Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!peter From: peter@cbmvax.commodore.com (Peter Cherna) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Educational Discounts Keywords: Free Trade, Customs Message-ID: <9724@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 19 Feb 90 17:31:25 GMT References: <90021610511130@masnet.uucp> <1990Feb18.205132.2921@aucs.uucp> <21061@watdragon.waterloo.edu> Reply-To: peter@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com (Peter Cherna) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 58 In article <21061@watdragon.waterloo.edu> ypcazabon@rose.waterloo.edu (Yvan Cazabon) writes: >I agree that not having the educational discounts here in Canada is more >than just disappointing, but there are other factors, namely, Canada Customs. >The amiga is not, and correct me if I'm wrong, manufactured here in Canada, >so Commodore Canada would have to absorb excise tax, duties and al. in >order to offer a similar educational discount. Remember, the free trade >clause on computer hardware and such won't come into effect for a few years >yet. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Canada and the United States provides for the elimination of duties on most goods made in one country and imported into the other. Some classes of goods have had their duties dropped right away, while on others it will take up to eight or ten years for the duty to disappear. Computers were among the first to have their duties removed. The A500 carton states "Assembled in the U.S.A. from foreign and domestic components", which should be enough to get it into Canada duty-free. Before anyone gets too excited, the duty used to be around five or six percent for computers. The 13.5% (I think) federal sales tax still exists, and that still would have to be paid. So importing a computer into Canada in 1990 should be about 5% cheaper than it was in 1988 (I think that the Federal sales tax climbed about 1% in the same period). On the other hand, some components are manufactured elsewhere (like the 1080 monitor, made in Japan), and do not benefit from the FTA. Of course, I'm not a customs expert, and there probably are some different rules for companies importing in quantity, or importing their own goods. Who knows. >Having said that, I do hope Commodore Canada will be able to offer something >to its Canadian following in the near future. Can anybody suggest some way >for Commodore to offset its extra overhead? Maybe some new variation on the >trade-in program? Students in Quebec have enjoyed an educational discount for at least two years. This arrangement was negotiated by the engineering students in Quebec, through the Coalition of Engineering Faculties of Quebec (COFIQ). Commodore Business Machines Ltd. Canada is not the same company as CBM Inc. in the U.S.A. They also face different sets of problems, like different laws, including FCC-type things. It also means that things that happen on one side of the border don't automatically happen on the other. It works both ways, and I can name two examples: the SideCar and the 2080 high-persistence monitor were both available in Canada long before they were available in the States. I have friends back home that are happy with both products. >Regards, >Yvan Cazabon Peter -- Peter Cherna, Software Engineer, Commodore-Amiga, Inc. {uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!peter peter@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com My opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of my employer. (and from Montreal, Quebec).