Amazon Interfered in Canadian Union Efforts, Labor Board Rules
The British Columbia Labour Relations Board found that Amazon Canada Fulfillment Services ULC violated provincial labor laws by interfering in organization efforts at a facility in Delta, south of Vancouver. The board green-lit the union on Friday through remedial certification — a move reserved for situations where an employer's actions make a fair vote unlikely.
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U.S. slaps 20.56% anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber
The U.S. Commerce Department has decided to hike anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood to 20.56 per cent, with B.C. lumber organizations calling them unjustified, punitive and protectionist. The hiked softwood lumber duties come amid the growing trade war between Canada and the U.S., and represent the latest blow to B.C.'s beleaguered forestry industry. B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar described the long-awaited rate hike as a "gut punch" for B.C.'s forestry industry which has seen thousands of workers laid off over the last few years. "U.S. President Donald Trump has made it his mission to destroy Canada's economy, and there is no sector that has faced more of that than the forestry sector," he told CBC News. "This is a big deal for our workers. This is going to have a significant impact. It will lead to curtailments," he added. The B.C. government has been urging the federal government to prioritize the softwood lumber industry in trade discussions with the U.S., and Parmar said the hiked duties would also impact U.S. homeowners needing lumber to rebuild or renovate their homes. "This is going to mean that Americans, in particular middle-class Americans, are going to be paying more to the tune of $15,000 to $20,000 more USD to purchase or to build a home." The B.C. Lumber Trade Council says in a statement that if the U.S. department's pending review on countervailing duties is in line with its preliminary results, the combined rate against Canadian softwood shipped to the United States will be well over 30 per cent. In April, the preliminary combined rate on Canadian softwood lumber was reported to be 34.45 per cent, up from the previous 14.54 per cent. Friday's decision is a final determination, with Parmar saying it would go into effect in the U.S. Federal Register shortly.U.S. lumber producers have long maintained that Canadian stumpage fees, for harvesting on Crown land, are an unfair government subsidy. B.C.'s Independent Wood Processors Association says in a statement that the U.S. Commerce Department's decision this week to raise duties also includes a requirement for Canadian companies to retroactively remit duties for products shipped to the United States since Jan.1, 2023. WATCH | B.C. premier urges feds to prioritze lumber deal: Association chair Andy Rielly says in a statement that the requirement to pay duties on products shipped in the last 31 months could not only force small B.C. producers to shut down, but may also threaten operators' personal assets as they may have to risk using their homes as collateral to secure bonds to pay. Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this month that a future trade agreement with the United States could include quotas on softwood lumber, an area that has caused friction between the two countries for years before the latest trade war. Producer urges province to change conditions The United States has long been the single largest market for B.C. lumber exports, representing over half the market for the approximately $10-billion industry. But amid a series of challenges for the province's forestry industry — including a mountain pine beetle infestation that has killed hundreds of thousands of trees — mills have been closing around the province in recent years, and major forestry companies are opening up new mills in the United States. In 2023, numbers from Statistics Canada showed B.C. had lost more than 40,000 forest-sector jobs since the early 1990s. Kim Haakstad, the CEO of the B.C. Council of Forest Industries, said the B.C. government should work to improve the production environment in the province to prevent future mill closures. In a statement, the council said that by activating timber sales, fast-tracking permits and cutting through regulatory gridlock, the province could send a signal that it is serious about rebuilding a sustainable forest argued that if the industry could get production levels back to historic levels, it could help keep forestry-dependent communities vibrant into the future. "That will bring more than $300 million to the provincial government, as well, to help address the deficit situation we're in," Haakstad said. Kurt Niquidet, the president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, highlighted that Trump also has initiated a federal investigation into the U.S. imports of lumber and timber citing "national security," which could further impact B.C.'s forestry industry when combined with the tariffs. "Softwood lumber is quite important for the United States. They can only supply about 70 per cent of their softwood lumber demand, and they're importing 30 per cent from elsewhere," he told CBC News. "25 per cent of that's really coming from Canada, and British Columbia is the largest softwood lumber producer within Canada."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why Major Retailers Are Secretly Planning Their Own Stablecoins (and What It Means for Investors)
Key Points Some top retailers are eyeing stablecoins as a way to cut costs, boost profitability, and improve operational efficiency. Retailers can also use stablecoins as part of their branded loyalty programs, or to improve the overall shopping experience. In addition to retailers, a growing number of banks, payment providers, and tech firms plan to issue stablecoins. 10 stocks we like better than Circle Internet Group › The passage of landmark stablecoin legislation this summer could have far-reaching implications beyond just the financial sector. The Genius Act opens the door for nonbanks to issue stablecoins of their own, and that could greatly expand the number of retailers that offer stablecoins to their customers. In June, the Wall Street Journal reported that both Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) were secretly planning stablecoins of their own. Presumably, all they needed was the ink to dry on the new stablecoin legislation, and they could get started. Here's why stablecoins could change everything for them. Profitability and cost savings As they say, always follow the money. And the money in this case is the potential cost savings from using stablecoins rather than credit cards for payments. Typically, credit card processing fees are as high as 2%-3% per transaction. So the ability to cut costs by moving everything to blockchain payment technology is certainly alluring. But here's the thing: You need to have enough scale to make any stablecoin project worth it. That's why Amazon and Walmart are two of the most prominent names involved in the stablecoin discussion right now. Quite simply, they are retail behemoths. When you're making billions of dollars in sales, savings of 2%-3% can really rack up. Moreover, there has been discussion that stablecoins could be used to pay employees, logistics partners, and other members