Are you prepared to pay, literally, out of your own pocket to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia?
It’s a question being put to Americans as lawmakers examine new penalties that could, indeed, raise the already-high cost of fuel and other goods.
Their answer is a resounding yes, according to new polls.
These surveys come as American politicians consider new plans to punish Russia economically: cancelling oil imports, suspending normal trade relations and installing new tariffs.
A poll released Monday by Quinnipiac said 71 per cent of American respondents said they would support a ban on Russian oil even if it means higher gas prices while just 22 per cent disagreed.
That comes after a Marist survey last week that said 69 per cent of Americans would support sanctions on Russia, even if it meant higher energy prices.
WATCH | Humanitarian crisis deepens in Ukraine:
Russian attacks intensify in Ukraine as humanitarian crisis deepens
12 hours ago
Duration 2:55
There’s mounting evidence Russia is trying to batter Ukraine into submission by bombing civilian areas, while efforts to set up safe corridors for people to leave have been unsuccessful. 2:55
Gas prices at highest level in 14 years
The question is no longer hypothetical.
Gas prices have cracked the $4-a-gallon level in the U.S., the highest in 14 years, which is just over $1.35 Cdn a litre, still far lower than what Canadians pay.
The anxiety over rising fuel prices is roiling markets and is showing up online, where Google searches for the price of gas have hit new highs in the U.S. and worldwide.
Those concerns spill across the economy, including into the price of food.
Agricultural economist David Roland-Holst from the University of California at Berkeley said fuel prices are one of several reasons he fears growing global hunger in the coming months.
He told CBC News that what has him worried are disruptions to farming in Ukraine and Russia, which together account for about 30 per cent of global wheat exports, coupled with the inflated cost of fuel
He compared food insecurity to a virus that spreads when markets and trade are disrupted: “In this case, a primary symptom is hunger and disproportionately [affects] the poor.”
Impact could be on food, not goods
In the U.S. Congress, there’s a push to end normal trade relations with Russia and relegate it to the list of countries facing an additional 30 per cent average tariff on various products.
Key congressional committees say they’ve also reached an agreement on legislation that would, if passed, end Russian oil imports to the U.S.
So how much of an impact would all this have on Americans’ wallets?
Russia is a minor exporter to the U.S., the 19th-largest source of imported goods to the U.S., accounting for just one per cent of all U.S. global imports.
That means any new tariffs would affect a limited number of U.S. products, said Chad Bown, a former World Bank senior economist and Obama White House trade official.
But Bown said he’d keep an eye on international food markets, where wheat prices are already approaching record highs.
“If the conflict takes their supply in 2022 off the world market, that could be devastating for global poverty and a number of net food-importing countries,” said Bown, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Europe would be more hurt by oil ban than U.S.
When it comes to oil, Russian imports are more important to the United States, but just slightly: they represent about two per cent of the total oil consumed daily by Americans.
Those 400,000 barrels per day in imports, out of the 21 million barrels Americans consume, pale in comparison to the importance of Russian fuel in Europe.
There’s a reason Germany’s chancellor is downplaying talk of a Russian fuel-import ban and saying it would take a while to switch fuel sources.
Russia is the major oil and gas supplier there, supplying one-quarter of the EU’s oil and more than 40 per cent of its natural gas.
Rory Johnston, an energy analyst at Price Street Inc. in Toronto, said a European ban on Russian oil would have a major effect on global oil prices, but a unilateral U.S. ban would not.
James Bushnell , an energy economist at the University of California, concurred.
“A narrow U.S. ban would not have a huge impact,” Bushnell said in an interview with CBC News.
He noted the U.S. cut off imports from Venezuela a few years ago, and it was formerly a more important player than Russia in the American energy market.
Now, the U.S. is talking to Venezuela again about possibly resuming imports.
In fact, the Biden administration is now in the awkward position of trying to extract more oil exports from less-than-friendly governments.
It’s also talking to Iran about lifting sanctions on its oil exports in exchange for limiting its nuclear program. And it’s asking Saudi Arabia to increase production.
The U.S. is on poor terms with the governments of all three countries, with relations ranging from cool to non-existent.
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki confirmed Monday that U.S. delegations have gone to the Middle East and South America to discuss added oil capacity.
Renewed debate on Keystone XL pipeline
Biden’s political opponents are beating up on him for talking to America’s adversaries rather than encouraging oil production closer to home.
And there’s a Canadian angle here: Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline is now a favourite talking point against him among Republicans.
America can easily replace <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/PutinOil?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#PutinOil</a> by producing more of our own <br><br>Instead the Biden plan is to beg Saudi Arabia to produce more,buy more from a narco terrorist <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MaduroRegime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#MaduroRegime</a> in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Venezuela?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Venezuela</a> & cut a deal with the worlds leading state sponsor of terror in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iran?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Iran</a>
Republicans have introduced a long-shot bill in Congress to force construction of the pipeline from Alberta to U.S. refineries.
“It’s almost like we are in this clown show where you get rewarded for saying pretty words and damn the actual outcomes,” one Arizona Republican, David Schweikert, said in Congress a few days ago, referring to the cancellation of Keystone XL and other oil-curbing regulations proposed by Democrats.
“What did you think would happen? … Look at the lunacy that are policies from the United States.”
The White House has brushed off the idea that its own policies are driving up gas prices. After all, Keystone’s cancellation hasn’t stopped a surge in oil imports from Canada through rail and other pipelines.
Those Canadian imports have jumped to record pre-pandemic levels of four million barrels per day. The Biden administration also approved more drilling permits on public land than Trump did his first three years in office.
“Keystone was not an oil field; it’s a pipeline,” Psaki said Monday. “The oil is continuing to flow in – just through other means.”
‘Defending democracy and liberty is never without cost’
With midterm elections eight months away, Biden is trying to keep his polarized country united behind economic sanctions, at a time when gas prices are high and his own popularity is low.
There are no guarantees this unity lasts.
Scratch the surface of those above-mentioned polls, and the threats to American resolve are apparent.
In that Marist survey, for example, support for sanctions dropped 14 points, from 83 per cent to 69 per cent, when respondents were told it could affect gas prices.
The drop was even greater among Republicans, the party favoured to win legislative power this year. When told sanctions could affect gas prices, that support dropped from 79 per cent to a narrow majority of 58 per cent.
Biden began preparing his country for this weeks ago.
Even before the Russian invasion, he made clear that standing up for Ukraine might trigger price-hikes but expressed faith in his country’s willpower.
“The American people understand that defending democracy and liberty is never without cost,” Biden said last month.
Now, we’ll get to test that premise.
WATCH | Trudeau, allies mull further sanctions:
Trudeau meets with European allies, announces new sanctions on Russia
12 hours ago
Duration 1:56
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with his British and Dutch counterparts to discuss a humanitarian coalition to address the mounting crisis in Ukraine. It comes as Canada announced new sanctions against 10 Russian individuals on the advice of Alexei Navalny, a jailed Russian opposition leader and activist. 1:56
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.