Why bicycles will be more expensive in Canada. The Canadian dollar has gone down by over 10% in the last year. Price of aluminum, steel, plastic, rubber has gone way up in China but even more importantly:
Bicycles will probably go up another 17 percent in 2015 – to 2016 because the duty is going from 8.5 % to 13% when you add exchange and margins this will work out to 17 percent. Crazy- ask your government why? Jim Flaherty our Finance minister has decided to take away preferential duties from places like China.
His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to section 34 (see footnote a) of the Customs Tariff (see footnote b), makes the annexed General Preferential Tariff Withdrawal Order (2013 GPT Review).
The 37 tariff reductions on sporting equipment and baby clothes in Budget 2013 received a great deal of attention. Less noticed was the announcement that on Jan. 1, 2015 tariffs will be increasing on more than 1,200 products from 72 countries (including China), affecting everything from bicycles to potato starch, thanks to the elimination of the General Preferential Tariff (GPT) status for these countries. Losing the GPT will cost consumers at least $300-million a year, dwarfing the savings from cheaper shoulder pads and baby bibs. The issue has mostly flown under the radar, mostly because of the complexity of Canada’s tariff system, which serves to hide these tax increases from consumers.
pedalpusher 