Dockworkers Call Off Strike in Canada After 24 Hours of Drama

Randy Thanthong-Knight and Robert Tuttle
Wed, July 19, 2023 


(Bloomberg) -- Workers at Canada’s west coast ports withdrew plans to go back on strike, just hours after threatening to restart a disruption that would have paralyzed shipments at the country’s busiest maritime hub.

The International Longshore & Warehouse Union had told workers late Tuesday to go back on strike after rejecting a tentative contract. That decision was ruled “unlawful” on Wednesday morning by Canada’s industrial-relations board because the union failed to give 72 hours of notice.

So the union gave that notice, warning that a strike would instead begin Saturday at 9 a.m. Vancouver time. It then canceled it, according to a statement Wednesday evening that didn’t give reasons or further details.

“The past 24 hours have demonstrated that this continues to be a fluid and unpredictable situation,” the BC Maritime Employers Association, which employs the union’s workers, said in a statement. The group said it would say more once it receives clarification.

More than 7,000 workers at British Columbia ports had already been on strike July 1 to July 13 before a tentative agreement briefly put an end to the walkout. But the union’s caucus rejected the deal.

Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan’s office said workers are expected to return to their jobs Thursday, but the government is ready for any eventuality if things change.

The board of trade in Vancouver, Canada’s most important port, has estimated the strike has so far disrupted C$10.6 billion ($8.1 billion) worth of cargo. Several industry groups, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Forest Products Association of Canada, have demanded action from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to end the strike.

The government has been reluctant to issue back-to-work legislation, given that it has an alliance in parliament with a union-friendly opposition party.

Trudeau met with ministers and senior officials Wednesday and “stressed the critical importance of resuming operations,” according to a statement. He also “directed them to pursue all available options to ensure the stability of our supply chains and to protect Canadian jobs and our economy.”

The turmoil at the ports is being felt in Canada’s agricultural sector. Canpotex, the potash-exporting joint venture of Nutrien Ltd. and Mosaic Co., said earlier it was withdrawing all new sales offers. Nutrien has curtailed production at two potash mines in Saskatchewan.

The strike had also affected small businesses that were hit with thousands of dollars of storage fees for goods stuck at ports, according to Greg Wilson, director of government relations at the Retail Council of Canada. “This sort of disruption can be the end of a small business.”

The key sticking points in the negotiations appeared to be the length of the agreement and pay raises. The four-year agreement was “far too long” given economic uncertainty, and employers had “not addressed the cost of living issues” that workers have faced, the ILWU said in a statement.

BCMEA, the employers’ group, said the deal was “fair and balanced” and that it would allow workers to receive a 19.2% wage increase over four years, which it described as above industry standards.

The labor unrest shows workers are pushing to recoup purchasing power lost over the past two years, even as the rate of inflation eases. The port strike came just months after federal workers walked out to demand higher wages.

It also points to the possibility that more strike votes could be coming this year. The period of high inflation in the 1970s and 1980s led to a surge in strikes and lockouts in the country, most of which lagged the runup in prices by several months and remained high for years, data on work stoppages in Canada show.

--With assistance from Curtis Heinzl.

Union rescinds 72-hour B.C. port strike notice that had been set for Saturday




VANCOUVER — The labour dispute at British Columbia ports is receiving a federal reaction previously used for events including the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, blockades associated with the Freedom Convoy, and the short-lived rebellion in Russia last month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened the government's incident response group on Wednesday to discuss the conflict between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the BC Maritime Employers Association as the union threatened strike action again.

The response group, made up of cabinet ministers and senior officials, is described as only being convened at times of "national crisis," or to discuss events with major implications for Canada.

The actions were part of a chaotic 24-hour period at the port, where union pickets went up, were forced down by a labour board, then job action was threatened again for Saturday only to be rescinded by the union late Wednesday.

The union said in a brief note to its locals that strike notice set for July 22 at 9 a.m. "has now been removed."

With the 72-hour notice lifted, the union can't resume strike action unless it files another notice, according to the Canada Industrial Relations Board decision issued against the union on Wednesday.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said the response group discussed the impact of the situation, which is creating severe disruptions to Canada’s largest export and import gateway.

It said strike action earlier this month froze billions of dollars' worth of goods from moving in and out.

"The prime minister stressed the critical importance of resuming operations in our ports as soon as possible. Workers and employers across Canada — and all Canadians — cannot face further disruption," the statement said.

Trudeau asked the group to pursue all available options to ensure the stability of supply chains and to protect Canadian jobs and the economy.

The meeting comes as the federal government faces increasing pressure to bring in back-to-work legislation, with industry groups warning of continued impacts on the economy if a strike is allowed to resume.

The union said in a statement earlier Wednesday that it "regrets" the economic impacts of its job action and wants Ottawa to "allow free collective bargaining to occur."

