Canadian Duty-Free Allowance Raised

The Canadian duty-free allowance was raised June 1, enabling Canadian visitors to the US to bring back more duty-free goods than ever before. The change is expected to help boost cross-border shopping to NH.

Canadians who visit NH for more than 24 hours are now allowed to bring $200 in duty-free goods back into their country -- a fourfold raise from the previous limit of $50.  And for visits lasting longer than 48 hours, the limit has been boosted to $800, up from the previous cap of $400 for a weeklong visit and $750 for visits longer than a week.

In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio Noon show in Montreal, RMANH's President and CEO, Nancy Kyle, said, Cross border shopping has a huge impact on NH's economy. Our sales tax free status means that our per capita retail sales (retail sales per person) are the highest in the nation at $19,268, as compared to the US average of $13,036.  Higher duty free amounts, along with falling gas prices and an almost equal exchange rate (currently $1US = $1.02 Canadian) will mean that NH retailers will definitely see a surge in Canadian shoppers this summer."

According to Doug Porter, Deputy Chief Economist for Bank of Montreal subsidiary BMO Capital Markets, The more forgiving allowances -- coupled with U.S. retail prices at an average of about 14 percent lower than in Canada -- are "likely to lead to a notable upswing of Canadians cross-border shopping this summer, in numbers not seen in two decades."

NH retailers are expected to target Canadian visitors with special marketing campaigns, and the NH Department of Travel and Tourism kicked off an eight-week marketing campaign in Canada on May 7th.