of the retail supply chain, especially those located overseas. Imagine tiny cost savings suddenly popping up all over your business by going all-in on blockchain technology. As a result of all these potential cost savings and operational efficiencies, even Visa (NYSE: V) is exploring new projects that leverage stablecoins, including stablecoin-linked cards. In many ways, the writing is on the wall: Stablecoins are coming to retail, in one form or another. A better customer experience Let's assume that the big retail giants are more than just penny-pinching corporations attempting to boost the bottom line. Many of them really do want to create a better customer experience, and stablecoins could play a role here, too. First, they could choose to reinvent their customer loyalty programs to feature stablecoins. Instead of "cash back" at the end of the year, they might be able to offer other incentives that reward customers for using stablecoins at the point of sale. And stablecoins might improve the overall shopping experience. That's because blockchain technology speeds up transaction settlement times, from days to just seconds. This could, for example, vastly improve the speed that you get refunds for purchases. How many times have you requested a refund, and been told, "Oh, it should show up in your account in a few days"? Imagine having access to that money nearly instantaneously. Of course, getting customers to embrace stablecoins might be a tough sell. According to top retail industry analysts, one way to get over the adoption hurdle is by pitching stablecoins as a sort of gift card or branded loyalty card that you would present at the point of sale. You wouldn't need to know anything about blockchain technology, crypto, or how stablecoins actually work. Everything would be seamless, and happen behind the scenes. Implications for investors Undeniably, stablecoins represent a huge step for retailers. They will need a tremendous amount of tech savvy in order to get all the blockchain payment technology working as planned. So why not leave all the heavy lifting to Silicon Valley tech firms, some of whom are also planning to launch new stablecoins? Moreover, as the latest Motley Fool research on stablecoins points out, the largest banks still dwarf even the biggest stablecoin issuers. So why not leave the job of stablecoins to banks and other financial institutions, some of whom have said they plan to launch their own stablecoins soon? All of which leads me to think: Maybe investing directly in retailers is not the best way to play the stablecoin trend. Maybe it's better to invest in tech-savvy companies that have strong retail platforms. You could, for example, invest in PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), which launched a stablecoin of its own in August 2023. Or, you could invest in Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP), which is now offering stablecoin payment options at the point of sale for e-commerce websites. As for me, I'm still focused on stablecoin issuers such as Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL), which went public in June via a splashy initial public offering. Circle is the issuer of USDC (CRYPTO: USDC), which is the second-most popular stablecoin in the world right now, with a market cap of about $65 billion. It's also the stablecoin of choice for Shopify. At the end of the day, stablecoins could turn out to be a classic "make or buy" decision faced by top retailers. Is it better to make your own stablecoin, or simply buy one that already exists from someone else? My guess is that most retailers will opt for the latter. Should you buy stock in Circle Internet Group right now? Before you buy stock in Circle Internet Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Circle Internet Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,774!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,942!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,040% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Dominic Basulto has positions in Amazon, Circle Internet Group, and USDC. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, PayPal, Shopify, Visa, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2027 $42.50 calls on PayPal and short September 2025 $77.50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Major Retailers Are Secretly Planning Their Own Stablecoins (and What It Means for Investors) was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
B.C.'s independent wood manufacturers decry retroactive U.S. softwood duties
VANCOUVER — British Columbia's independent wood product makers say hundreds of small- and medium-sized manufacturers may be forced to shut down in light of the latest decision from the United States to raise anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood. The province's Independent Wood Processors Association says in a release that the U.S. Commerce Department's decision this week to raise duties also includes a requirement for Canadian companies to retroactively remit duties for products shipped to the United States since Jan.1, 2023. Association chair Andy Rielly says in a statement that the requirement to pay duties on products shipped in the last 31 months could not only force small B.C. producers to shut down, but may also threaten operators' personal assets as they may have to risk using their homes as collateral to secure bonds to pay. Rielly is urging the Canadian government to create support programs to make sure B.C.'s independent wood processors can keep workers employed and their companies running. The U.S. Commerce Department said earlier in the week it will raise anti-dumping duties on Canadian softwood to 20.56 per cent, drawing the ire of several B.C. industry groups such as the B.C. Council of Forest Industries and the B.C. Lumber Trade Council. The Independent Wood Processors Association says the the "all-others" rate affecting its members will be raised from 14.4 per cent to 27.3 per cent, with the possibly of another increase "in the coming weeks" potentially pushing the duties for their products to as high as 35 per cent. 'Until the Canadian government can negotiate a settlement to this long-festering dispute, we need a government support program to keep our workers employed,' Rielly says, adding an overall duty of 35-per-cent would force members to pay retroactive duties of 27 per cent on products already shipped. Association executive director Brian Menzies describes independent wood product producers as "collateral damage" in the trade war, and says the only hope they have of avoiding the hit is either "a favourable appeal from the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement" or "pursuing a bilateral negotiated resolution." 'We should not face export taxes or quotas," Menzies says. "Our raw materials are not subsidized, and we are too small to 'dump' our products in the U.S. market. "We acquire logs and lumber at 'arm's length' from various suppliers on the open market, just like claims made by members of the U.S. Lumber Coalition, and yet our Canadian companies along with U.S. consumers must pay these unfair and costly duties.' Prime Minister Mark Carney had previously said that a future U.S.-Canada trade deal could include softwood lumber quotas. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2025. Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
