Canada, Finland tout different paths of ‘icebreaker diplomacy' with US
MILAN — Canadian and Finnish shipbuilders have made different offers to the United States for the production of icebreakers, which must weigh what it values more: speed or its sovereign shipyard industry.
Following President Donald Trump's expressed interest in January of acquiring 40 new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard, Helsinki has set its sights on scoring what could be a major deal with Washington.
Before his visit to meet with the American leader in Florida last month, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that he hoped 'icebreaker diplomacy would help Finland maintain good relations with the U.S. and Trump.'
However, the country is not the only one in line, as a major Canadian shipbuilder specialized in the construction of such vessels wants a piece of the business.
'Finland is most definitely trying to build the U.S. icebreakers in Finland. … The discussions we've been having with the U.S. is around whether they could take our design and use it to build their icebreakers domestically in their own shipyards,' David Hargreaves, senior vice president of business development at Seaspan, told Defense News.
'That concept seems to be getting a fair level of traction both in Washington at a political level,' he added. 'We had last week a visit of a U.S. congressman, and we've been having various conversations with U.S. yards who are in a position to build these types of vessels,' he added.
Under U.S. law most Coast Guard vessels and their major components must be constructed in American shipyards to support national industries and enhance national security. However, exceptions may be authorized by the president.
Trump has been adamant that he wants the vessels to be delivered quickly, as the ones operated by the country's Coast Guard are approaching retirement age, but he also wants to rejuvenate national shipbuilding capabilities.
'It really depends where America puts its priority – if it's on schedule, then Finland is probably the right answer. If they continue to put priority, which they have, on having their own sovereign shipbuilding capability, then Finland is not the right answer,' Hargreaves said.
Another possibility, he noted, may be that Washington opts for a hybrid strategy, where they could buy one or several icebreakers from Finland to get those faster while simultaneously having a program to build the rest in the United States.
While Trump's has been talking about 40 new vessels, a 2023 Coast Guard fleet mix analysis concluded that the service would need between 8 to 9 polar icebreakers, including four to five heavy ones as well as medium ones, to conduct its Arctic missions effectively in the future.
Trade relations between Canada and the U.S. have been significantly strained over the last few months due to a series of tariffs and retaliatory actions. On April 9, Ottawa extended the rates placed on U.S. automobiles and parts, as Washington announced a 90-day pause on certain tariffs, but the 10% standard on most Canadian imports remained.
The shipbuilding industry has somehow largely been spared from such economic strains, with joint work between the two neighbors persisting, said Hargreaves.
'We are a business, we are looking at opportunities. Selling our design to them or our services around helping them to build icebreakers is a business opportunity – we are not going to get caught up in some of the current fuss and have a longer outlook,' he said, referring to Trump government.
Meanwhile, all three countries are still respectively trying to figure out how to implement the trilateral Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact, aimed at combining Finnish, Canadian. and American expertise on the Arctic.