Union president Rob Ashton said in a statement that the union's caucus "was not satisfied the mediator’s deal met the membership’s goals and directed the bargaining committee to seek a negotiated agreement."

The union has said the four-year term of the mediator's proposed agreement was "far too long" and "employers have not addressed the cost-of-living issues" faced by workers in the last few years.

About 7,400 workers at more than 30 B.C. port terminals and other sites began striking on Canada Day and originally returned to work last Thursday after a tentative deal was drafted by a federal mediator.

Both the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business have called for back-to-work legislation after the original strike prevented billions of dollars' worth of goods from moving through the ports.

"The 13-day strike had already done significant damage to small businesses across the country and Canada’s international reputation as a dependable trading partner," federation executive vice-president Corinne Pohlmann said in a statement.

"To let it carry on any further is negligent and will amplify disruptions of the supply chain."

Robin Guy, vice-president and deputy leader, government relations, at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said further delay will cause the Canadian economy more harm.

"We’re calling on the government and all parties to agree to reconvene parliament and pass back-to-work legislation immediately," Guy said.

Nutrien Ltd. said it had curtailed production at its Cory and Rocanville potash mines in Saskatchewan due to the strike.

Manitoba Pork and Keystone Agricultural Producers say recovery from the first 13 days of the strike would have taken at least until the middle of October.

"We are already witnessing the negative consequences on our reputation as a reliable supplier. This is costing both farmers and our value-added processors. Jobs in every region of Manitoba will be impacted," KAP general manager Brenna Mahoney said in a statement.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday that Trudeau must end the strike immediately because of the massive cost to workers, consumers and businesses.

"We're calling on him to deliver a plan to end this strike within the next 24 hours," Poilievre said.

However, NDP transport critic Taylor Bachrach said it’s part of union bargaining rights to be able to reject an agreement.

"We know that their team is ready to get back to the table right away and we encourage other parties to do the same," Bachrach said.

"We are also renewing our call for the federal government to support the collective bargaining process, rather than resorting to the sort of back-to-work legislation that Liberal and Conservative governments have imposed far too often."

B.C. Premier David Eby said relying on Ottawa to bring in back-to-work legislation would not be a quick solution for a minority Parliament.

"The parties need to accept the responsibility that they have on both sides to come to the table in good faith and solve this for Canadians quickly."

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra issued a statement late Tuesday saying workers and employers across Canada cannot face further disruption and that they were looking at all options.

The ministers said they have been patient and respected the collective bargaining process, but they need the ports operating.

"The deal presented to the parties was the result of a constructive and substantive collective bargaining process," the ministers said in their statement.

"It represented a fair and balanced deal. It was informed by weeks of collective bargaining and drafted by third-party mediators in the interest of both the union and the employer."

While national figures had their say, closer to the ports themselves, Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said it was disappointing that the strike wasn't ending, after a “collective sigh of relief” when news of a possible deal came down.

Pond said local businesses certainly feel the impact when families watch their spending as with so many workers on picket lines.

”There are two major arteries that feed the Canadian economy from the West and it's Prince Rupert and it is Vancouver, and when you choke those off it won't be long until people feel that impact.”

— With files by Chuck Chiang and Craig Wong

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2023.

Timeline of events surrounding failed talk leading to the B.C. port strike



The union representing about 7,400 port workers in British Columbia has rescinded a 72-hour strike notice that could have shut down cargo movements across the province again on Saturday.

Here is a timeline surrounding the events.

2022

Nov. 30: The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association provides notice to commence collective bargaining to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada.

2023

Feb. 16: Negotiations begin.

March 20: The ILWU serves a notice of dispute to the federal government, signalling an impasse, and requests the appointment of a conciliation officer.

March 29: Talks enter a 60-day conciliation period.

March 31: The existing collective agreement between the BCMEA and the ILWU expires.

May 30: Conciliation ends. Talks enter a cooling-off period of 21 days.

June 5: The ILWU's negotiating committee authorizes a strike vote to be conducted on June 9 and 10.

June 12: The ILWU says members voted 99.24 per cent in favour of supporting strike action if necessary.

June 28: The ILWU serves 72-hour strike notice.

June 30: Both sides say cruise ships will continue to be serviced.

July 1: Strike commences at B.C. ports, shutting down operations at most of the province's marine terminals.

July 3: The ILWU says the BCMEA has walked away from the negotiating table. The BCMEA says it is a pause to reset talks.

July 8: The two sides meet again with mediators about a deadlock on maintenance work. The BCMEA says the ILWU rejected a proposal.

July 11: Federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan asks a mediator to draft terms for a potential settlement agreement.

July 13: The BCMEA says a tentative, four-year agreement has been reached with the ILWU. Port operations resume. In a tweet, O'Regan declares "the strike is over."

