Carney meets with automotive sector CEOs as U.S. trade talks continue
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister's Office said the CEOs of Ford Canada, Stellantis Canada and GM Canada met with Carney, along with Brian Kingston of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association.
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CTV News
42 minutes ago
- CTV News
Carney meets with auto sector CEOs as U.S. trade talks continue
Calgary Watch Mark Carney met with automotive sector CEOs to discuss U.S. tariffs and ways to protect Canadian supply chains from the trade war with the United States. Hannah Lepine reports.
The Province
42 minutes ago
- The Province
B.C. hits LNG milestone with first export shipment from Kitimat. What's next?
First conceived of during different times, LNG Canada's first export shipment arrives just in time to fit Canada's political imperative to diversify trade away from the U.S. First conceived of during different times, LNG Canada's first export shipment arrives just in time to fit Canada's political imperative to diversify trade away from the U.S. Photo by rob trendiak photography B.C.'s energy sector hit a milestone this week with the first export shipment of liquefied natural gas from LNG Canada's mammoth new, $18-billion plant at Kitimat. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors The 291-metre-long LNG tanker GasLog Glasgow departed the north coast port Monday, capping off almost seven years of construction to build what has been billed as the country's biggest-ever private-sector investment at $40 billion in total, which includes $14.5 billion for the 670-kilometre pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat. First conceived more than a decade ago during an earlier frenzy of speculation around the potential for a B.C. LNG industry, its completion coincides with a renewed imperative to diversify Canadian trade in light of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats. Another of B.C.'s LNG hopefuls, Woodfibre LNG CEO Luke Schauerte viewed the event as being 'transformative for LNG Canada (and) transformative for B.C. LNG.' Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I think it's a market that we're absolutely part of the global energy exporter business for LNG,' Schauerte said. 'And it's providing that diversification in international markets that's so incredibly needed right now.' If all goes to plan, Woodfibre LNG, under construction at the old Woodfibre pulp mill site south of Squamish on Howe Sound, will join LNG Canada in exporting gas sometime in 2027. How much LNG is the GasLog Glasgow taking to market? LNG Canada doesn't disclose details about the 'details and ownership' of cargoes, according to a statement from a company spokesperson, but the plant's two production units, referred to in the industry as 'trains', are designed to produce 14 million tonnes of LNG a year. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When in full production, LNG Canada estimates it will export 170 to 175 shipments per year, which will mean a vessel will leave the Kitimat terminal almost every other day. Where is first LNG shipment going? That is another detail LNG Canada isn't making public, but the shipping-traffic website Marine Traffic indicates that the GasLog Glasgow is on its way to Incheon, South Korea, where it is estimated to arrive on July 20 as its first stop. Korea's gas utility Kogas is one of the minority partners in the LNG Canada consortium, along with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. and PetroChina. Major petroleum producer Shell holds a 40-per-cent stake, and Malaysian state-owned Petronas is the next biggest owner. Both are major producers of natural gas in B.C.'s Montney Shale region in the province's northeast. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The first version of LNG Canada's consortium submitted its application to export LNG to what was then known as the National Energy Board almost 15 years ago and received its export permit in February of 2013. The permit, which allowed for a plant to export 670 million tonnes of LNG over 25 years, touched off the development process, which involved an environmental review and benefit agreement with the Haisla First Nation. It took until September of 2018 for the LNG Canada consortium to reach a final investment decision. What are the political expectations now? LNG exports remain controversial over how they will contribute to B.C.'s carbon footprint, at a time when the province is attempting to reduce carbon emissions under its CleanBC program. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Politicians, however, reached for superlatives that leaned on the diversification theme as they provided comments for the historic first shipment. 'At a time when B.C. jobs are under attack, it's more important than ever that we get our resources to global markets and reduce our reliance on the United States,' Premier David Eby said for LNG Canada's news release marking the event. Prime Minister Mark Carney remarked that LNG Canada's completion demonstrates that, 'Canada has what the world needs.' 'With LNG Canada's first shipment to Asia, Canada is exporting its energy to reliable partners, diversifying trade and reducing global emissions — all in partnership with Indigenous peoples.' LNG Canada is the first of five LNG projects at some form of development. Carney, in his statement, repeated his ambition that with its exports, 'Canada can become the world's leading energy superpower with the strongest economy in the G7.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Haisla First Nation Chief Crystal Smith said, 'Our people, our country and the world are better off today, and will be for decades to come,' with LNG Canada. She heralded the consortium's efforts to 'build a relationship first before ever considering building a project.' The Haisla's LNG Canada partnership helped set the stage for the Haisla Nation to take ownership of its own project, Cedar LNG, along with joint-venture partner Pembina Pipeline Corp. Also under construction, it is expected to be complete in 2028. At Woodfibre, Schauerte said that in the meantime, industry participants will be watching LNG Canada's export experience as it develops. 'What we'll learn is the appetite of the international market for our product, our low carbon-intensity product,' Schauerte said. Schauerte contended that the lower emissions-profile of B.C. LNG, along with shorter shipping times to Asia and Canada's reliability as a supplier will help B.C.'s producers find a place in the market. depenner@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Opinion News
