation requirements (a letter from the emloyer
etc.).

If your government creates impediments to trade that cause you
inconvenience and discourages US vendors, perhaps you should direct
your rants at them. Perhaps they're convinced that your
inconvenience serves the greater overall economic benefit of Canada
by keeping Canadian money in Canada as much as possible.

No, the problem (if you can call it that) is that the US market is
huge and fat, and the suppliers are satisified enough doing domestic
business. They don't want to bother (adding a field or two to their
database) with getting an extra 10% from Canada or (even worse)
dealing with overseas customers who might speak funny languages or
make strange-sounding demands. A few progressive distributors such as
Digikey have done it and are doing very well exporting (though they
tend to run into trouble exporting to other fat markets such as the
UK, smaller markets are easier).

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
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