Donald Trump would have hated Pirate Joe's.
The United States financially benefits from a flood of Canadians who cross the border to buy gas, spend money on groceries, and yes, buy shoes. The country wants Canada to raise the duties from $200 in a same-day trip perhaps closer to the $800 figure that Americans can bring back from Canada on a same-day trip.
Pirate Joe's, for those who don't remember, was Mike Hallatt who bought a lot of Trader Joe's food and sold it on 4th Street in Vancouver. Hallatt didn't even have to "scuff the shoes" to get the Trader Joe's food across the border.
RIP Pirate Joe's is no more
Trump identified duties as tariffs and as "massive," even though the U.S. benefits from the policy. Canadians spend money in the United States on local businesses and locations of national businesses, and Trump thinks that is bad. Some Canadians may have cut back on those trips thanks to the hostility in the United States, but that isn't what is angering him.
"We can no longer be the stupid country; we want to be the smart country." Donald Trump really said this. Understanding the difference between tariffs and duties and knowing when money is spent in a country: these would be smart traits.
Most Canadians aren't in a practical position to take advantage of cross-border shopping. Figure the Maritimes, short of western New Brunswick, have no U.S. contact. Southern Canadians from the Cascades to Thunder Bay, Ontario have no major shopping areas outside of perhaps Fargo and Spokane. Those in southwestern British Columbia, southern Ontario and Quebec make up the majority of cross-border shoppers.
Those shoppers deal with a 20% currency disadvantage versus the U.S. dollar, lost time, and dealing with customs (with or without scuffed shoes) all to buy U.S. products on U.S. soil. This makes the Trump temper tantrum all the more confusing. Those Canadians deserve a thank you for making significant financial contributions to the American economy.
The beauty of Pirate Joe's was that people in Vancouver could buy desired U.S. products without having to leave Canada. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court ruling bringing the case back to the district court. The problem stemmed from not being able to afford to fight the appeals.
Where in the world is Kelly Knight Craft?
G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec comes on heels on tariffs from Donald Trump
Donald Trump admits what we've known: he makes up facts on trade with Canada
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage
CanadianCrossing.com Donald Trump coverage
Americans should appreciate that Canadians do as much shopping as they do in the United States as they do. They might learn a bit more over this aspect of Canadians thanks to this story. Someone besides me on the U.S. side needs to understand this as part of the Canada-U.S. relationship. The tariffs, trade battles, and difficult NAFTA negotiations are detracting away from a normally natural welcoming relationship between these two countries.
photos credit: me; This Hour Has 22 Minutes
Comments