Keeping America safe is not cheap. Residents and businesses near the Canadian border may start feeling more of the pinch of that cost if a suggested border crossing fee is implemented.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is currently conducting a study that will analyze the potential impact of collecting a fee from people crossing the border into the U.S. by land.
Air carriers and cruise lines have been paying entry fees for some time. According to a statement from CBP, “There is currently a disparity in user fee collections between air, land and sea ports of entry, as a result of the existing statutory framework and the long-established collection mechanisms through air carriers and cruise lines.”
CBP is conducting a “pilot” that will test all the steps involved in the proposed fee collection system without actually collecting any money. A user fee committee established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act has been re-commissioned “to ensure transparency and stakeholder collaboration on collection and use of user fees to support operation at our nation’s ports of entry,” according to CBP.
A series of legislative proposals in the FY2014 budget identify potential new sources of funding.
This would “more effectively support current operations” and “increase CBP’s ability to support new requests for service,” according to the CBP statement. This could include public-private partnerships to increase the number of officers, support port improvements, and fund enhanced services.
Regarding the potential fee, Canadian Snowbird Association Executive Director Michael MacKenzie stated in a news release on the organization’s website, “While we appreciate the fiscal challenges faced by our friends in the United States, we would prefer the U.S. government focus on ways to reduce obstacles at the border that hinder trade and tourism.”
According to the website, the economic relationship between Canada and the U.S. is one of the largest in the world, with trade in goods and services of more than $1.7 billion a day in 2010. The website goes on to say that fees for many commercial goods and agricultural inspections are already charged at the border.
The 70,000-member Canadian Snowbird Association is a nonprofit organization representing Canadian travelers. It “works in partnership with government and business to educate and advocate on behalf of all traveling Canadians, helping to ensure access to safe, healthy travel with no restrictions on freedom of movement.”
The Cook County News-Herald spoke with Laura Cylke of the CBP Office of Public Affairs, but she was not able to disclose when the analysis would be completed, whether public input would be solicited, or what a public-private partnership to fund enhanced services would look like. She did say the CBP budget is set by Congress.
On June 18, 2013, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed a motion expressing opposition to the imposition of border crossing fees for land entry into the U.S. It will be sent to U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, Cook County’s federal legislators, and the National Association of Counties.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) released the following statement in April: “I don’t support imposing a fee on cars and pedestrians coming and going across our border with Canada. I don’t believe we need a study to tell us what we already know: this will hurt tourism and disrupt commerce in a way that would be detrimental to the Minnesota communities on or near our border with Canada.”
The statement from CBP says, “CBP is committed to its dual mission of border security and facilitating legitimate trade and travel.”
Leave a Reply