Three Canadian premiers are in Washington to press for an easing of the U.S. rules that will require a passport to cross the land border.

At a joint news conference on Sunday to start the four-day visit, Manitoba's Gary Doer, Ontario's Dalton McGuinty and New Brunswick's Shawn Graham said new rules requiring a passport will hurt cross-border trade and tourism.

The premiers said they are getting a sympathetic response from U.S. governors, who will also face the same kind of tourism and economic problems the provinces fear.

Doer met Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano,  the chairwoman of the National Governors' Association, on Sunday. The governors "are concerned about the economic impact of this proposal," he said.

McGuinty reiterated his call for a "much more secure" driver's licence, with "cutting-edge technology," which he said could eliminate the need for a passport to cross the border.

"We would work with the federal government to have citizenship encoded in the card itself," said the premier, who hopes to roll out the high-tech driver's licences by the end of the year.

Doer called for the U.S. to delay the passport rules as long as possible. They could come into place as early as next year, or as late as the middle of 2009.

Graham said "our countries are an exceptional case" because there are communities that straddle the border, and people on both sides are used to easy crossings.

The CBC's Henry Champ suggested the premiers would get a good reception because the governors recognize the problems, and because there are more Democrats in Congress.

Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson, who appeared alongside the premiers, said there has been positive feedback to a pilot project underway in Washington State and British Columbia to see if new driver's licences would pass muster for border security.

On Monday, the premiers will present their case to the governors who are visiting Washington for their association meeting.

In terms of trade and tourism:

• Canada is the largest export destination for 38 states, Graham said.
• Cross-border trade totals $1.9 billion a day, he said.
• American tourists spent $10 billion in Canada in 2004, and Canadians spent $11.7 billion  in the U.S., McGuinty said. 

The premiers fear cross-border traffic will slow to a crawl if everyone needs a passport. They are also worried some travellers simply won't bother.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said last week that children 15 and under and teens 16 to 18 travelling with schools, groups or teams can cross with certified copies of their birth certificates instead of passports.

It would make sense to extend that exemption to seniors, McGuinty said.