National Observer
an hour ago
- National Observer
New supply management law can't save the system from Trump, experts say
A new law meant to protect supply management might not be enough to shield the system in trade talks with a Trump administration bent on eliminating it, trade experts say. "It's certainly more difficult to strike a deal with the United States now with the passage of this bill that basically forces Canada to negotiate with one hand tied behind its back," said William Pellerin, a trade lawyer and partner at the firm McMillan LLP. "Now that we've removed the digital service tax, dairy and supply management is probably the number 1 trade irritant that we have with the United States. That remains very much unresolved." When Trump briefly paused trade talks with Canada on June 27 over the digital services tax — shortly before Ottawa capitulated by dropping the tax — he zeroed in on Canada's system of supply management. In a social media post, Trump called Canada a "very difficult country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products." Canada can charge about 250 per cent tariffs on US dairy imports over a set quota established by the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement. The International Dairy Foods Association, which represents the US dairy industry, said in March the US has never come close to reaching those quotas, though the association also said that's because of other barriers Canada has erected. When Bill C-202 passed through Parliament last month, Bloc Québécois MPs hailed it as a clear win protecting Quebec farmers from American trade demands. The Bloc's bill, which received royal assent on June 26, prevents the foreign affairs minister from making commitments in trade negotiations to either increase the tariff rate quota or reduce tariffs for imports over a set threshold. On its face, that rule would prevent Canadian trade negotiators from offering to drop the import barriers that shield dairy and egg producers in Canada from price shocks. But while the law appears to rule out using supply management as a bargaining chip in trade talks with the US, it doesn't completely constrain the government. Pellerin said that if Prime Minister Mark Carney is seeking a way around C-202, he might start by looking into conducting the trade talks personally, instead of leaving them to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. Carney dismissed the need for the new law during the recent election but vowed to keep supply management off the table in negotiations with the US. Pellerin said the government could also address the trade irritant by expanding the number of players who can access dairy quotas beyond "processors." "(C-202) doesn't expressly talk about changing or modifying who would be able to access the quota," he said. Expanding access to quota, he said, would likely "lead to companies like grocery stores being able to import US cheeses, and that would probably please the United States to a significant degree." Carleton University associate professor Philippe Lagassé, an expert on Parliament and the Crown, said the new law doesn't extend past something called the "royal prerogative" — the ability of the executive branch of government to carry out certain actions in, for example, the conduct of foreign affairs. That suggests the government isn't constrained by the law, he said. "I have doubts that the royal prerogative has been displaced by the law. There is no specific language binding the Crown and it would appear to run contrary to the wider intent of the (law that it modifies)," he said by email. "That said, if the government believes that the law is binding, then it effectively is. As defenders of the bill insisted, it gives the government leverage in negotiation by giving the impression that Parliament has bound it on this issue." He said a trade treaty requires enabling legislation, so a new bill could remove the supply management constraints. "The bill adds an extra step and some constraints, but doesn't prevent supply management from eventually being removed or weakened," he said. Trade lawyer Mark Warner, principal at MAAW Law, said Canada could simply dispense with the law through Parliament if it decides it needs to make concessions to, for example, preserve the auto industry. "The argument for me that the government of Canada sits down with another country, particularly the United States, and says we can't negotiate that because Parliament has passed a bill — I have to tell you, I've never met an American trade official or lawyer who would take that seriously," Warner said. "My sense of this is it would just go through Parliament, unless you think other opposition parties would bring down the government over it." While supply management has long been a target for US trade negotiators, the idea of killing it has been a non-starter in Canadian politics for at least as long. Warner said any attempt to do away with it would be swiftly met with litigation, Charter challenges and provinces stepping up to fill a federal void. "The real cost of that sort of thing is political, so if you try to take it away, people are screaming and they're blocking the highways and they are calling you names and the Bloc is blocking anything through Parliament — you pay a cost that way," he said. But a compromise on supply management might not be that far-fetched. "The system itself won't be dismantled. I don't think that's anywhere near happening in the coming years and even decades," said Pellerin. "But I think that there are changes that could be made, particularly through the trade agreements, including by way of kind of further quotas. Further reduction in the tariffs for outside quota amounts and also in terms of who can actually bring in product." The United States trade representative raised specific concerns about supply management in the spring, citing quota rules established under the CUSMA trade pact that are not being applied as the US expected and ongoing frustration with the pricing of certain types of milk products. Former Canadian diplomat Louise Blais said that if Canada were to 'respect the spirit' of CUSMA as the Americans understand it, the problem might actually solve itself. 'We jump to the conclusion that it's dismantlement or nothing else, but in fact there's a middle ground," she said.
