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“But if they raised it to $200 or even $300, I think it could work,” Smith said. “It would be a give to Canadian consumers and it would play to our Prime Minister’s stated goal of modernizing NAFTA, because it’s a rule that was put in place before the advent of the internet.”

An increase to the de minimis threshold could be a handy bargaining chip at the NAFTA negotiating table and would undoubtedly be popular with most consumers. A 2016 Nanos poll found that 76 per cent of Canadians are in favour of the limit being lifted to $200. It could benefit small and medium sized businesses that must pay more for imported business inputs than their competitors in other countries.

And it would also level the playing field among shoppers. In a separate report on the issue, Scotiabank noted that Canadians able to take a trip across the border — and stay at least 24 hours — can qualify for a $200 duty and tax-free limit. Stay for 48 hours and that limit jumps to $800.

“Canadians who live far from the U.S. border would be the most immediate beneficiaries of an increase,” the report states.

But the proposition has come up against fierce opposition from Canada’s bricks and mortar retailers who argue it would put them at significant disadvantage and result in lost jobs and government revenue.

“The only country that would benefit from this, — the only country —, is the U.S.,” said Diane Brisebois, president and chief executive of the Retail Council of Canada. “It would literally provide an incentive for consumers to shop anywhere else but Canada. That’s before you talk about lost government revenue on sales taxes that pay for roads and schools.”