July 18: The ILWU says its leadership caucus voted down the mediator's terms, and workers are back on strike. Picket lines resume. O'Regan and federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra say in a statement that the disruptions at B.C. ports "cannot go on" and officials are now looking at "all options."

July 19: The Canada Industrial Relations Board rules the ILWU's move to strike on July 18 was unlawful because no 72-hour notice was provided. The ILWU issues a new 72-hour notice to strike, but rescinds the notice hours later. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convenes the incident response group.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2023.

B.C. ports shut down again as union rejects tentative deal, resumes strike action




VANCOUVER — British Columbia's ports are facing an uncertain future after the longshore workers union rejected a tentative mediated deal and resumed strike action that had been put to a temporary halt only last week.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada says in Tuesday's decision to go back to picket lines that "employers have not addressed the cost of living issues" faced by workers in the last few years.

The union representing about 7,400 workers who were previously on strike from July 1 to 13 says its priority has always been to protect its jurisdiction, and that position "has not changed."

University of British Columbia professor emeritus Mark Thompson says the situation is now in "uncharted territory" because the strike is unusually long for Vancouver.

Thompson says the federal government has been very reluctant to enact back-to-work legislation in labour disputes, but strikes disrupting the Port of Vancouver — Canada's largest — have not lasted more than two weeks since at least the 1980s.

The renewed ILWU strike means more than 30 port terminals and other sites across the province are shut down again for an indeterminate time.

The tentative four-year deal that was rejected by the union's caucus had been proposed by a federal mediator at the instruction of Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan.

A late-night joint statement was released by O'Regan, and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, confirming the employers' association agreed to the terms of the deal, but the workers' union leadership decided not to recommend ratification of the terms to its members.

The pair also expressed disappointment, saying that the mediated deal ending the work stoppage was the result of a constructive and substantive collective bargaining process.

The ministers' joint statement also seems to hint at a possible move to introduce back-to-work legislation, stating, "We have been patient. We have respected the collective bargaining process. But we need our ports operating."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2023.

The Canadian Press

Geely truck unit, Farizon, raises $600 million in funding round

Reuters
Wed, July 19, 2023 

A view shows the logo of Chinese automobile manufacturer Geely at a dealership in Moscow

(Reuters) - China's Farizon, a maker of electric and hybrid trucks which is owned by automaker Geely, has raised $600 million in a Series-A funding round, the company said in a statement.

The Hangzhou-based company, which produces and markets hybrid and pure electric commercial vehicles, said it plans to use the funds for further technology and product development, as well as expansion outside of China.

It said the company's latest round of fundraising was led by Boyu Capital and Yuexiu Industrial Fund, with participation from other investors such as Singapore-based United Clean Energy and Linjiang Industry Group. It comes on the heels of Farizon’s Pre-A round financing in October 2022, in which it raised over $300 million.

Outside of China, Farizon said the company is moving to establish a presence in markets including as Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, South America and Europe.

The company has said a key focus outside of China will be Europe, where it plans to start selling a light electric cargo van called the Super Van as early as 2024. It will compete against the likes of Ford Motor's e-Transit van, the company has said.

It aims to become one of Europe's top three electric cargo van suppliers with the Super Van.

Farizon, which started selling vehicles in 2016, sold roughly 37,800 light commercial vehicles in China in 2022, according to consultancy LMC Automotive. During the January-May period this year, it sold 24,760 vehicles.

This year, Farizon said it expects sales in China and abroad to reach 150,000 vehicles.

Currently, a majority of its overall sales volume comes from China.

(Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in Austin, Texas; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

VC Firms Investing in China’s Tech Companies Draw US House Panel Investigation

Daniel Flatley and Anna Edgerton
Wed, July 19, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- A US congressional committee is investigating four venture capital firms for their investment in Chinese technology companies, the latest sign of Washington’s increasing scrutiny of American funds suspected of helping develop sensitive industries in China.

Investments by GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Walden International and Qualcomm Ventures are being probed by the House select committee on China, led by Wisconsin Republican Michael Gallagher.

GGV declined to comment on Wednesday night. The other firms didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The investigation, reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal, comes as Washington seeks to block China’s development of next-generation technology that officials worry will dominate the security and economic landscape — specifically semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Both the White House and members of Congress are crafting policies to track and potentially block US investments in those fields in China, which they say are being used for human-rights abuses and advancing military capabilities.

Gallagher referred to the four firms on Wednesday as the committee’s “initial targets,” and said the investigation will inform the committee’s policy recommendations, including any requirements mandated by Congress to review outbound investment.

Gallagher said his two main concerns are that the Chinese companies receiving US investment could be contributing to human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region and helping the Chinese military develop sophisticated technology.

