ADVERTISEMENT Watch 'All walking in the same direction': Former premier McNeil on talks between provincial leaders, PM Former Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil discusses what premiers are expected to discuss with the prime minister over trade negotiations.
Former Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil discusses what premiers are expected to discuss with the prime minister over trade negotiations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
33 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
T1 Energy Strategy Supported by Section 232 Polysilicon and AD/CVD Investigations
AUSTIN, Texas and NEW YORK, July 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- T1 Energy Inc. (NYSE: TE) ('T1,' 'T1 Energy,' or the 'Company') supports the recent announcement that the U.S. Secretary of Commerce will initiate an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 into the use of foreign-sourced polysilicon and polysilicon derivatives. T1 Energy's contract to purchase hyper-pure American polysilicon would likely be advantaged by any potential tariffs or import restrictions that result from this case. T1 Energy also believes the Section 232 investigation will result in strengthening U.S. energy security and boosting American advanced manufacturing. In alignment with its strategy to build a domestic solar supply chain, T1 also plans to file in support of tariffs under the recently filed Solar 4 anti-dumping and countervailing duty case ('AD/CVD') covering certain imports from Indonesia, Laos and India. T1 expects to benefit from potential tariffs under this case, which will support the Company's efforts to build a vertically integrated supply chain including the G2_Austin solar cell manufacturing facility. As a Texas-based, NYSE listed, U.S. solar manufacturing leader, T1 has and will continue to actively advocate for strong trade policy, enforcement and remedies that promote the strategic development of the U.S. solar value chain. T1 believes these two trade actions are consistent with the Trump Administration's efforts to safeguard and prioritize American manufacturing. 'It is time to bring back American manufacturing. We're doing that at T1 Energy. The Commerce Department's 232 polysilicon investigation and the Solar 4 AD/CVD case should strengthen our efforts to build an American advanced manufacturing champion. We believe these cases will put the wind at our back and provide the right policy environment to execute our business plan,' said Daniel Barcelo, T1's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. T1 Energy plans to develop a domestic solar supply chain are ongoing. They include the operational 5 GW G1_Dallas solar module facility and its current contract to source domestic polysilicon, as well as its planned G2_Austin solar cell facility. T1 Energy plans to actively participate in the development of a federal trade policy that supports the expansion of U.S. energy and advanced manufacturing. About T1 Energy T1 Energy Inc. (NYSE: TE) is an energy solutions provider building an integrated U.S. supply chain for solar and batteries. In December 2024, T1 completed a transformative transaction, positioning the Company as one of the leading solar manufacturing companies in the United States, with a complementary solar and battery storage strategy. Based in the United States with plans to expand its operations in America, the Company is also exploring value optimization opportunities across its portfolio of assets in Europe. To learn more about T1, please visit and follow us on social media. Investor contact: Jeffrey Spittel EVP, Investor Relations and Corporate Development Tel: +1 409 599-5706 T1 Media contact: Russell Gold EVP, Strategic Communications Tel: +1 214 616 9715 Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation with respect to: potential advantages of the Company's existing polysilicon supply contract related to tariffs or import restrictions resulting from the Section 232 polysilicon investigation; the Company's belief that the Commerce Department's Section 232 investigation will result in strengthening U.S. energy security and boosting American advanced manufacturing; the Company's strategy to build a domestic solar supply chain; the Company's plans to file in support of tariffs under the recently filed Solar 4 anti-dumping and countervailing duty case covering certain imports from Indonesia, Laos and India; the expectation that the Company will benefit from potential tariffs under the 232 case, which will support its efforts to build a vertically integrated supply chain including the planned G2_Austin solar cell manufacturing facility; the Company's efforts to advocate for strong trade policy, enforcement and remedies that promote the strategic development of the U.S. solar value chain; the Company's belief that these two trade actions are consistent with the Trump Administration's efforts to safeguard and prioritize American manufacturing; the Company's belief that the Commerce Department's 232 polysilicon investigation and the Solar 4 AD/CVD case will provide the right policy environment to execute its business plan; and the Company's plans to actively participate in the development of a federal trade policy that supports the expansion of U.S. energy and advanced manufacturing. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause actual future events, results, or achievements to be materially different from the Company's expectations and projections expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Important factors include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the caption 'Risk Factors' in (i) T1's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on March 31, 2025, as amended and supplemented by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on April 30, 2025; (ii) T1's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 filed on May 15, 2025; (iii) T1's Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed with the SEC on January 4, 2024; and (iv) T1's Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed with the SEC on September 8, 2023 and subsequent amendments thereto filed on October 13, 2023, October 19, 2023 and October 31, 2023. All of the above referenced filings are available on the SEC's website at Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information available to the Company as of the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. T1 intends to use its website as a channel of distribution to disclose information which may be of interest or material to investors