Economy

Canadian auto production ‘being hit hard’ by global semiconductor shortage

To be an autoworker in Canada this year has meant living with a fair bit of uncertainty.

“There’s no consistency,” said Mark Sciberras, president of the Unifor local branch at Ford Motor Co.‘s Oakville, Ont. operations. “One week to the next, you don’t know if you’re working.”

The Oakville plant, like so many auto assembly lines globally, has seen its production start and stop numerous times this year because of the severe semiconductor chip shortage caused by pandemic-related production issues and a surge in demand for electronics.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, Economy

These Canadian industries are currently facing the biggest labour shortages

The economic effects from the COVID-19 pandemic are squeezing businesses struggling to find workers as ongoing labour shortages continue to stall certain sectors.

Businesses both big and small say they are struggling to find staff and employers have been offering more incentives to attract workers such as higher wages, bonuses, and flexible hours.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted in"China eats weird animals disease", Canada, Economy

Ongoing border closure with Canada is costing US businesses $1.5 billion a month

The current travel-related restrictions between Canada and Mexico are costing U.S. businesses close to $1.5 billion a day in “travel exports,” according to the U.S. Travel Association. Travel exports are defined as spending by foreign residents while visiting the U.S.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted in"China eats weird animals disease", "President Dementia AKA Joe Biden", Canada, Economy, US-Canada Border, USA

The director of one of the largest ports in the US warns the shipping industry is in ‘crisis mode’ as 66 cargo ships float off the California shore

A historic backlog of cargo ships in Southern California has left the supply chain and shipping industry in a crisis, Mario Cordero, the executive director of the Port of Long Beach, warned this week.

Cordero, who oversees one of the busiest ports in the country, advised people to start holiday shopping as soon as possible due to the disruptions in the supply chain. The port will move about 20 million containers this year, more than ever before, Cordero told Fox Business. Consumers will definitely feel the pinch, as companies across the board — from raw materials to durable goods, electronics, furniture, and auto parts — have been hit with shortages and delays.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inEconomy, USA

Braid: Alberta oil revenue stages another fiscal rescue. What would replace it?

Once again, Alberta’s finances are snatched from the pit of hell by oil and gas revenues.

The UCP announced very strong economic forecasts Tuesday, far better than its earlier predictions for this year.

Thank goodness – now they’ll be able to make their equalization payments. By the way, on Sept 1 1905, Alberta became a province. 116 years of Eastern control.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inAlberta, Canada, Economy

Trudeau Bank Tax Risks Backfiring and Boosting Costs for Homebuyers

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election campaign promise to raise taxes on Canada’s biggest banks could backfire and make home purchases less affordable, undercutting his goal of helping buyers in one of the world’s hottest markets, according to an analysis from Bloomberg Intelligence.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted in"Another Damn Election", Canada, Canada's incompetent Liberal Government, Economics, Economy, Justin Trudeau - Pissant

Canada Hid A Foreign Capital & Housing Study While Dismissing Intelligence Warnings

Canadian tax authorities confirmed they knew about illicit foreign capital inflating real estate. They first found out over two decades ago, but only confirmed it to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) this week. A whistleblowing, retired auditor first told SCMP journalist Ian Young about the report in 2016. He waited half a decade for a response from the agency, which confirmed the study took place 25 years ago. The situation shares odd circumstances with an intelligence report mentioning foreign capital and real estate, called Sidewinder. Whistleblowers allege both reports, written one year apart, were suppressed for political reasons.

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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inCanada, China, Economy

China Cancels Christmas for Americans

  • Expect retail prices in America to go up. If you’re the shipping manager for Apple, you don’t really care because the additional costs for shipping, say, an iPhone are negligible. The added costs are not negligible, however, if you make larger items. “A 40-foot container can hold 20 sofas,” Jonathan Bass, CEO of home décor firm WhomHome, tells Gatestone. “The dramatic increase in rates — it can now cost $25,000 to ship a container across the Pacific to the East Coast — adds about $1,625 per sofa.” That increased cost puts this furniture item out-of-reach for most consumers.
  • Bass, a near-shoring advocate, has a fix: “Now, given shipping costs and other factors that are not temporary, it would be cheaper to makes sofas and other items in North America.”
  • Moving production would not only employ North Americans and bring prosperity back home, it would also mean that Americans would stop funding a hostile Chinese regime that, among other things, just labeled the U.S. an “enemy.”
  • Let us remember: Every single sofa that Americans buy from China gives its malicious regime the funds to grow biological weapons, dig missile silos, and develop even more means to kill Americans. So every sofa we build on this side of the Pacific helps defend the American republic.
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by Sarcasticat••0•Posted inChina, Christmas, Economy, USA