“There’s no such thing as a truly private entity in China,” Gallagher told reporters Wednesday, a reference to China’s so-called military-civil fusion strategy. “Democrats and Republicans agree that we don’t want to be fueling our own destruction.”

The China committee, which was created earlier this year by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has subpoena power and is working on a report about US-China policy that will focus in large part on US business activity in the country.

The committee said in a letter to GGV that it’s being targeted for investments in AI developers, including Megvii Technology Ltd., and semiconductor firms. Qualcomm Ventures’s investment in SenseTime Group Inc. was also cited by the committee, among others.

Megvii and SenseTime in 2019 were placed on the so-called Entity List, which bars them doing business with American firms without US government approval.

Walden International was cited for its investment chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., which was is also on the US blacklist.

The letters, which each refer to recent research on outbound US investment by Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, requested the companies respond to questions by Aug. 1.

--With assistance from Mackenzie Hawkins, Sarah McBride and Lizette Chapman.

Brazil’s All-Powerful Sugar Industry Is Souring the Country on EVs












Dayanne Sousa, Leonardo Lara and Simone Preissler Iglesias
Wed, July 19, 2023 

(Bloomberg) -- For two decades, Brazil’s unique solution to curb tailpipe emissions — specialty cars powered by any mix of gasoline and ethanol — helped it boast a fraction of the roadway pollution of other countries its size. Now, it threatens to hold it back.

As governments in many of the world’s other top economies lay out detailed plans to eventually end the sale of combustion-engine cars, Brazil is digging in its heels. The country’s most popular models are so-called flexible-fuel vehicles capable of running completely on biofuel produced from sugar cane, making them by most accounts cleaner than pure gasoline engines. When Brazil releases its updated auto-industry policy as soon as next month, it will plot a path to reduce its reliance on cars that run entirely on gasoline, Secretary for Industrial Development Uallace Moreira Lima told Bloomberg News — but it won’t touch the beloved flex-fuel models.

“Brazil will be the last among its peers to shift to electrics,” said Eder Vieito, senior commodity analyst at Green Pool Commodity Specialists. “And that’s because of ethanol.”

Since their introduction 20 years ago this spring, flex-fuel cars have become dominant in Brazil, making up a whopping 84.5% of all auto sales in June, according to the Brazilian Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers, known as Anfavea. That same month, electric cars comprised less than 0.5% of the market. By comparison, almost one in four passenger vehicle sales in China this year will be battery-powered. Even the US, a fossil fuel diehard, will see EVs comprise almost 8% of sales this year, GlobalData estimates. By 2030, battery-electric vehicles will account for around 7% of the light vehicles sold in Brazil, Bright Consulting projects, far below the expected world average of 37%.

Brazil’s slower adoption of EVs isn’t a fluke. Big-name automakers, the prominent sugar industry and government authorities are pushing hard to keep ethanol in drivers’ gas tanks. That support takes several forms: a series of pro-ethanol regulations, including lower taxes than gasoline at the pump and a federal carbon-credit program that essentially rewards ethanol mills, plus scant investment in the charging infrastructure or battery production needed to make widespread acceptance of EVs a reality.

Changing course would be complicated for leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Phase out flex cars, and he’d lose the massive economic boost created each year by ethanol in the world’s largest producer of sugar cane, where agribusiness represents about a fourth of GDP. But keep the popular, affordable and locally made flex-fuel models, and they’ll continue to elbow out EVs, which would be among the world’s cleanest given that more than 80% of Brazil’s electricity comes from renewable sources like hydropower, wind, solar and biomass. That makes them cleaner than flex-fuel cars over the lifetime of the vehicles.

So far, Lula’s government is trying to support both technologies in a precarious balancing act. To appease the sugar industry, it will keep incentives for ethanol in place while simultaneously courting electric-car makers from China scouting new overseas factory sites with a compelling sales pitch: proximity to local battery-metal deposits, a growing domestic middle class and access to other Latin American markets with their own discretionary incomes to spend. It has worked, with at least two of China’s biggest carmakers — BYD Co. and Great Wall Motor Co. — planning to bring their vehicle production to the country’s shores. But even they plan to add some ethanol-fueled hybrids to their Brazilian lineups in what looks like a friendly — and savvy — gesture.

The discussion about electric cars is “very important for Brazil and for the world,” said Renan Filho, Brazil’s transport minister. But ethanol should be part of the conversation, too, he said. “Ethanol emits much less.”

The longer Brazil waits to start mapping out its path to battery cars, the harder it will be to keep up with the dizzying evolution of EV technology. Transitions take time, and the country may find itself trapped in an outdated system if it delays putting in place the kinds of programs, incentives and municipal projects other countries have found are key to bringing down prices for consumers and spurring adoption.

