Everything from books to hockey pants and cars could be cheaper if Ottawa eliminated many import tariffs or brought them into line with lower U.S. rates, a Senate committee says.

Higher tariffs are one of the key causes of a persistent Canada-U.S. price gap that has infuriated many consumers and led federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to call for the senate study.

In a landmark report issued Wednesday, the senate committee on national finance calls on Ottawa to review its tariff policies, noting that in some cases they protect industries that no longer exist.

“Hockey pants that are brought into Canada, manufactured in China, have an 18 per cent tariff. In the U.S., it’s 2.9 per cent. Why the difference? Maybe we were trying to protect a Canadian manufacturer years ago. But they’re all gone now. That one shocked us,” said Senator Joseph Day, who chaired the senate committee.

Flaherty said earlier in the day he was open to the idea of reviewing federal tariffs.

“We’ve been looking at our tariff situation carefully, particularly with respect to consumer goods in Canada to see what we could do,” he said after giving a speech to the Economic Club of Canada at noon.

“Tariffs are obviously sources of revenue, as well, and I have revenue concerns as finance minister, but as a general rule we would like to eliminate tariffs going forward.”

The Retail Council of Canada, which has borne the brunt of most consumers’ ire over the Canada-U.S. price gap, applauded the report’s findings, noting it had vindicated many of its claims.

“We’re hopeful the government will act on the senate recommendations. They have an opportunity in the upcoming budget which we understand will be in March,” said David Wilkes, the association’s senior vice-president.

Canadian consumers feel “ripped off,” the committee said in its report, called The Canada U.S. Price Gap . The report blamed everything from “country pricing” — the practice of some large multinational suppliers of charging Canadian retailers more than U.S. merchants — to higher fuel prices in Canada.

But the senators also put the onus on Canadian consumers to become more price conscious and get better at negotiating with retailers, noting smart phone applications and Internet sites are making that easier.

“It’s important for us to understand what the market will bear. The vendor is going to sell at the highest possible price he or she can get,” Day told a press conference after the report was released.

The study, which found no single factor explains all price discrepancies, made three other recommendations. They include:

Integrating Canada-U.S. safety standards to remove requirements for extra tests in Canada. Raising the minimum threshold for goods that can be shipped duty free through the postal service. This would benefit consumers who shop online on U.S. sites for import into Canada, for example. Many consumers complain that duty, taxes and brokerage fees can nearly double the cost of ordering small items online. The current minimum is $20. Many countries are considering raising that to $100, the committee noted.

<bullet>Eliminating the 10 per cent markup that exclusive Canadian distributors can add to U.S. books imported into Canada.

Canadian consumers have been complaining about the price gap since 2007 when the once lowly Canadian dollar soared above parity with the U.S. greenback.

Goods in Canada were 24 per cent more expensive, on average, in 2007 and still 14 per cent higher last spring, said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, who has been informally tracking a basket of goods over the years.

The price gap was obvious to Canadians who shop online, travel in the U.S. or buy books that contain both price points on the cover, the senate committee noted.

Consumer outrage found a new focus when U.S. retailer J. Crew opened its first Canadian store and website last year, with sharply higher prices.

Flaherty responded last September by asking the senate committee to investigate the causes of the price gap.

Even some automobiles made in Canada are priced significantly higher here than in the U.S., according to the report called The Canada-US Price Gap.

A Toyota Rav4 made in Woodstock is cheaper in Hawaii than in Ontario, the report noted.

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When the Canadian dollar is at par, consumers naturally wonder: “Are we being gouged?” the report asked.

Tariffs generated $3.6 billion in revenue for the federal government in 2010-2011, or about 1.5 per cent of total budget revenues, the committee noted.