This item is part of Watching Washington, a regular dispatch from CBC News correspondents reporting on U.S. politics and developments that affect Canadians.
What’s new
There’s a glimmer of hope for the Canadians who’ve spent months lobbying U.S. politicians to drop an idea they fear could devastate the auto industry north of the border.
The source of that hope is from West Virginia, where both state senators — one a Democrat, the other a Republican — have made comments suggesting a controversial electric vehicle tax-credit plan in a key American budget bill could be amended or killed.
Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democrat, had a lengthy conversation this week with Canada’s ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman.
He holds a crucial vote in the Senate that could decide the fate of a $1.75 trillion budget bill that is the most important legislation of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Manchin, a self-styled centrist, has been using his clout for months to water down the bill and has made it clear he won’t vote for it until he’s satisfied.
Because the Senate is divided 50-50 between the parties, every Democrat must agree to pass the sprawling budget bill — which affects child-care policy, health care, immigration and climate change.
Enter the vehicle tax credit.
Manchin has now made clear in public comments that he has problems with the current version of the bill’s vehicles plan.
Legislation introduced by Democrats would benefit unionized electric vehicle assembly plants in the U.S., like this Ford plant in Michigan. It would disadvantage non-U.S. assembly, U.S. parts exporters to foreign plants, and non-unionized plants in the U.S. Canada calls the plan illegal under trade law. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)
It offers hefty tax credits to Americans who purchase electric vehicles, yet over time it would be exclusively reserved for vehicles assembled in the U.S. by union workers.
That’s caused tremors of concern that assembly plants might move out of Canada and Mexico, and also out of places that don’t have union-run plants, especially in the southern U.S.
Manchin happened to be at one such plant on Thursday: a West Virginia facility where Toyota announced a $240 million investment.
In an interview there with Automotive News, Manchin ripped the idea of a credit that discriminated against his own state, and said he expressed that displeasure to the Michigan Democrat who proposed it, Debbie Stabenow.
He called the plan wrong and un-American.
“When I heard about this, what they were putting in the bill, I went right to the sponsor [Stabenow] and I said, ‘This is wrong. This can’t happen. It’s not who we are as a country. It’s not how we built this country, and the product should speak for itself,'” Manchin was quoted as saying.
“We shouldn’t use everyone’s tax dollars to pick winners and losers. If you’re a capitalist economy that we are in society, then you let the product speak for itself, and hopefully, we’ll get that, that’ll be corrected.”
When asked by the auto-industry trade publication how Stabenow responded, Manchin replied: “Not good. I respect that, because she’s fighting for her [constituents] and I’m fighting for mine…. Hopefully, we’ll prevail.”
Manchin has not been explicit, either in conversations with Canadian officials or in his public comments on Thursday, about what exact changes he’ll demand.
The reporter who spoke to Manchin on Thursday said the senator never spelled out the extent of the change he’s seeking — and whether he simply wants to scrap the union part of the plan or also the Buy American part, or the entire thing.
Manchin’s office did not respond to a request for additional comment.
But the office of West Virginia’s other senator did reply, and though she’s a Republican, she often appears with Manchin and is aligned on issues with him.
The office of West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito said she’s been clear about what changes she’ll try to make to the budget bill, pointing to a media release this week that said she planned to force a vote on three aspects of the bill — including one that would eliminate the vehicle credit.
What’s the context
Canadian officials in Washington and Ottawa have been trying for months to get Democrats to relent on this plan.
They fear the $4,500 credit for U.S.-assembled vehicles, which would grow to $12,500 in 2027, would not only steer investment out of Canada but also play havoc with supply chains across the continent and hurt American companies that sell parts to assembly plants in Canada.
Ottawa has said the idea violates international trade agreements, and there’s talk in the auto industry of launching a trade case.
Canadian officials have been lobbying U.S. politicians to either drop the Buy American component — or at the very least amend it to include other North American-assembled vehicles.