Like many other emerging economies, where local supply chains primarily focus on affordable vehicles, EVs remain out of reach for many Brazilian households. The cheapest EV in the local market costs more than 140,000 Brazilian reais ($29,000), twice the price of the most affordable flex car.

Meanwhile, Brazil only had one public charger per 12.9 EVs at the end of 2020, BloombergNEF estimates, compared to one for every 5.4 in China, or every 3 in the Netherlands.

“Brazil needs to step out of its comfort zone if it does not want to become isolated from the rest of the world,” said Lourenço Faria, a researcher at University of Copenhagen.

Pure ethanol cars first arrived on Brazilian streets in 1979 when Fiat, the brand now owned by Stellantis NV, introduced a biofuel-powered model. Several powerful industrial and political forces were behind the move. For one, it offered Brazil a way to better shield itself from future petroleum shortages like the one that decimated its economy earlier that decade.

The push into ethanol cars also created a massive new market for the influential five-century-old sugar industry. The sector has deep political connections that are embedded in the nation’s history: Sugar gave birth to Brazil’s very first agricultural elite in a time when landowners profited by exploiting the work of enslaved people trafficked from Africa. This year, Brazil’s sugar-cane production and its subproducts will be worth 105.6 billion Brazilian reais ($22 billion).

The ethanol-only models made from the late-1970s onward were eventually dethroned by flex-fuel vehicles, starting with Volkswagen AG’s subcompact Gol Flex in 2003. In the last two decades, they’ve secured a seemingly unshakable foothold. VW in 2021 announced the creation of a research and development center in Brazil to explore expanding the applications of ethanol and other biofuels in emerging markets, and nearly every carmaker operating in Brazil plans to keep ethanol it its lineup in some form going forward.

Some players in the auto sector, including industry group Anfavea, are even lobbying for the end of a tax exemption for EV imports in a bid to promote Brazil’s domestic carmaking and ethanol refining; the plea has the support of sugar-cane industry group Unica. The carmakers’ group also wants to establish temporary import quotas for EVs landing on Brazilian shores to give local manufacturers more time if they want to develop their own domestic EV production. With no local manufacturing currently, 100% of light electric vehicles on the market have to be shipped in.

By most measures, Brazil’s flex-fuel autos have been a rare success story among developing markets that are in many other cases behind in the race to clean up their car sectors. And unlike other so-called solutions, like VW’s “clean diesels” that appeared greener than they actually were, the country’s unique reliance on ethanol has brought some tangible benefits.

For one, tailpipe emissions per capita are better than in most developed economies and other middle-income, populous nations like Russia or Mexico, International Energy Agency data show. According to data from BloombergNEF and the International Council on Clean Transportation, a flex-fuel Brazilian car made in 2020 will emit 16.7 tons of carbon dioxide over the course of its life, a fraction of the roughly 40 to 50 tons produced by combustion cars in other major economies. Sugar-cane fields can capture carbon from the atmosphere, too, the industry argues.

Because of its use of biofuels in light-vehicle transportation, Brazil avoided around 35 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions last year, a study by think tank Getulio Vargas Foundation found. That’s the same as shutting down nine US coal plants for a year, according to US Environmental Protection Agency data.

But the ability of flex-fuel cars to run on biofuel doesn’t mean they always do. The BloombergNEF and ICCT study, for instance, assumes a 48% share of ethanol in flex-fuel cars. In reality, consumers often choose to fill their tanks solely with gasoline. A common rule of thumb is that selecting ethanol at the pump only makes sense when it’s priced below 70% of the cost of gas. While fuel costs vary a lot by region, the biofuel hasn’t been competitive in Brazil’s most important market, Sao Paulo, for much of the past two years. In fact, pure ethanol accounted for about 20% of Brazil’s car-fuel consumption in the past year. That figure rises to 42% when blending is considered, sugar-cane industry group Unica estimates.

And although Brazil’s flex models perform well in comparison to combustion-engine cars globally, they aren’t nearly as clean as the battery-powered vehicles that could replace them if the political will were there. Over the course of a car’s life, a pure EV operating in Brazil would produce half the carbon emissions of a flex vehicle — and less still if the batteries were made domestically instead of in a Chinese factory.

And yet, only 618 fully electric cars were sold in the country during the entire month of June, a pittance for an emerging economy with well over 200 million people. Flex cars reign supreme, and that’s likely to continue, especially if a group of nearly 350 members of Parliament who defend the interests of agribusiness are able to secure for ethanol-fueled cars the same incentives as EVs when an update to the Rota 2030 policy comes out as soon as next month.

“With the public already sold on the reduced environmental impact from driving on ethanol, it makes the argument for switching to a battery considerably more challenging,” said Kevin Riddell, a senior manager at GlobalData.

For now, most automakers operating in Brazil are sticking firm to their commitment to ethanol, but with a new spin: a hybrid model that includes a flex engine, plus a battery.

