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Rep. Brian Higgins speaks throughout a Home Committee on Oversight and Reform listening to on gun violence on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 8, 2022.Andrew Harnik
A New York congressman needs to enlist the U.S. secretary of state to oppose what he calls Ottawa’s “discriminatory” marketing campaign towards international property house owners.
Rep. Brian Higgins is asking Secretary of State Antony Blinken to formally object to Canada’s new federal tax on underused, foreign-owned housing, which is coming due in April.
The one per cent levy applies to sure international non-resident house owners of Canadian property positioned in areas with a core inhabitants of at the least 10,000 individuals.
As of January, the federal authorities has additionally imposed a brand new two-year ban on the acquisition of property in Canada by international non-residents.
John LaFalce, a Buffalo resident who spent 28 years in Congress, purchased a cottage in Fort Erie, Ont., shortly after his retirement in 2003.
LaFalce says he’s offended by the measures, which he considers an affront to the distinctive Canada-U.S. relationship he helped to domesticate throughout almost three many years on Capitol Hill.
“It’s a hostile act,” LaFalce stated in an interview. “It’s a xenophobic act. And it’s actually not the kind of act that turns into individuals in international locations who take into account themselves greatest pals.”
In his letter to Blinken, Higgins stated the coverage violates the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Settlement and runs counter to what Canada and the U.S. should be doing to resurrect cross-border commerce within the age of COVID-19.
“That is an pointless burden and bad-faith motion by the federal government of Canada which violates the (USMCA), in addition to long-standing tax treaties,” he wrote.
He needs Blinken to make sure it comes up subsequent month when Joe Biden travels north to satisfy with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Biden’s first go to to Canada as president.
“This tax will impose a burden, financially and bureaucratically, on hardworking Individuals who in lots of instances have owned these properties for generations,” the letter reads. The accessible exemptions to the brand new levy don’t go far sufficient, he added.
“The US and Canada share a singular relationship, however imposing the underused housing tax is regarding and threatening to it and should be addressed in upcoming bilateral conferences.”
Editor’s be aware: An earlier model used an incorrect final title for John LaFalce.
