Why Ontario Should Fear Further U.S. Trade Barriers

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By Livio Di Matteo, Waterloo Region Record Sep 08, 2015

Wisconsin governor and potential presidential candidate Scott Walker's recent comment that it is not an unreasonable idea to consider building a security wall between Canada and the United States should not be laughed off.

While the probability of an actual fence or wall being built along the 8,900-kilometre frontier is small, the implication of such comments is that the border between the two countries may be about to get even thicker.

And of all provinces, Ontario has the most to lose from any further barriers to trade and commerce along the border.

In the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, wait times and assorted security programs at the Canada-U. S. border, designed to deal with the threat of terrorism, have led to what has been termed "border thickening." The effect has been an increase in government spending on security and administration as well as a rise in the cost for businesses conducting transborder trade and individuals for cross-border travel.

Cross-border activity has been affected. For example, a 2012 Fraser Institute report found that between 2000 and 2009, total person trips by American residents to Canada fell by 53 per cent. As well, all the assorted security programs and expenses of the "thickened border" cost Canadian taxpayers alone as much as $1 billion annually. Meanwhile, a Brookings Institute report released in 2009 found declines in trade volumes between Canada and the U.S., with evidence of greater disruption of the trade flowing from Canada to the U.S. than vice versa.

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