“It is not about denying the electric vehicles, but ethanol still holds a place in Brazil’s journey for the next 10 to 15 years, especially because hybrids increase efficiency,” said Paula Kovarsky, chief strategy officer at Brazil’s biggest sugar-cane processor, Raizen.

Toyota Motor Corp. has already started selling a hybrid flex version of its Corolla that can run on gasoline, ethanol or electricity. Other major carmakers are plotting a similar path that lets Brazil keep ethanol in the fuel tank.

Stellantis, which sells almost one in three new cars in Brazil, aims to develop its own flex-hybrid technology by the end of this year. China’s BYD, which will build a production complex in the northeastern state of Bahia state, told Bloomberg it will make EVs as well as flex-fuel hybrids. China’s Great Wall Motor plans to start assembling a flex hybrid model locally in 2024; it’s even in talks with Chinese suppliers and local authorities to develop a local supply chain for EV batteries. Brazil is already being aggressively mined for metals including copper and nickel used to make batteries in other countries, and it sits on relevant reserves of lithium, so producing EV parts locally would be a chance for the country to regain some ownership in the energy-transition economy.

“Why should we deny this solution, which needs no additional infrastructure and uses such a clean fuel?” said Rafael Chang, president of Toyota Brazil, when asked about flex-fuel hybrids. Ciro Possobom, the head of VW in Brazil, makes a similar case: “Cars are going to be electric in the future, but that’s going to take a long time,” he said. In the meantime, “we strongly believe in a hybrid with ethanol.”

General Motors Co. is one of the only major carmakers skeptical that ethanol cars have a future in Brazil. The company, which has laid out goals to be carbon neutral by 2040, wants to replicate locally its global focus on EVs. Electric vehicles made in Brazil could be exported to any other country, while flex-fuel cars have only one real market, said Santiago Chamorro, GM’s president for South America. The company also doesn’t think EVs and flex hybrids are equals in terms of carbon emissions.

“Brazil has the potential to be the third-largest global market for electrics,” said Fabio Rua, a vice president at GM South America. “So why would we accept delaying that progress?”

For now, ethanol remains so popular — among consumers as well as policymakers — that during a recent car show featuring more than 40 EVs in the nation’s capital that was meant to highlight the need to build charging infrastructure, Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin chose to take pictures inside the sole flex-hybrid car on display. While recognizing Brazil’s need to explore EV technology, he also spoke at the event about initiatives for fostering ethanol.

Until Brazil looks beyond ethanol, the country risks stalling out its emissions gains or failing to land a place for itself in the global automotive supply chain.

“Ethanol is a fine fuel, but wrapped in this topic is the desire that many have of not facing the real challenges ahead,” said Robson Cruz, a partner at Barassa & Cruz Consulting and a proponent of electrification. “Addressing carbon emissions with ethanol is cheaper for automakers, but it does not mean that’s the best option for Brazil.”

--With assistance from Tatiana Freitas and Beatriz Reis.

Bloomberg Businessweek

Peru Reports Seven Blocked Highways as Anti-Government Protests Restart

Marcelo Rochabrun
Wed, July 19, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Peruvians took to the streets nationwide to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, as her approval ratings dip to record lows and the economy reels.

More than 30 different protests across the Andean nation were reported by Peru’s ombusdman’s office Wednesday. Protesters also gathered in the center of the capital city, Lima, where the presidential palace and congress are located.

“This is an expected situation,” Prime Minister Alberto Otarola told reporters in the afternoon. Some road blockades were reported, but commerce was largely unaffected. It is unclear if the protests will continue Thursday and beyond. Earlier this year, protests that also sought Boluarte’s resignation extended for months and and helped guide the economy toward a recession.

The new protests come as Boluarte is more unpopular than ever seven months into her tenure. A poll by Ipsos this month showed the president’s popularity remains at a record-low 14%. That figure rises to 32% among the wealthiest and falls to 9% among the poorest.

Read More: Latin America’s Star Economy Races Toward a Technical Recession

Despite her low approval, she has found support in an equally unpopular Congress and among business leaders.

The president is also facing an unusually weak economy that appears headed into a mild recession due to the lingering effects of earlier protests and now the looming El Nino weather pattern.

Boluarte came to power unexpectedly in December when her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, was impeached and arrested for trying to illegally dissolve congress. Boluarte, then vice president, took over, triggering protests seeking new general elections.

While she held onto power, the economy stalled and clashes between security forces and protesters left almost 50 civilians dead, some of which human rights organizations have called extra-judicial executions. Boluarte has said she will stay in power until 2026, which if successful would make her the longest-serving Peruvian president in seven years.

