From the Niagara Falls Review:
It may be promoting “1 Less Trip” to the U.S., but the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce isn’t on board with Canadians paying an entry fee to visit their neighbours to the south.
The U.S. is proposing a “land border crossing fee” to ease the country’s financial situation. The Department of Homeland Security’s 2014 budget calls for a study on the costs to collect a fee from vehicles and pedestrians crossing the border, and to complete it within nine months.
The department’s secretary, Janet Napolitano, wrote in written testimony two weeks ago fees to support processing travellers haven’t been adjusted for more than 10 years and more customs officers are needed.
Kithio Mwanzia, the chamber’s director of government relations, said a fee would “greatly impact” cross-border trading.