WASHINGTON DC – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) Senior Director Brad Wood today issued a statement following the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) online streaming policy announcements:
“By proposing to significantly expand this onerous digital tax and forced investment requirement, Canada risks exacerbating the strains in our bilateral relationship. It is the wrong policy at the wrong time.
“Throughout the CRTC’s consultations, NFTC has made it clear that this discriminatory framework is unworkable. It unfairly targets U.S. platforms and contravenes the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“U.S. platforms have shown their commitment to the Canadian market, producing world-class Canadian content, supporting Canadian creators, and making their stories available coast-to-coast-to-coast and around the world.
“NFTC already voiced significant concerns with the proposal to contribute 5% of revenue to CRTC-designated funds. Increasing this requirement to compel U.S. streaming platforms to now contribute 15% of their in-country revenue, based on extremely prescriptive and onerous criteria, is incendiary. It fundamentally disregards the operating frameworks of the companies affected.
“We urge the Trump Administration to make this issue a priority, and we call on the Canadian Government to repeal the Online Streaming Act.”
###
About the NFTC
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is the premier business association advancing trade, tax, national security and supply chain policies that support access to the global marketplace. Founded in 1914, NFTC promotes an open, rules-based global economy on behalf of a diverse membership of U.S.-based businesses, who account for over $6 trillion in revenue and employ nearly 6 million people in the United States.
