New Rule Will Charge Cross-Border Trucking Fee

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ll truckers entering the United States from Canada will have to pay $5.25 per trip, or purchase an annual decal for $105, beginning Nov. 24 under a new rule the U.S. Department of Agriculture said would help pay for a staff of special border inspectors.

USDA said an increase in the interception of prohibited agricultural products entering the United States from the north prompted the fee. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency will use the money to hire new inspection agents to find illegal products, some of which “present a high risk of introducing plant pests or animal diseases into the United States,” USDA said.

The fee is part of a broader rule that will require commercial vessels, railroad cars, aircraft and international passengers entering the United States from Canada to pay a “user fee.”