One example of that lobbying was a long phone call on Tuesday between Manchin and Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S.
But there’s been no evidence the plan might soften. If anything, the Buy American-style provisions have become even more prominent in the budget bill.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to press Biden on the vehicles irritant when they meet in Washington next week. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
After Manchin watered down the bill’s other climate components, the electric-vehicle credit survived as arguably its most important climate provision.
The plan appears in the latest version of the sprawling bill, just published by Democrats in the House of Representatives.
But the Senate — and Manchin — also get a say.
Whatever he and Democrats in that chamber agree to is likely to shape any final version of the bill that could pass both houses of Congress and become law.
What’s next
The autos irritant will be on the agenda next week when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Washington.
He plans to press Canada’s case in a Thursday meeting with Biden.
But if developments in recent days are any indication, his most powerful allies on this issue aren’t in the White House; they’re in West Virginia.
And they include that rarest of senators, Manchin — a Democrat elected in a conservative southern state with non-unionized auto workers and right-to-work laws.
And that Democrat just happens to hold the fate of Biden’s legislative agenda in his hands.
It’ll become clear within the coming weeks whether Manchin intends to help Biden get his budget bill passed — and, if so, what he’ll do to the auto plan that has Ottawa so worried.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
TORSBY, Sweden (AP) — David Beckham and former England coach Roy Hodgson were among the soccer dignitaries who attended the funeral of Sven-Goran Eriksson on Friday in the Swedish manager’s small hometown of Torsby.
Eriksson’s wooden coffin was covered in white flowers and surrounded by six tall candles and other floral wreaths as the ceremony began inside the 600-seat Fryksande church.
“It is a day of grief but also a day of thankfulness,” the priest, Ingela Älvskog, told those in attendance.
Beckham, who arrived by private jet on Thursday, greeted Eriksson’s 95-year-old father Sven and other family members with hugs inside the church before the funeral started.
Eriksson became England’s first foreign-born coach when he led the national team from 2001-06, and made Beckham his captain.
Eriksson, who also won trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on Aug. 26 at the age of 76, eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most one year to live.
Some 200 seats in the neo-Gothic church from 1898 were reserved for his family, friends and players from his career in the football world, according to his agent. The remaining seats were open for the public, according to Eriksson’s wish, with a big screen set up outside the church where hundreds more gathered to watch the ceremony. The funeral was also broadcast live on some Swedish media websites.
The wooden coffin was wheeled in by pallbearers at the church Friday morning as fog wrapped Torsby — a town of about 4,000 people located about 310 kilometers (193 miles) west of Stockholm. Next to the casket was a photo of Eriksson on a small table. The floral wreaths included ones sent by FIFA and Lazio, the Italian team that Eriksson led to the Serie A title in 2000.
The ceremony began with somber piano and organ music, but later took on a more upbeat note with Swedish singer Charlotta Birgersson performing Elton John’s song “Candle In The Wind” and then “My Way” in a duet with Johan Birgersson, who later intoned the popular Italian song “Volare” after the family had gathered around the casket to lay flowers.
Beckham also visited Eriksson in Sweden in June to say goodbye. Others attending the funeral included the Swedish coach’s longtime partner Nancy Dell’Olio. Eriksson’s agent had said that guests from England, Italy and Spain were expected.
After the funeral, the casket was carried out of the church by eight men to the hearse. The guests then walked in a procession accompanying the coffin to a nearby museum where speeches and eulogies to the coach fondly known as “Svennis” were planned on an outdoor stage. A brass band played during the procession through Torsby, including the tune “You never walk alone” from the musical “Carousel” which has become the anthem of Liverpool, the club Eriksson supported since childhood.
The local soccer club Torsby IF, where Eriksson started his career in the 1960s, wrote on its webpage that “you also showed your greatness by always being yourself, the caring Svennis who talked to everyone and took the time, for big and small, asking how things were and how the football was going. We will miss you.”