Tech bros and Wall Street billionaires are indulging anti-vaxxer RFK Jr.'s presidential dreams

George Glover
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, speaks to people from a wide spectrum, including coronavirus skeptics, gathered under the Victory Column in the city center to hear speeches during a protest against coronavirus-related restrictions and government policy on August 29, 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Silicon Valley and Wall Street stars are indulging Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign.


Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, SPAC king Chamath Palihapitiya, and hedge fund legend Bill Ackman have all shown support.


RFK Jr. has said that vaccines cause autism – and the White House recently blasted him for sharing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

Some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street just can't get enough of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who was rebuked by the White House last week for sharing a "vile" anti-Semitic COVID conspiracy theory.

Backers of the presidential candidate – a member of the Kennedy dynasty who believes that the CIA killed his uncle and vaccines cause autism in children – include Twitter's co-founder and a legendary hedge-fund manager who made billions betting stocks would tank during the pandemic.

Here's a list of high-profile people voicing support for RFK, Jr, who's currently polling in the mid-teens for the Democratic nomination, per FiveThirtyEight:

Billionaire investor and Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman – who's also endorsed JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon running for higher office – has repeatedly backed Kennedy on Twitter and donated $3,300 to his campaign in the second quarter, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.

Fisher Investments founder Ken Fisher donated $6,600, per the same filing.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey told the "Breaking Points" podcast last month that he was backing Kennedy, who he said "has no fear in exploring topics that are a little bit controversial and in the future".

Mark Gorton, who created LimeWire and now runs the algorithmic trading firm Tower Research Group, told CNBC in May that he's given over $1 million to Kennedy's anti-vax non-profit, Children's Health Defense.

"SPAC king" Chamath Palihapitiya and PayPal founding exec David Sacks hosted a fundraiser for Kennedy last month. "The Establishment and [main stream media] will paint him with all kinds of labels so you don't give him a chance," Palihapitiya said after.

Some have carried on standing by Kennedy after he suggested during a press event last week that COVID-19 had been genetically engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people. (He then denied that those comments were "ethnically targeted").

Ackman briefly condemned the controversial candidate – then claimed he'd "quickly jumped to conclusion based on a headline" and shared a Tweet where Kennedy said he'd been criticizing "ethnically targeted bioweapons", not spreading debunked anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

This isn't the first time parts of Wall Street and Silicon Valley have backed an anti-establishment firebrand.

In both 2016 and 2020, big names like venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman backed Republican candidate Donald Trump. Look how that turned out.

11 mustangs die in US roundup in Nevada caught on video, showing horses with broken necks



LEAVE THE ROUND UP TO INDIGENOUS COWBOYS

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nearly a dozen wild horses have died in the first 10 days of a big mustang roundup in Nevada, deaths that a Las Vegas congresswoman is calling tragic proof of the urgent need to outlaw helicopters to capture the animals on federal land.

The 11 deaths so far include five young foals, four horses with broken necks and a stallion with a snapped rear leg that was chased by a helicopter and horseback rider as it tried to flee on three legs for 35 minutes before it was euthanized, according to witnesses.

The horse that broke the leg jumping over a trap fence last Wednesday was a lead Palomino stallion called “Mr. Sunshine” by those who'd watched him roam wild over the years southeast of Elko.

A longtime observer and defender of the mustangs caught the animal's struggle on video.

“It made me physically ill to see what was done to that beautiful stallion I have known for years," said Laura Leigh, the founder of Nevada-based nonprofit organization Wild Horse Education.

Leigh, who's been fighting roundups in court for more than a decade and advocates ending them altogether, said the contracted wranglers were trying to pressure the mustangs into the temporary trap coral when the horse leaped out and broke the leg.

“He tried to buck off the searing pain and then struggled on three legs. He was then pursued to the far side of the valley and shot. The incident took longer than 30 minutes to resolve," she said. “These barbaric, cruel, intentional acts must end.”

The deaths should serve as a wake-up call, said Nevada Democratic Rep. Dina Titus. “A horse with a broken leg was chased in the sweltering heat by a helicopter," she said, criticizing a Bureau of Land Management practice the she is trying to ban through House legislation.

"This latest instance of BLM mistreatment of Nevada’s wild horses is tragic," Titus said Tuesday.

Leigh and others sued after the death of several horses during a roundup a decade ago, and the bureau adopted a Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program in 2015 that among other things prohibits helicopters from making contact with the mustangs.

But the agency has resisted efforts to stop using helicopters, saying they're necessary to access remote herds.

“The BLM policies and staff prioritize the well-being and humane care of all wild horses during all gather operations,” bureau spokeswoman Heather O'Hanlon said in an email to The Associated Press on Monday. She said the agency has a Department of Agriculture veterinarian assessing and monitoring animal conditions and consulting with bureau officials to ensure the health and safety of horses and people.

Bureau spokeswoman Rita Henderson said injuries to wild horses and burros during roundups are rare. She said the “vast majority” — more than 99% — are gathered without severe incident or injury that causes death.