and to communicate with investors and the public. Such disclosures will be included on T1's website in the 'Investor Relations' section. T1, and its CEO and Chairman of the Board, Daniel Barcelo, also intend to use certain social media channels, including, but not limited to, X, LinkedIn and Instagram, as means of communicating with the public and investors about T1, its progress, products, and other matters. While not all the information that T1 or Daniel Barcelo post to their respective digital platforms may be deemed to be of a material nature, some information may be. As a result, T1 encourages investors and others interested to review the information that it and Daniel Barcelo posts and to monitor such portions of T1's website and social media channels on a regular basis, in addition to following T1's press releases, SEC filings, and public conference calls and webcasts. The contents of T1's website and its and Daniel Barcelo's social media channels shall not be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
an hour ago
What the U.S. dairy industry really wants from Canada
U.S. dairy producers insist they're not looking for Canada to dismantle its supply management system, but they do want Canada to follow the letter and spirit of the existing deal that governs the dairy trade between the two countries. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly blasted Canada as unfair and ripping us off with massive dairy tariffs, in a way that isn't fully accurate. However, senior figures in the U.S. dairy industry are concerned there's also some misrepresentation happening north of the border, creating a false perception of what U.S. producers are actually seeking in terms of access to the Canadian market. Shawna Morris, executive vice-president for trade policy and global affairs with the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, says it's not true that her industry wants Canada to abandon its system for protecting the dairy sector. We've never been out to eliminate Canada's supply management, said Morris in an interview from her office in Arlington, Va., just outside Washington. It's much easier to create a boogeyman and fear-mongering around that being the goal of the Americans, but that's certainly not what our industry has advocated. Enlarge image (new window) Donald Trump dances as he departs a September 2024 campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, Wis. The top dairy-producing state in the U.S. has also been a key swing state in recent presidential elections, decided by less than one percentage point in each election since 2016. Photo: Associated Press / Alex Brandon Becky Rasdall Vargas, senior vice-president of trade and workforce policy at the International Dairy Foods Association lobby group, says she recognizes the Trump administration has been fairly abrasive in its tone toward Canada. But at the same time, I think we feel pretty ignored by Canada in terms of our legitimate trade concerns. Two main trade irritants According to Morris and Rasdall Vargas, the U.S. industry has two main irritants with Canada: how the Canadian government allocates the existing quotas for tariff-free imports of dairy products, and how Canadian milk producers dump cheap milk protein into the international market. The import quotas negotiated under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA, which Americans call USMCA) are designed to give U.S. producers tariff-free access worth roughly 3.5 per cent of Canada's domestic demand for dairy products. Three per cent is pretty limited, said Morris. It's certainly not a situation where our industry is gonna come in and take over the Canadian dairy market. How much U.S. milk comes into Canada? See interactive chart here (new window) CUSMA sets import quotas for 14 categories of dairy products. That allows an annual volume of each category (new window) to enter Canada tariff-free, and any imports exceeding the quota would get hit with sky-high tariffs of 200 per cent or more. Canada's rationale for this is ensuring the domestic dairy industry thrives by effectively capping how much the U.S. can export each year, preventing cheaper American products from dominating the market. The U.S. government supports its dairy sector with hefty direct subsidies (new window) . The U.S. dairy industry says it's not asking for Canada's quotas to be increased or the tariff rates to be decreased. Rather, it wants changes to how Ottawa allocates the quotas: more specifically, who gets them. Big Canadian dairies dominate import quotas Much of the quota volume is allocated to major Canadian-owned dairy processing companies such as Saputo (new window) and Agropur (new window) . Industry analysts on both sides of the border say such companies have little incentive to import U.S. products that would compete with their own. According to the U.S. producers, this restricts their access to the Canadian market. Their evidence for that claim: Canadian trade statistics (new window) showing tariff-free imports from the U.S. have almost never reached the quota limits in any category. WATCH | What Donald Trump gets wrong (and right) about Canada's dairy tariffs: For five years, Canada's been playing games with these tariff rate quotas, said Morris. That's a lot of volume that should have been able to reach Canadian consumers. Despite those complaints, Canada's imports of U.S. dairy products have risen significantly since the CUSMA quotas took effect in 2020. Those imports totalled $897 million in 2024, according to Statistics Canada data (new window) , more than four times the value of imports in any year before 2020. Trade certainly should be far higher than it is, said Morris. That was what USMCA promised to deliver and quite frankly has fallen far short. A key change the U.S. producers would like to see is for Canada to grant retailers and the food-service sector a share of the tariff-free quotas, allowing them to import some U.S. dairy products directly. The U.S. industry also wants Canada to be far stricter in taking away allocations from importers that fail to use their full quota in a given year. While a bill that Parliament passed in June (new window) bars Ottawa from agreeing to raise the dairy import quotas or lower the tariffs, it doesn't prevent other changes to the system, leaving Canadian trade negotiators some wiggle room. WATCH | Canada's supply management system, explained: 'An inherent mismatch' The other chief complaint from the U.S. focuses on Canada's cheap exports of milk proteins, also described as milk solids, such as skim milk powder. The