OTTAWA – U.S. President Donald Trump says he is reimposing tariffs on Canadian aluminum.
Trump says he signed a proclamation on Thursday that will put back in place the 10 per cent tariffs on raw aluminum imports from Canada.
He says “Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual.”
One of the U.S.’s former envoys to Canada says that Trump is posturing ahead of the approaching November presidential election.
“This is a complete distraction,” former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman told BNN Bloomberg in an interview shortly after Trump’s announcement. “It is so unfortunate. It is a political stunt and I’m sorry to Canada that once again you’re bearing the brunt of our failed leadership.”
Heyman, who served as ambassador from 2014 until the end of former president Barack Obama’s tenure in January of 2017, has been openlycritical of Trump’stariff tactics in the past and appeared on BNN Bloomberg in front of a placard promoting former vice-president and presumptive Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden’s 2020 run for office. Heyman painted a grim picture of Trump’s present political standing south of the border.
“I interpret it as a president who’s in deep trouble politically,” Heyman said. “He’s within 90 days of his potential re-election knowing he’s well behind in the polls. We have 158,000 people who have died as a result of a mishandled pandemic. We have millions out of work that are now in jeopardy of maybe not even receiving supplemental compensation from this Congressional negotiation.”
In a speech at a Whirlpool factory in the battleground state of Ohio, Trump touted his record of defending American workers by fighting China, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement and getting Canada to stop mistreating the U.S. dairy industry.
A subset of American metals companies have complained that Canadian aluminum has recently been dumped on the U.S. market.
Canadian aluminum-makers have said they switched production during the COVID-19 pandemic as demand for higher-end products crashed, and the resulting aluminum has been sent to the United States primarily for storage.
The office of U.S. trade representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said in a statement that Canadian aluminum is flooding the U.S. market, contrary to demand.
“Since the president exempted Canada, imports from Canada of the product that accounts for the largest share of Canada’s aluminum exports to the United States have surged above historical levels,” the USTR office said in a statement following the announcement. “The surge has intensified in recent months, despite a contraction in U.S. demand.”
Heyman said Canada should tread carefully with its response to the latest round of tariffs.
He added that silence from the Canadian government would send a poor message to its citizens and the global community, but that escalating the fight with Trump could lead to him taking further economic action.
“I think he’s hoping that [Canada will] punch back so that he can whip this up into, again, a multi-day conversation of a political tiff with a neighbour who is ‘taking advantage’ of [the U.S.], which is totally inaccurate,” he said.
“I think you’re going to have to think about it carefully.”
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
TORONTO – Thomson Reuters reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as its revenue rose eight per cent.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$301 million or 67 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The result compared with a profit of US$367 million or 80 cents US per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.72 billion, up from US$1.59 billion a year earlier.
In its outlook, Thomson Reuters says it now expects organic revenue growth of 7.0 per cent for its full year, up from earlier expectations for growth of 6.5 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Thomson Reuters says it earned 80 cents US per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 82 cents US per share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 76 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
