The following is excerpted from the 18 April 2013 article by CBC News.
The government's recently announced tariff cuts on sports equipment won't cover hockey helmets, the NDP's consumer affairs critic [Glenn Thibeault] says — and in fact the cost may increase as the government raises tariffs on certain countries…
Hockey helmets are imported under the "protective headgear, athletic" category, which is a separate category from the one under which other hockey equipment falls.
Thibeault says there are no changes listed in the 2013 federal budget for the customs tariff chapter that applies to helmets, "so this means protective headgear for sports will continue to be charged a Most Favoured Nation 8.5 [per cent] tariff."…
The budget announced tariff elimination for cricket, golf, hockey and a handful of other types of sports equipment. The hockey equipment mentioned specifically in a list distributed by the government when the budget was tabled includes sticks, skates, and elbow, shoulder, waist, thigh and hip protective equipment.
'Test case'
A spokeswoman for the Department of Finance said the elimination of tariffs on baby clothing and some sports equipment was a test case…
The tariff cut came into force on April 1 and if retailers pass the cuts on to consumers they would save $76 million a year, according to the federal budget.
The tariff increases are estimated to cost consumers $330 million a year.
For those who buy helmets made in China, Thailand or one of the other 72 countries that will see its tariffs rise in 2015, the cost of helmets is likely to increase.
The government will move those countries off a list of less developed countries subject to preferential, or lower, tariffs in a bid to encourage trade…
'Smoke and mirrors'
Thibeault said the tariff changes should have been better thought-through…
Mike Moffatt, an assistant professor of business, economics and public policy at Western University's Richard Ivey School of Business in London, was the first person to publicize the tariff increase for iPods. He suspects the government didn't realize the increase would affect iPods until he pointed it out…
"Nobody's given a coherent argument about why we need a 13 per cent tariff on bicycles. The government said we have to treat China the same way as we treat Japan. Well, okay, but why is Japan facing a 13 per cent tariff on bicycles?”…
'A way to raise revenue'
Moffatt suggests the government has found a way to increase its revenue that's so complex that consumers won't know why prices have gone up…
"[They say] this is all about treating countries fairly, whereas if they simply said we're going to raise the GST a point or we're going to raise corporate income taxes or what have you, it would be really obvious what the government's doing. But here they're finding a way to raise revenue that is just so unbelievably complicated that they have this sort of back story about, well, they're not raising taxes at all."…
It's expected that retailers will pass on the cost of the tariffs to consumers…
This article is available in its entirety at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/04/18/pol-tories-keeping-hockey-helmet-tariffs.html.