Canada’s Ministry of Finance granted $76 million of tariff relief on baby clothing and sports and athletic equipment to help make Canadian products more competitive with those made by U.S. companies. The decision eliminated, effective April 1, an 18 percent tariff on ice skates; 2.5 to 18 percent tariffs on hockey equipment; and 6.5 to 20 percent tariffs on skis and snowboards, among other sports equipment.
“We want to thank [Finance] Minister [Jim] Flaherty for delivering on his commitment and eliminating these tariffs as part of a joint pilot project with RCC,” said Diane J. Brisebois, president and CEO, Retail Council of Canada. “These significant changes represent a win-win-win for consumers, retailers and our government by allowing our members to better compete with their U.Ss counterparts and keeping Canadian dollars in Canada.”
Flaherty’s office announced the removal of the tariffs April 1 as part of the government’s Economic Action Plan 2013, which had been tabled the prior week.
“Our members have reacted very positively to the announcement in last week’s Budget,” said Brisebois. “But I want to caution the public that they are not likely to see changes overnight. Retailers have to deal with existing stock, complex contracts and pricing agreements so it may take a number of months before we start to see the benefits of these changes.”
Founded in 1963, RCC is a not-for-profit association which represents more than 45,000 stores of all retail formats, including department, grocery, independent merchants, regional and national specialty chains, and online merchants.
