WASHINGTON — Canada-U.S. border gateways are on the verge of turning into “parking lots” if U.S. Customs and Border Protection doesn’t do something about expediting crossings soon.

That’s the message Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Wilson told CBP this week, reports Canadian Press. He said the border agency needs to reduce redundant security measures and fees for trucks crossing into the U.S.

If it’s cheaper to ship 4,000 cars from halfway around the world than to send eight on a truck over the Ambassador Bridge, then something’s wrong with border processes along the 49th, Wilson told a symposium.

The problem is magnified because parts for many products — especially cars and machinery — are shipped back and forth across the border several times during the assembly process.

‘The competition from abroad is fierce,’ he said. ‘We cannot allow a host of seemingly unrelated regulations to collectively erode what we have achieved with (free trade) and put at risk our mutual economic prosperity in the years ahead,” he was quoted as saying.

Extra security checks, not enough infrastructure, inadequate staffing and faulty computer systems are to blame, say business leaders.

Trucking carriers signed up for special border programs like FAST are not experiencing expedited clearance, and at times are still being sent to secondary inspection, he noted.

Two bills in front of Congress could potentially make things worse, Wilson warned. The new rules would impose new user fees on food and drugs going to the United States.

— with files from Canadian Press