$46K tariff puts brakes on Winnipeg retiree’s dream, as classic car caught in trade war

A Winnipeg retiree who spent years saving for his dream car was devastated to leave it behind at the Canadian border after being handed a $46,000 levy as a result of the U.S.-Canada trade war.

Pat Fletcher, 77, believed he did his due diligence to ensure the 1968 Dodge Charger he’s been yearning for was exempt from a 25 per cent tariff. But what was about to be a dream come true quickly turned into a nightmare, he said.

“I’m just sick to my stomach. I can’t even eat,” Fletcher said.

On March 15 he met up on the U.S. side of the border with a trucking company that was hauling the vintage car he purchased 10 days prior for $98,000 US. He loaded it onto his trailer and tried to come back into Canada when border services told him to pull aside.

Fletcher was given a paper slip with the sum of $46,636 written down — the amount required to pay in tariffs to import the vehicle from the U.S. into Canada.

“I almost blacked out, you know, it was terrible,” he said. “That’s just too much money, that’s just ridiculous.”

Earlier this month Ottawa imposed a 25 per cent counter-tariff on certain U.S. goods coming into Canada, in retaliation to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Among the $30 billion worth of products hit by the levy are vehicles manufactured more than 25 years ago.

A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency said people bringing in products from the U.S. can request a ruling on tariffs classification in advance, to determine whether their product qualifies for a levy. (Warran Kay/CBC)

Fletcher was told he could pay the tariff with a credit card but didn’t have a limit that would allow that much.

“I was desperate to get my car. I said I wasn’t leaving without it. I was scared and not thinking right,” he said.

Border agents advised Fletcher to get a storage locker for the car in North Dakota then head back to Canada until he could get the money to pay for the tariff.

He slept in the car that night and the next day found a heated, covered garage in Pembina, N.D., to leave the vehicle.

Fletcher has had a vintage car hobby for decades but owning the ’68 Charger has a special meaning for him. He owned the same model when he was 17.

“They’re hard to find. Nobody wants to sell them and the price is way up on them,” he said. “I thought I’d never ever find [one].”

Fletcher is warning other collectors to be careful when purchasing a car or parts in the U.S., to avoid his experience.

A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency said certain importers can request advanced rulings on tariff classifications, which helps determine whether they’ll have to pay a levy.

The federal agency also said travellers who feel their imported goods were improperly taxed at the border can request an adjustment.

For now, Fletcher is holding onto hope tariffs might be lowered when a new federal government is elected in Canada.

“Trump, Canada and Mexico, they gotta get together and straighten it out because they’re wrecking their own countries,” he said.

“The three of us have been neighbours and friends for all these years, this great relationship. Why hit each other?”

But if the situation drags on he is not entirely ruling out the idea of selling the car.

“I’d have some money, but I wouldn’t have a car, so not a good situation. Nothing’s good, unless they lower that tariff,” he said.

-CBC