US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he departs the White House, in Washington, DC, on June 2, 2019.Jim Watson / Getty Images China on Friday announced tariff hikes on US$75 billion of U.S. products in retaliation for President Donald Trumps latest planned increase, deepening a conflict over trade and technology that threatens to tip a weakening global economy into recession.China also will increase import duties on U.S.-made autos and auto parts, the Finance Ministry announced.Tariffs of 10 per cent and 5 per cent will take effect on two batches of goods on September 1 and December 15, the ministry said in a statement. It gave no details of what goods would be affected but the timing matches Trumps planned duty hikes.A separate statement said tariffs of 25 per cent and 5 per cent would be imposed on U.S.-made autos and auto parts on December 15. Beijing announced that increase last year but suspended it after Trump and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, agreed at a meeting in December in Argentina to put off further trade action while they negotiated.Trump and Xi agreed in June to resume negotiations. But talks in Shanghai in July ended with no indication of progress. Negotiators talked by phone this month and are due to meet again in Washington next month. BMW, Tesla, Ford and Mercedes-Benz are likely to be the hardest hit by the Chinese auto tariffs. In 2018, BMW exported about 87,000 luxury SUVs to China from a plant near Spartanburg, South Carolina. It exports more vehicles to China than any other U.S. auto plant.Together, Ford, BMW, Mercedes and others exported about 164,000 vehicles to China from the U.S. in 2018, according to the Center for Automotive Research, a think tank in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Most of them are luxury cars and SUVs with higher profit margins that can cover higher U.S. wages. The exports are down from about 262,000 in 2017.Tesla, which is building a plant in China, last year got about 12 per cent of its revenue by exporting about 14,300 electric cars and SUVs from California to China, according to Barclays. Most of Fords exports are from the Lincoln luxury brand, but most of the vehicles it sells in China are made in joint-venture
Origin: China tariffs will add 25 per cent to cars imported from U.S.
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41 per cent of Montreal roads in great shape, better than 2015: city
Construction detour road sign in Montreal Wednesday December 7, 2016.John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette A total of 41 per cent of Montreal’s 1,665-kilometre network of arterial roads are in “excellent or good condition,” a 2018 inventory of the city’s main thoroughfares has found. Sylvain Ouellet, the city’s executive committee member responsible for infrastructure, noted in a statement late May that only 21 per cent of the city’s main roads received a passing grade when the last checkup was conducted in 2015. “The investments made by the city of Montreal have borne fruit,” he wrote. “Montrealers can see that more and more roads have been redone and it shows. Our administration will continue on this course.” The latest survey, which was conducted between July 4 and Aug. 19, 2018, and examined 14,114 streets, found that 39 per cent of the city’s roads were in “very bad or bad” condition, compared with a finding of 55 per cent in the same category in 2015. The examination included assessments of cracks and fissures in road surfaces, variations in road levels and ruts caused by vehicular wear and tear, as well as potholes. The city will divide its road assessments into two categories—arterial roads that will be examined every two years because of heavier traffic, and local, less-travelled streets that will be inventoried every four years. The next assessment of local roads is scheduled to take place this year. The complete, street-by-street results of the city’s latest inventory can be found on its open data
Origin: 41 per cent of Montreal roads in great shape, better than 2015: city
Over 15 per cent of rideshare vehicles may have open recalls, CR finds
In this file photo, mechanic Antonio Ramos works on a car at San Rafael Firestone January 5, 2009 in San Rafael, California.Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Approximately one out of every six vehicles signed up for Uber and Lyft “carry unaddressed safety defects,” suggests a Consumer Reports review of data from Seattle and New York City. Uber and Lyft are letting down their customers and jeopardizing their trust, said CR safety policy advocate William Wallace. Uber’s website says people can ride with confidence,’ while Lyft promises peace of mind,’ yet both companies fail to ensure that rideshare cars are free from safety defects that could put passengers at risk. CR looked at information on nearly 94,000 vehicles registered to Lyft and Uber in the two metropolitan areas. Among the vehicles noted was a 2011 Hyundai Sonata GLS with a total of eight unaddressed safety recalls, including possible seat-belt issues and engine failure. In other vehicles, CR’s researchers found issues like “deadly Takata airbags that could hurt or kill the driver or front-seat passengers.” It’s worth noting this seemingly high 1-in-6 rate of open recalls is around the same for all vehicles in the U.S. There are plenty of ordinary people who just don’t want to repair their cars, even when they should. Over 100 million people use the two popular ride-hailing apps as a regular way to get around, and according to CR, neither one has a clear policy when it comes to addressing open recalls.
Origin: Over 15 per cent of rideshare vehicles may have open recalls, CR finds
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