‘I cannot explain President Trump's rhetoric about the 51st state,' says Republican U.S. senator
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Vancouver Sun
22 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
U.S. automakers say Trump's 15% tariff deal with Japan puts them at a disadvantage
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. automakers are concerned about President Donald Trump's agreement to tariff Japanese vehicles at 15 per cent, saying they will face steeper import taxes on steel, aluminum and parts than their competitors. 'We need to review all the details of the agreement, but this is a deal that will charge lower tariffs on Japanese autos with no U.S. content,' said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the Big 3 American automakers, General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis. Blunt said in an interview the U.S. companies and workers 'definitely are at a disadvantage' because they face a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25 per cent tariff on parts and finished vehicles, with some exceptions for products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that went into effect in 2020. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The domestic automaker reaction reveals the challenge of enforcing policies across the world economy, showing that for all of Trump's promises there can be genuine tradeoffs from policy choices that risk serious blowback in politically important states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, where automaking is both a source of income and of identity. Trump portrayed the trade framework as a major win after announcing it on Tuesday, saying it would add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy and open the Japanese economy in ways that could close a persistent trade imbalance. The agreement includes a 15 per cent tariff that replaces the 25 per cent import tax the Republican president had threatened to charge starting on Aug. 1. Japan would also put together $550 billion to invest in U.S. projects, the White House said. The framework with Japan will remove regulations that prevent American vehicles from being sold in that country, the White House has said, adding that it would be possible for vehicles built in Detroit to be shipped directly to Japan and ready to be sold. But Blunt said that foreign auto producers, including the U.S., Europe and South Korea, have just a 6 per cent share in Japan, raising skepticism that simply having the open market that the Trump administration says will exist in that country will be sufficient. 'Tough nut to crack, and I'd be very surprised if we see any meaningful market penetration in Japan,' Blunt said. Major Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trade framework, nor did Autos Drive America or the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, organizations that also represent the industry. There is the possibility that the Japanese framework would give automakers and other countries grounds for pushing for changes in the Trump administration's tariffs regime. The president has previously said that flexibility in import tax negotiations is something he values. The USMCA is up for review next year. Ford, GM and Stellantis do 'have every right to be upset,' said Sam Fiorani, vice president at consultancy AutoForecast Solutions. But 'Honda, Toyota, and Nissan still import vehicles from Mexico and Canada, where the current levels of tariffs can be higher than those applied to Japanese imports. Most of the high-volume models from Japanese brands are already produced in North America.' Fiorani noted that among the few exceptions are the Toyota 4Runner, the Mazda CX-5 and the Subaru Forester, but most of the other imports fill niches that are too small to warrant production in the U.S. 'There will be negotiations between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico, and it will probably result in tariffs no higher than 15 per cent,' Fiorani added, 'but nobody seems to be in a hurry to negotiate around the last Trump administration's free trade agreement.' ___ St. John contributed from Detroit. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Edmonton Journal
22 minutes ago
- Edmonton Journal
U.S. automakers say Trump's 15% tariff deal with Japan puts them at a disadvantage
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. automakers are concerned about President Donald Trump's agreement to tariff Japanese vehicles at 15 per cent, saying they will face steeper import taxes on steel, aluminum and parts than their competitors. Article content 'We need to review all the details of the agreement, but this is a deal that will charge lower tariffs on Japanese autos with no U.S. content,' said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the Big 3 American automakers, General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis. Article content Article content Blunt said in an interview the U.S. companies and workers 'definitely are at a disadvantage' because they face a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25 per cent tariff on parts and finished vehicles, with some exceptions for products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that went into effect in 2020. Article content Article content The domestic automaker reaction reveals the challenge of enforcing policies across the world economy, showing that for all of Trump's promises there can be genuine tradeoffs from policy choices that risk serious blowback in politically important states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, where automaking is both a source of income and of identity. Article content Trump portrayed the trade framework as a major win after announcing it on Tuesday, saying it would add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy and open the Japanese economy in ways that could close a persistent trade imbalance. The agreement includes a 15 per cent tariff that replaces the 25 per cent import tax the Republican president had threatened to charge starting on Aug. 1. Japan would also put together $550 billion to invest in U.S. projects, the White House said. Article content Article content The framework with Japan will remove regulations that prevent American vehicles from being sold in that country, the White House has said, adding that it would be possible for vehicles built in Detroit to be shipped directly to Japan and ready to be sold. Article content Article content But Blunt said that foreign auto producers, including the U.S., Europe and South Korea, have just a 6 per cent share in Japan, raising skepticism that simply having the open market that the Trump administration says will exist in that country will be sufficient. Article content 'Tough nut to crack, and I'd be very surprised if we see any meaningful market penetration in Japan,' Blunt said. Article content Major Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trade framework, nor did Autos Drive America or the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, organizations that also represent the industry.
