US President Barrack Obama proposed a plan to have an inspection fee for Canadians upon their arrival in the United States of America, which amounts to $5.50 per person. This proposal was found within the 2010 draft budget that was submitted to Congress. In past years, it had always been free to travel between the countries of Canada, USA, and Mexico; it is believed that Obama is charging the Canadians this "inspection fee" because of the economic downturn and the increasing need to recover as soon as possible. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters that the United States are facing enormous financial problems, but charging Canadians is not a "useful" way to solve the problem. The charge proposed by Obama would only apply to passengers that are arriving by air or ship, and travel by car between borders will not be impacted by this fee. This is favourable to the many Canadians that travel across the border, and then take a flight to their holiday destination. Statistics Canada says that around 16 million Canadians flew into the US in 2009, which would supposedly add $90 million US dollars to the US government. It was also found that the number of trips to the US from Canada has increased drastically over time, and that the most popular holiday destination for Canadians is still the US.In my opinion, I don't think that charging Canadians this inspection fee for travelling to the US will improve or help the economy of the US at all, since it will only total to $90 million per year. Although this number may sound a lot, on a national and country-wide basis, it really does not make much of an impact. I agree with Harper's saying that it is not a useful way to solve their economic and financial problems. Also, charging this inspection fee might lower the number of tourists to the US from Canada since people did not have to pay it before, and there really is no reason to start paying now. It is kind of unfair as Obama stated that only Canadians will pay the inspection fee, and he did not specify if any other country's citizens will have to pay this as well.
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