Americans argue that because Canada's supply management system keeps domestic prices artificially high, Canada can sell its excess production of milk proteins internationally at artificially low prices, undercutting the competition. It frankly makes no sense that you could have one of the highest milk prices in the world and yet be exporting dairy protein at some of the lowest prices globally, said Morris. That's just an inherent mismatch. Canada's pricing of milk solids for the export market is currently the subject of a U.S. International Trade Commission investigation, ordered by (new window) the Trump administration, with a hearing scheduled for Monday (new window) . Dairy Farmers of Canada declined a request for comment on the case. During the recent election, all major parties expressed support for supply management and stated that it would be off the table in upcoming trade negotiations, the organization said in a news release (new window) in June. The Trump administration is not the first to accuse Canada of breaching CUSMA terms on dairy. Enlarge image (new window) Cows wait to be milked at a dairy farm in Granby, Que., on Feb. 5. Photo: The Canadian Press / Christinne Muschi Joe Biden's administration twice took legal action over Canada's handling of the dairy quotas, claiming it was unfairly undermining (new window) U.S. access to the Canadian market. The U.S. won the first dispute (new window) , which it launched in 2021, but failed (new window) to win the second, in 2023. Now in 2025, Rasdall Vargas says her industry wants Canada to be willing to hear its true concerns and do something about them. Ultimately, when we have a trading partner who isn't taking our concerns seriously until they're threatened to do so, it's also not a good feeling from our side, she said. Whatever anyone thinks about Trump's bluster on Canadian dairy, Rasdall Vargas believes it's having an impact. I think that's the president's way of having our back, probably more abrasively than Canada would like, she said. I will say I've never seen Canadian dairy interests take U.S. concerns about Canadian dairy policy more seriously than in the past six months. Mike Crawley (new window) · CBC News · Senior reporter Mike Crawley has covered Ontario politics for CBC News since 2009. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in B.C., spent six years as a freelance journalist in various parts of Africa, then joined the CBC in 2005. Mike was born and raised in Saint John, N.B. Follow Mike Crawley on Twitter (new window)
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Demand for Roomy, Eco-Friendly SUVs Opens Door for VinFast VF 9
Article content MARKHAM, Ontario — VinFast's seven-seat VF 9, a fully electric SUV blending family utility with eco-conscious design, is emerging in Canada in 2025 as rising demand for sustainable products and a market hungry for full-size EVs converge. Market forces in Canada are aligning, opening new opportunities for brands willing to meet real consumer needs. Article content Sustainability is no longer confined to niche buyers. PwC's 2024 Voice of the Consumer study found that Canadians will pay about 10 percent more for products that clearly demonstrate environmental benefits 1. A Deloitte survey echoes this, with 62 percent of Canadians ready to spend up to 20 percent more on goods with credible sustainability claims 2. Together, these findings show that purchasing power is reshaping markets in favor of cleaner options. Article content Article content At the same time, Canadian families continue to favor multipurpose vehicles. SUVs and other large models now account for 63.5 percent of new registrations, the only segment to grow in the first quarter of 2025 3. The appeal lies in practicality: room for hockey gear, camping equipment, and multi-generational travel. Parents want vehicles that can handle school runs and weekend trips without compromise. Article content Bringing these two forces together—demand for sustainability and preference for larger vehicles—reveals a gap in the market. A quick Google search indicates that in the 2024-2025 model years, fewer than five full-size electric SUVs have been launched, compared with at least eight smaller electric cars 4. In other words, full-size electric SUVs remain relatively rare, leaving space for manufacturers that can balance environmental responsibility with real-world utility. Article content The VF 9: Bridging Practicality and Sustainability Article content One of the few contenders stepping into this space is the VinFast VF 9, a seven-seat, all-electric SUV designed to meet both environmental and family needs. Its zero-emission powertrain and spacious three-row layout make it a practical choice for households seeking a lower footprint without sacrificing comfort. Article content Designed by the Italian firm Pininfarina, the VF 9 pairs a distinctive LED 'bird wing' light strip with thoughtful interior planning. The cabin offers flexible seating for six or seven passengers, with captain's chairs in the second row featuring integrated massage and ventilation, amenities rarely seen in this segment. Premium leather upholstery and soft-close doors reinforce the idea that eco-friendly does not mean giving up comfort. Storage solutions handle both everyday errands and long trips with ease. Article content Inside, a 15.6-inch central display anchors a tech-forward cabin with smart connectivity, three-zone climate control, and 11 airbags. An 8-inch second-row screen keeps passengers entertained, while massage seats make long drives more comfortable for the driver. 'The VF 9 has features you can only find in luxury cars like massage seats and heated/cooled seats. The ADAS works fine, build quality is really good,' highlights owner T.T. Nguyen 5. Article content Currently, the VF 9 Plus starts at CAD $81,310, offering all-wheel drive, 402 horsepower, up to 468 km of range, and comprehensive coverage: a 10-year/200,000 km vehicle warranty and a 10-year unlimited-mileage battery warranty. This kind of assurance can address one of the common barriers to EV adoption: concern about long-term reliability. The VF 9 Eco model starts at CAD $77,321. Article content For many Canadian families, the vehicle in the driveway is becoming an expression of values as much as income. And as sustainability and practicality continue to converge, premium electric SUVs like the VF 9 may define the next stage of automotive status, where a lighter footprint and real-world utility set the new standard. Article content Article content Article content Article content
