PLB said "They (Canada) allow importation from Australia, NZ, and Chile, but not the USA....."

Strictly speaking that is not quite true. Importation from Australia is only allowed from Western Australia, which has never had a significant package bee industry in the past, and to all intents and purposes still doesn't, despite a big increase in exports of bees to Canada recently. The main package bee exporters  in Australia are on the east coast, in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. They were devastated by their exclusion from the USA and Canadian markets,  but they have adapted to the new reality, and my guess is that they would need significant inducement to even think about restructuring again to service USA or Canada.
Bee exporting is a highly specialised business. It just cannot be turned on and off like a tap just because seasonal conditions create unexpected losses.
Market demands are always an ebb and flow scenario, anyone in business knows that, but totally shutting down a market, essentially overnight, is a very short sighted approach to problem solving which can have much more serious ramifications in the longer term. 

PeterD
in Western Australia. (A humble beekeeper grateful that he's not a beaurocrat saddled with the reponsibility of having to make such momentous decisions!)

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