Buy American

After reading his June 11 report, BMO financial expert, Doug Porter has almost convinced me that it is time to buy American. Aside from the video game, Grand Theft Auto, which sells for the same price in the US as Canada, Porter gave examples of items that cost much more north of the border. Examples from everyday items like Huggies (14.97 in US / 18.97 Canada for 40); cameras at 26% more; cars averaging 21% more; to lowly greeting cards and books costing so much more that some retailers are clipping off the comparative US prices, gives Porter cause to say the main ingredient in the higher costs is greed.

I have been waiting for a reply from the Fraser Institute that would refute the BMO article, but so far, only silence from Canada’s right-wing think tank. No righteous denial from them that our Canadian capitalists are greedier than their counterparts are south of 49. Perhaps the Institute is still busy defining poverty levels.

The old timeworn excuse that shipping costs are higher in Canada carries little weight as Americans ship their goods to points further in the States than to some points in Canada. When Internet purchases, which include shipping costs and Canada’s at-the-border GST grab, are lower than picking up some article downtown, it has to put that old saw to bed.

Similarly the complaint that the ‘cost of doing business’ in Canada is so much higher, carries little weight when American companies that do business here pay those same costs. Porter is right: the biggest factor is greed. Canadian retailers charge all the market will bear and Canadian consumers are so used to higher prices that we meekly pay the sticker price. Sure, we pay higher income taxes, but how much of that directly affects selling price?

The price of gasoline and diesel fuel is another good example of greedy pricing. The ever-fluctuating pump price is some kind of a sad joke the gas retailers and the government (willing partners in the price-fixing scam) are playing on us. We must be the only country in the world that sells oil to our neighbours cheaper than to our own people. Okay, I am not sure about Uzbekistan.

Of course, when I say Buy American, I realize that Americans make very little of what they are selling us in the first place. Like us, they import much of their retail goods. How then, can a company like Wally Mart sell their goods in Canada at prices that compare to their US prices? If Wally and Costco can do it, why not the Canadian branches of Sears, Hallmark and other American-owned companies? These other “American-owned” stores have slipped into the comfortable Canadian mode of charging all the market will bear. When in Canada do as the Canucks do.

The argument that higher prices are the result of less competition here than in the States is also wearing very thin. With more and more goods now available on the internet, Canadian retailers are facing all the competition they can handle. It is unfortunate that many of them will lose so many customers before they realize that the barn door has been left open and the horse ( in our case, the sheep) has long ago fled the county.

It is not only the retailers who must awaken to reality, but our governments need a sip of Tim’s caffeine-loaded coffee so they too can smell the roses. (By the way, and do not spill your double-double on this, but Tim’s is cheaper in the States than in Canada). General Motors has finally realized that it costs more to build vehicles in Canada than in the States. Our silly government is trying to bribe them with our tax dollars to stay here, but maybe it is time to cut Buzz and his CAW loose. We can all slip across the border, passport in hand, to buy our vehicles and save several thousand of dollars in the process. If Honda and Ford do not want to honour warranties on Canadian-made cars sold in the US and repatriated to Canada, then maybe they need a cuppa as well. Why should you pay more for a car built in Alliston or Oakville than an American living in Buffalo? Is our government in bed with the automakers as well as the oil companies?


I apologize for all the rhetorical questions. We all know the answers, but being good Canadians we will likely just carry on complaining. I may try to force myself to go to Uncle Wally’s store but only after I look for the article at CTC. I still like to buy Canadian goods when I can find them, but Porter’s article has swayed me towards the American retailers.

Just a minute. Maybe we should just cut out the American middleman and buy directly from China. Let me see – if I buy something, add in an extra 40% above the actual cost of delivery, then mark it up by say 150% . . . no, make that 200% . . . see - anyone can become a Canadian retailer.