Canadians flying or sailing into the United States may soon have to pay an entry fee, a move that has created political and financial tensions between the neighboring countries.

The proposed fee would charge Canadians a $5.50 passenger inspection fee and is part of President Obama’s 2012 draft budget presented to Congress last month.

The fee is being supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is expected to raise million of dollars each year.

In 2009, around 16 million Canadians visited the United States.

If each one of those travelers had paid the proposed fee, the U.S. government could have made around $90 million.

Canadians make up the largest tourism market for the United State and currently are exempt from entry fees, along with travelers from Mexico and some Caribbean countries.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has protested against the fees, saying that they would hurt trade between the two nations.

The United States and Canada make up the biggest trading bloc in the world with $2 billion of daily bilateral trade.

Canadian airlines have also expressed concern citing that the fee would make it harder to compete with low-budget options at border airlines, as some travelers may opt to cross over to nearby U.S. airports and fly on to American destinations to avoid the fee.

By Adriana Padilla for PeterGreenberg.com.

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