CBC
22 minutes ago
- CBC
Family 'in crisis mode' as feds pull funding for autistic First Nations boy
Social Sharing Katie Maracle's nightmare has now come true. Her husband Murray Maracle is from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville, Ont., and their only child, eight-year-old Ethan Maracle, is autistic, non-verbal and has epilepsy. He's used the Jordan's Principle initiative to access therapy and education since 2018-19. Jordan's Principle exists to ensure First Nations youth can access essential health and social services without delay or disruption, with jurisdictional questions over which government should pay to be worked out later. But that's exactly what Katie Maracle feels is happening: a disruption due to jurisdictional squabbling. She said the family was shocked to learn on May 9 that the federal government "had a timeline" for their money. The deadline had passed, meaning $60,000 in funding they thought they had, had expired. "It's been a family in crisis mode," said Maracle, a teacher by trade who works for a local non-profit organization, in a recent interview from her home in Orillia, Ont., a small city north of Toronto. Without money for therapy, cut off from services and nervously preparing to send their son with complex needs to public school for the first time in September, the Maracles are grappling with a life turned upside down by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). "That's his education, and his right to an education was suddenly kind of stripped from our hands," said Maracle, who also spoke to CBC Indigenous about her fears in March. The family is one among thousands caught up in sweeping changes Ottawa introduced earlier this year, amid a backlog of 140,000 unprocessed Jordan's Principle requests. Those changes meant some services were being scaled back, while Canada would no longer guarantee a previously approved request would be approved again. Katie Maracle said the abrupt loss of services has been challenging and harmful. "Try and explain that to somebody who's eight years old, non-speaking: no more teachers, no more friends. No, just stopped," she said. "At first, he thought it was great being at home with mom and dad full time. He's like, 'This is fantastic.' But it's starting to show, and how he shows his discontent, sadness and frustration is through behaviour regression." Canada's approach 'unduly narrow,' says lawyer The Federal Court has recently rapped Canada's knuckles twice in rapid succession for denying Jordan's Principle applications by "taking an unduly narrow approach," said lawyer David Taylor. "There's a whole raft of cases, I suspect, that are affected by this narrow interpretation," said Taylor, a partner at Conway Baxter Wilson in Ottawa, in an interview. Taylor has argued extensively about Jordan's Principle at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and in court, and two of his clients recently won urgent court challenges, which he said sends a clear message that Canada needs "a serious rethink" of the path it's on. In the case of Joanne Powless, Canada denied a Jordan's Principle application for money to fix a mould-contaminated home, arguing no such government service is available to the general public. In the other case, Patrick Cully sought full-time applied behavioural analysis therapy for his daughter, Scarlet, who is autistic. ISC said it "was not aware of an existing government service" that funds such therapy. But judges called Canada's decisions untenable, unreasonable and contrary to the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which require Ottawa to assess each child's unique needs, not apply blanket policies. "It's just kind of compounding layers of a discriminatory approach," said Taylor. "And that's something that hopefully the Cully and Powless decisions are going to start trying to unwind." Hope for a new minister Katie Maracle is hopeful about the implications of the Cully case given the similarities to hers, and hopeful about a new cabinet minister at ISC. Asked for a message for the Maracle family, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty reiterated in a statement that funding for school-related requests will only be approved under certain circumstances under the new rules. "We have adjusted our services to ensure that we adequately address the urgency of requests," the statement reads in part. Ethan Maracle, however, is still without a decision on his current funding request, despite it being labelled urgent, and without services he's had most of his life: transportation, intensive clinical therapy and one-on-one educational assistance at a privately run centre for neurodiverse children. Amanda Baysarowich, the founder and clinical director of IBI Behavioural Services and Unique Minds Academy in Barrie, Ont., said she used to have 17 children funded by Jordan's Principle. Now she has none. "We had no idea that this new arbitrary decision was being implemented," she said, referring to the end date that saw Ethan's funding pulled. Baysarowich said the transition can create more harm, damage and trauma for kids who lose services. However, she said she's still owed about $265,000 from Jordan's Principle overall, describing the situation as financially ruinous, stressful and unsustainable. "That is debt that we absolutely will not recover unless parents are willing to pay it," she said. "Again, my heart hurts because the families that thought they were approved for these services ultimately shouldn't be held responsible."
