| Retail Council of Canada Applauds Federal Government Decision on Bicycle and Barbecue Imports Rejecting Additional Surtaxes is Good News for Retailers and for Consumers |
Toronto, May 29, 2006 - Retail Council of Canada (RCC) expressed its unequivocal support for today's announcement by Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and International Trade Minister David Emerson to reject additional surtaxes on bicycle and barbecue imports.
"On behalf of all retailers across Canada who sell bicycles and barbecues this is a huge victory for their customers and their businesses," says Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada. "The Harper government deserves credit for recognizing that increasing import surtaxes only drives up costs and drives down product selection for Canadian consumers."
RCC appeared before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) to fight these two cases on behalf of retailers who sell bicycles and barbecues across the country. Many of RCC's members are small, independent bicycle shop owners and specialty store owners who sell barbecues and related products. Additional surtaxes would not only affect the products they import directly, but also those they purchase through a wholesaler, an agent, and/or a third party.
"For the hundreds of our smaller store owners in these product categories, this is particularly good news. It will protect their rights to responsibly source the range of products their consumers are demanding - at the price levels their customers are willing or able to pay," adds Brisebois.
After the CITT recommended that additional surtaxes be imposed, the government today decided that it was not in the best interests of the Canadian economy to follow the recommendations.
Minister Flaherty stated that the government wants "to grow and strengthen our economy, and imposing these surtaxes would have increased costs of Canadian retailers and consumers."
"This decision sends the right message to both retailers and consumers across the country. We congratulate the government for positively addressing this important trade issue," concludes Brisebois.
Retail Council of Canada (www.retailcouncil.org) is the Voice of Retail. It is a not-for-profit association representing more than 40,000 stores of all retail formats, including independent merchants, regional and national mass and specialty chains, and online merchants.
For more information, contact: Stephanie Petroff, Manager, National Public Affairs, (416) 922-0553, ext. 228; e-mail: spetroff@retailcouncil.org.