Country representatives are set to meet again in May to discuss more concrete steps on icebreaker design and production, shipyard workforce development and research related to polar regions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
25 minutes ago
- Politico
Kweisi Mfume is pitching an old-school approach to one of House Democrats' highest-profile jobs
Frustrated by Democrats' seniority system, Kweisi Mfume fled the House three decades ago, saying he could do more to advance civil rights from the outside. Now he's back and trying to reap the benefits of seniority at a moment when many in his party are starting to openly question it. The Baltimore native last month surprised many House colleagues by entering the wide-open race to lead Democrats on the high-profile Oversight Committee, seeking to fill the spot vacated by the sudden death of Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly. Into the void jumped a pair of young, ambitious members — Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Robert Garcia of California — as well as a close Connolly ally, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts. And then there's Mfume, who at 76 is making no bones about this being the capstone of a long career that included stints leading the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP — jobs he took back in the 1990s. 'I started a long time ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth,' Mfume joked in an interview, before describing his old-school approach to legislative relations: 'The first thing you learn is how to count votes, which has never failed me yet,' he said, adding that he would be careful not to alienate colleagues 'by doing something that causes problems for them in their district.' Rather than detail a point-by-point agenda for taking on President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, Mfume said if elected he'd convene the committee's Democrats to decide a course of action. The party, he said, can only move forward with a 'consensus.' That style stands in sharp contrast to a Democratic base that's itching for more aggressive leadership and a more visible fight with Trump — something the other candidates are clearly heeding: Garcia has tangled with the Justice Department over his criticism of Elon Musk; Crockett has broached the prospect of a Trump impeachment inquiry; and Lynch, as the panel's interim top Democrat, attempted last week to subpoena Musk during a panel hearing. The race also threatens to become a proxy fight for broader questions about age and seniority inside the Democratic Party. House Democrats ousted several aging committee leaders at the end of last Congress as they girded for a fight with the Trump administration — and many in the base were disappointed when Connolly triumphed over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. The winner is poised to lead efforts to investigate and thwart the Trump administration if Democrats can retake the House majority next year — and ride herd on a chaotic panel that in recent months has featured intense personal attacks between lawmakers and the display of nude photos. 'It's a street fight every day,' said Rep. Lateefah Simon of California when asked about the panel and what it takes to lead it. 'It's every single day being able to expose the hypocrisy of this administration and to tell the truth.' There was a time when Mfume would have been a natural choice for such a moment. First elected to Baltimore's City Council at the age of 30, he quickly butted heads with legendary Mayor William Donald Schaefer. After longtime Rep. Parren Mitchell retired, Mfume easily won the seat in 1986 and within a few years become a national figure due to his chairmanship of the CBC. Ascending to that role just as Bill Clinton was elected to the presidency, he became an important power broker, forcing key concessions in Clinton's 1993 budget and pushing the White House to restore ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power. He also clashed with Clinton at times, including over his decision to pull the nomination of prominent Black legal scholar Lani Guinier to a top Justice Department post. But after Democrats lost their House majority in 1994 — and Mfume lost a quixotic bid to enter the party leadership — he decided two years later to forgo a long climb up the seniority ladder. He instead took the helm at the Baltimore-based NAACP, a job thought to better harness his skills at organizing and oratory. Former Maryland state Sen. Jill Carter said Mfume has long had the 'it factor' and 'charisma' that matters in politics. When Carter ran against Mfume in his 2020 House comeback bid, she got a reminder of how well her rival was known in the district and beyond: 'When some of my people did exit polling, they got the response, 'Oh, we love Jill but, come on, this is Kweisi.'' What's less clear is whether Mfume's reputation in Baltimore, burnished over 45 years in the public eye, makes him the man for the moment as far as his contemporary House colleagues are concerned. He's not known as a partisan brawler, and he said in the interview he doesn't intend to become one. 'There are always going to be fights and disagreements,' he said. 'It's kind of escalated in the last few years to a level that we haven't seen before. I think the main thing is to moderate and to manage the disagreements, because you're not going to cause any of them to go away. How you manage them and how they are perceived by the overall public is what makes a difference.' Mfume is leaning heavily, in fact, on the style and reputation of the man who filled the 7th District seat for the 24 years in between his House stints — the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, who served as top Democrat and then chair of Oversight during Trump's first term and is still spoken of in reverent terms inside the caucus. Mfume concedes that Cummings might have been the better communicator — he 'had a little more preacher in him than I do' — but said they share a similar lofty approach to politics. Like Cummings, he suggested prescription drug prices might be a committee priority. What Mfume is unlikely to have is the official support of the Congressional Black Caucus, a powerful force in intracaucus politics. With