The Canada Border Services Agency recently prevented two shipments of imported goods linked to forced labour from entering the country. It was the first time the federal government has activated a tariff which took effect in July 20210 with ratification of the latest North American trade pact. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. President Joe Biden used a virtual meeting to press Chinese President Xi Jinping on human rights and trade but Xi, who has not left his country in nearly two years, warned against what he said is continued U.S. provocations over Taiwan. Xi likened the two countries “giant ships sailing in the sea” which needed steady hands to avoid a collision. [node:read-more:link]
A Chinese company’s attempt to acquire Argentinian lithium mining rights held by a Canadian company has sparked a bidding war. Contemporary Amperes Technology’s initial bid for Vancouver-based Millennial Lithium resulted in a competing offer by Lithium Americas, also headquartered in Vancouver. The resource at stake is a believed to have enough to yield 24,000 tonnes annually of the technologically-critical metal for 40 years. [node:read-more:link]
An inaugural transatlantic Trade and Technology Council meeting went ahead today despite resistance in France, which remains angry over losing a nuclear submarine contract. Senior European Union and U.S. officials were discussing a range of issues, including the global semiconductor shortage, artificial intelligence and competition. [node:read-more:link]
Britain’s post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union has been approved in a 521-73 vote in the House of Commons, a day before Britain’s formal Dec. 31 withdrawal from the EU. Negotiated over the past nine months, the deal sets out a new economic and security relationship. [node:read-more:link]
China has applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership which involves Canada, Australia and eight other countries. The application last week by Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, four years after the U.S. bailed out during the Trump administration, is seen as a bid to improve regional relationships [node:read-more:link]
In a report with potentially catastrophic consequences for the global petroleum sector if governments acted on their report, a team of researchers says that if global warming is to be contained, nearly 60 per cent of the planet's remaining oil and natural gas and 90 per of coal reserves should be left in the ground by mid-century. [node:read-more:link]
Toronto-based Canada Goose Holdings, whose garments have become a status symbol in many markets, has been fined the equivalent of $88,202 by a Chinese agency for allegedly misleading consumers about the materials it uses. It arises from the company’s advertising claims about the quality of down used in its parkas and jackets but the company blame a marketing error by an online partner. [node:read-more:link]
A World Trade Organization tribunal has ruled in favour of the U.S. in a dispute over Chinese complaints about restrictions on imports of solar panel cells which the U.S. said in 2018 were harming American suppliers. The tribunal rejected all four of China’s arguments. [node:read-more:link]
Canada has joined Mexico in seeking formal consultation with the U.S. about how automotive content rules are interpreted. Mexico requested the talks earlier this month after a disagreement in May and Global Affairs Canada has advised its continental trade partners that it also wants to be involved. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. has approved licences for Huawei, the Chinese telecom’s whose 5G technology has blacklisted by Washington for use in the U.S., to purchase U.S. computer chips for its automotive industry. The decision, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. suppliers, evidently involves chips suitable only for lower-tech uses such as video screens and sensors. [node:read-more:link]
China was accused by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris today of using coercion and intimidation to support its territorial claims in the South China Sea. During a seven-day trip to Singapore and Vietnam, she said the U.S. vision for the region is built on human rights and a rules-based international order and offered to host a 2023 meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. [node:read-more:link]
Organizers of the annual Halifax International Security Forum say the federal government has not acted on a unanimous House of Commons motion of financial support. Scheduled for late November, the forum is seen as a highly productive platform for discussing pressing global issues. [node:read-more:link]
The world’s third-busiest cargo port, Ningbo-Zhoushan in eastern China, has been partly shutdown after a single COVID-19 case was reported. Closing one terminal Aug. 11 until further notice reduced the port’s container capacity by about 25% and has sparked concerns about trade flows ahead of the economically-important Christmas season. [node:read-more:link]
Dealing with a fifth wave of COVID-19, Iran, ostensibly the worst-hit country in the Middle East, has imposed a one-week lockdown and banned most road travel. Its health ministry reported 466 deaths Aug. 14, down from a record 588 five days earlier. Social media users accuse the government of mismanagement with only 4.6 per cent of the population of 83 million vaccinated but officials blame U.S. sanctions for limiting supplies. [node:read-more:link]
