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The NAFTA agreement should eliminate any "additional" taxes that you might be assuming on a US made spa (besides, most of the parts used to make the Canadian spas come from the US).I imagine labor costs, for manufacturing the spa, are higher in Canada compared to the US.
So we decided to buy a Spa…(when I say “we” it means it’s been decided for me ), and for the last three weeks we’ve been doing our homework and shopping around …There are four quality brands to chose from, two are made in USA and two are Canadian. Three brands are offered at reputable retailers and the fourth one at a manufacturer outlet.I was determined to buy Canadian, but much to my surprise I found the prices on the Canadian brands higher than one would expect, and here is the conundrum:A Spa is made in a factory only 45 miles away, put probably on a flatbed, and sold at a factory outlet, in Canadian dollars (1CAD=1.02 USD) at a certain price.The same Spa is made, put on a train, taken over the border (taxes) to a retailer that is some 1200 miles away, and sold in USD at a slightly lesser price.I asked the salesmen to explain me this, they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) so I’d say: “don’t want the best price, just give me the same quote that somebody in Minnesota is given”.So… pondering upon this, I came to the conclusion that it’s impossible to buy Canadian, even if one wants to, and here is why:The Canadian manufacturers are “global companies” that sell globally. In order to stay competitive in the global market (e.g. US), they have to offset those lower margins with higher ones here at home (and there is room for that, as “made in USA” spas would have taxes and shipping costs “absorbed” into prices).The point is, the prices are driven by a global market (that is in turn driven by the US manufacturers), therefore they are global prices set by global companies, and consequently one can only buy a “Global Spa” that happens to be made in Canada…QED(?)The aforementioned point required of us to take into consideration all the Global Spas, and that’s what we did, accordingly.And when we were given some quotes (nothing included):2011 Cub Ultra - $11,5002011 Cameo - $11,6002010 J375 – $9,000…all we can say is, Jacuzzi/Sundance… here we come…Cheers.
Jacuzzi makes a fine product. Scores higher than the Cub IMO