Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watcgl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watnot!watcgl!jchapman From: jchapman@watcgl.UUCP (john chapman) Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: Re: High Duties => Increased Competitiveness? Message-ID: <2572@watcgl.UUCP> Date: Wed, 31-Dec-69 18:59:59 EDT Article-I.D.: watcgl.2572 Posted: Wed Dec 31 18:59:59 1969 Date-Received: Sat, 28-Sep-85 06:20:40 EDT References: <1394@utcsri.UUCP> <2188@mnetor.UUCP> <2223@mnetor.UUCP> <14@ubc-cs.UUCP> <1692@watdcsu.UUCP> <2550@watcgl.UUCP> <24@ubc-cs.UUCP> Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 73 . . > > The Canada West Foundation has done similar calculations and has taken > the total amount of import duties and used that as a basis for determining the > costs associated with protectionism. (That is, the costs attributable to > other artificial barriers like quotas weren't even considered.) They I feel compelled to point out that at least *some* (I'd hate to guess but it seems like more than a few) of the dutiable items/classes are not made in Canada and therefore the duty is not protectionism but merely revenue for the government. In some sense this is true of all duties since they are not forwarded to industry. Should duty no longer be collected the government would certainly recoup that revenue somehow - i.e. out of our pockets. At least this way it has the side effect of saving/creating some jobs which can not always (or even frequently) be said of tax revenue. BTW do the figures you are quoting include FST or ar they strictly duty? > determined that import duties alone cost every man, women and child in this > country $136.62 (1983). If translated into manufacturing jobs this > amounts to a subsidy of $2,028.58 for each job. This is considerably Again, they would take the money in taxes and would we see any more jobs? > less than the $83,000 cited above, however it considers all manufacturing > not just a specific industry and it doesn't include the extra costs > attributed to quotas and the like. > > The Foundation did further calculations to see where in the country these > benefits accrued. Low and behold if they didn't discover that the four > Western provinces and the Maritimes lost $544 million. This is how much > more those regions paid in duties then they received in subsidized > manufacturing jobs. Ontario and Quebec on the other hand gained $544 million. > Ontario only has 35.4% of Canada's population yet it has 50.4% of the > manufacturing jobs while Quebec with 26.2% has 28% of the manufacturing jobs. It's even worse than that (at least it used to be); 50% of Canadian industry is/was located within 30 miles of Toronto. > If free trade were to come about the short term loser would certainly > be Ontario while the rest of country would get to enjoy reduced prices on > consumer goods. However, I firmly believe that the manufacturing industries > could survive the blow to their egos and eventually become competitive. > (In a separate article this past weekend it was pointed out that the duty > on clothing is 22%.) > > One of the arguments often put forward in favour of tariffs is that it > protects immature industries or allows old ones to retool to become > competitive. The problem with this is that these industries never seem to > get big enough or strong enough to come out from under the protectionist > umbrella. For example the shoe and textile industries have advocated > and received protectionist tariffs for over 15 years now. They always argue > that they need just a few more years to get new equipment and become > competitive. Once they get the tariffs they seem to forget all about > modernizing and continue on in their old ways. If industries knew that they > would never be able to have any tariffs imposed then we wouldn't be > in the situation we are now. > I would percieve this not as a reason to end tariffs but as a reason to change the way they are granted/applied/administered. > > Donald Acton -- John Chapman ...!watmath!watcgl!jchapman Disclaimer : These are not the opinions of anyone but me and they may not even be mine.