r3830, I thoroughly agree. Local producers and local manufacturers have been dead in the water for a long time, due to appalling government decisions that don't seem to have foreseen the rise of easy access to internationally produced goods by the common or garden internet user.
Now that it HAS happened, and that online buying is a real and current issue (and is already destroying many local businesses), something needs to be done. But I'm not sure that a tax on online goods under $1000 is the answer. I do think that somehow locally manufactured goods have got to come into the picture. And I am at a loss to work out how this can be accomplished.