News

Ottawa – Canadian manufacturing sales fell 1.0 per cent in January, with the decline led by the motor vehicle, aerospace and primary metal industries, Statistics Canada said Friday. Economists had expected a drop of 0.8 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters. Manufacturing sales for January totalled $54.9 billion as 14 of the 21 industries moved… Read More about “Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales fell 1.0 % in January”

OTTAWA  – American trade officials are showing newfound interest in a Canadian proposal for revamping NAFTA’s automotive provisions as the U.S. seeks to swiftly conclude renegotiations of the continental free trade pact. And that’s being taken in some quarters as a sign that the U.S. may realize it will have to settle for making only… Read More about “Canadians see possible signal U.S. ready to accept NAFTA compromise”

The U.S. is expected to announce preliminary anti-dumping duties with an average rate of around 10 per cent, which will be added to the existing duties announced in April     MONTREAL—Canada’s softwood lumber industry is bracing for a second wave of U.S. duties expected to come Monday that could put further pressure on producers,… Read More about “U.S. applies second wave of duties against Canadian softwood lumber”

The massive wildfires that burned in California, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, British Columbia and other parts of North America in 2017 in many cases exhibited a disturbing trend: a marked increase in the amount of area burned. The Thomas Fire, which consumed 281,893 acres in California’s Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in December, was the largest… Read More about “Wildfire problem will grow in coming decades”

 GE Renewable Energy has announced plans to build the Haliade-X, the biggest, most powerful offshore wind turbine that the world has ever seen. Standing at 853 ft., the turbine will be 300 feet taller than the Washington Monument. The turbine will have a 12 MW direct-drive generator, and be able to produce 45% more energy… Read More about “GE’s Giant Wind Turbines Will Have Rotors as Long as Football Fields”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reiterated President Trump’s position that if a NAFTA deal can be reached Canada and Mexico will be exempted from new metals tariffs. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross voiced a similar sentiment “The president indicated that if we can work something out with Canada and Mexico they will be exempted,” said U.S. Commerce… Read More about “U.S. cabinet members say Canada, Mexico could escape new tariffs”

Washington, DC —Donald Trump’s views on trade have been clobbered in a report released by the White House —and signed by none other than the president of the United States himself. The self-rebuke includes some of his talking points about Canada. The president regularly bemoans a trade deficit with the northern neighbour and was complaining… Read More about “President Donald Trump signs report rebuking own views on trade, Canada”

Oshawa, Ont. – General Motors Co. is reportedly extending a cutback in car production at its plant in Oshawa, Ont., into April and May before it begins a second shift to produce pickup trucks later this year. The automaker had halted production of Cadillac XTS and Chevrolet Impala cars for three weeks in January and… Read More about “GM extending a cutback in car production at Oshawa plant”

  Engineers at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) have found a way to make wood more than 10 times times stronger and tougher than before, creating a natural substance that is stronger than many titanium alloys. “This new way to treat wood makes it 12 times stronger than natural wood and 10 times… Read More about “Super wood could replace steel: New process could make wood as strong as titanium alloys but lighter and cheaper”

Houston – Honeywell announced a cloud-based simulation tool that uses a combination of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to train plant personnel on critical industrial work activities. With as much as 50 percent of industrial plant personnel due to retire within the next five years, the Honeywell Connected Plant Skills Insight Immersive Competency… Read More about “Using virtual reality to train industrial workforce”