two members in the race — Crockett also belongs — Mfume said he does not expect a formal CBC endorsement after an interview process Wednesday. But he still expected to draw support from the bloc — especially its more senior members. Other factors complicate Mfume's candidacy. One is age: He is a year older than Connolly was when he was elected to lead Oversight Democrats last year. For those who prize seniority, Lynch has actually spent more time on the panel. And his 2004 departure from the NAACP was marred by controversy: The Baltimore Sun reported the executive committee of the group voted not to extend his contract under threat of a sexual harassment lawsuit; the NAACP later paid the woman who complained a $100,000 settlement. Mfume strenuously denied any wrongdoing, but while the episode has not emerged as a major issue in the Oversight race, some Democrats have privately expressed reservations about elevating a leader with personal baggage to potentially lead investigations of Trump. 'There's never been one person to corroborate that one allegation — not one,' Mfume said. About the payment, he said, 'I found out about it, quite frankly, after it happened.' Much of the Democratic Caucus remains undecided ahead of the June 24 secret-ballot vote. Candidates will first go before Democrats' Steering and Policy Committee, which will make a recommendation to the full caucus. 'I think that you have a situation where Mfume and Steve Lynch are getting support from folks who put seniority at top, and maybe the other two candidates would probably lean toward members who are newer, and then you got a whole host of folks that's in the middle. And I think that's where the battle is to see where they fall,' said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.). One younger member said he was swayed by Mfume's experience. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is 48 and had weighed his own bid, said that while other candidates were compelling, the Baltimorean had a 'leg up.' 'Kweisi shows me pictures of him with Nelson Mandela,' he said. 'I was like, I'm not going to run against Nelson Mandela's best friend.'
New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
Texas Governor Will Deploy National Guard to Immigration Protests
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said late Tuesday that he would deploy National Guard troops across the state, making him the first governor to do so as protests against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown spread across the United States. Mr. Abbott, a Republican and a vocal supporter of President Trump's immigration agenda, said on social media that he would not tolerate violence as protests are planned in San Antonio on Wednesday. The protests that began in Los Angeles last Friday against federal immigration raids have spread to more than a dozen U.S. cities, including Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. While many of the protests have been peaceful, police have clashed with demonstrators at some of them. Mr. Trump has threatened to override governors who don't want to send National Guard troops to stop protests, like the president did in California, where he sent nearly 5,000 National Guard troops and Marines over the strong objections of state leaders. That has made California ground zero for Mr. Trump's immigration agenda, which includes ramping up deportations of undocumented immigrants with the help of local law enforcement agencies and, in a rare action, active-duty military forces. Mr. Abbott's announcement said that the Texas National Guard will 'use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order.' 'Peaceful protest is legal,' he added. 'Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest.' The announcement did not specify where and when the troops will be deployed. Mr. Abbott's office, the San Antonio Police Department, the Texas National Guard and U.S. Northern Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Monday night, more than a dozen protesters were arrested in Austin during a demonstration at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Mr. Abbott had said. Law enforcement officials used tear gas and pepper ball projectiles, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Time Magazine
26 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
‘Went Too Far': Elon Musk Says He Regrets Some Posts About Trump
'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week,' Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X early Wednesday. 'They went too far.' Musk and Trump, who were once almost inseparable allies, were engaged in a public and vitriolic war of words last week. But the fierce hostilities between the man with the most money in the world and the man with the mightiest military appear to be cooling. The statement of remorse by Musk, who spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump in 2024, comes as observers have noticed another shift in his tone on social media toward the Administration. In retweets and replies, Musk signaled support for Trump's approach toward the protests in Los Angeles, including sharing multiple of the President's recent posts from Truth Social. He also responded with a heart emoji to a video of Trump telling reporters on Monday that he wished Musk well and that they had a 'good relationship.' It's a sharp contrast to how the two powerful men discussed each other last week, after Musk left his official government role and ramped up his criticisms of Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' massive tax-and-spending legislative package that is stumbling through Congress. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore,' Trump told reporters at the White House on June 5. 'I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot.' On Truth Social, Trump said at the time that Musk ' went CRAZY!' and threatened that the 'easiest way to save money' would be 'to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.' In turn, Musk alleged that the Administration was holding back the public release of so-called Epstein Files because Trump is implicated in them, and he endorsed a message that suggested 'Trump should be impeached' and Vance 'should replace him.' Those posts have since been deleted.