The bureau says its latest roundup started July 9 in eastern Nevada between Elko and Ely because overpopulated herds are seriously damaging the ecology of the range.

Nevada is home to nearly two-thirds of the 68,928 wild horses the bureau estimated on March 1 were roaming federal lands in 10 Western states stretching from California to Montana.

The agency plans to gather about 2,000 horses from the roundup in three areas — the Antelope Valley, Goshute and Spruce-Pequop. It says the estimated 6,852 horses is nearly 14 times what the range can sustain.

As of Tuesday, they had gathered 1,087, the bureau said.

By balancing the herd size with what the land can support, the agency aims to protect the habitat for other wildlife species including sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, mule deer and elk, said Gerald Dixon, the bureau’s Elko district manager.

But critics say the real purpose is to appease ranchers who don't want horses competing with their livestock for precious, high-desert forage where annual precipitation averages less than 10 inches (25 centimeters).

The American Wild Horse Campaign is publicizing the graphic photos and video shot by Leigh and others “to educate the public about the BLM’s inhumane approach to wild horse management," group spokeswoman Grace Kuhn said.

"This cruel treatment of wild horses in unacceptable and far below the standard that Americans expect for these iconic animals," she said.

Scott Sonner, The Associated Press

WORKERS CAPITAL
Calpers Posts 5.8% Gain Helped by Stocks and Private Debt

P3 

PUBLIC PENSIONS FUND PRIVATIZATION

Eliyahu Kamisher
Wed, July 19, 2023 




(Bloomberg) -- Calpers swung to a 5.8% gain in its latest fiscal year as the stock market rally and private debt buoyed the largest traditional public pension fund in the US.

The preliminary return for fiscal 2023 reported on Wednesday is a sharp turnaround for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, whose 6.1% loss in the prior year was its worst showing in more than a decade. The gain left Calpers holding $462.8 billion, enough to cover 72% of its future obligations, unchanged from a year earlier.

It’s the first full fiscal year since Calpers ramped up its private equity investments with a $25 billion bet, while increasing the use of leverage and allocations to private debt. The results were mixed. Returns for the year ended June 30 were driven by a 14.1% surge in publicly traded stocks and 6.5% on private debt, as private equity slipped 2.3%, real assets dropped 3.1% and bonds remained flat.

“It really was a tale of two stories,” said Calpers Chief Investment Officer Nicole Musicco. “The first half of the year we were flat, and then caught up in the second half.”

Calpers is trying to make up lost ground after being rocked by successive management changes. It’s been leaning on alternative assets under Musicco, who was recruited from a Canadian pension fund last year, amid pressure to meet an annual return target of 6.8%. If there’s a shortfall, municipalities across California could be forced to cut services to meet pension obligations.

The preliminary five-year average return now stands at 6.1%, down from 6.7% the previous fiscal year. The 10-year average is 7.1%

The latest results mirrored a slowdown in private equity markets as higher interest rates ended years of easy deal-making. The loss from private equity for Calpers followed gains of 3.3% and 44% in preceding years. The fund’s data for private equity, private debt and real assets are reported on a one-quarter lag, and were current as of March 31.

Musicco expects a “downward tailwind” to hurt private equity returns when those numbers are updated, but she remained bullish on the asset class.

“There’s such a huge menu of opportunity within private equity,” Musicco said in a call with reporters.

Calpers Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost said her fund is maintaining its focus “on meeting the long-term retirement promises made to our members and their families.”

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the second-largest US pension fund, has yet to release its fiscal 2023 results. Earlier this month Calstrs Chief Investment Officer Christopher Ailman said he expects an “upper-single-digit kind of year” that falls short of its 7% benchmark.

(Updates with executive comments and return data starting in the fourth paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

Trimmed trees outside LA studio become flashpoint for striking Hollywood writers and actors



LOS ANGELES (AP) — A row of tightly trimmed ficus trees along a stretch of sidewalk outside Universal Studios has become a hot spot in the face-off between Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters and actors.

Some members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Writers Guild of America unions — along with sympathetic local politicians — think the studio purposely pruned the trees in an effort to remove a source of shade for workers picketing under the hot Southern California sun. They gathered regardless on Wednesday, with one woman wearing a green wreath on her head and holding a sign depicting a full, untrimmed tree under the words “Never Forget.”

“Universal, get your ducks in order. We don’t want to see any more shady nonsense because the people are watching,” said Konstantine Anthony, a SAG-AFTRA member and the Democratic mayor of nearby Burbank.

Burbank's city limits don’t include the stretch of Barham Boulevard where the trees were trimmed, which is part of Los Angeles. Anthony said he had consulted with Los Angeles political leaders about the trimming.

“We can’t find any work orders done for this particular tree trimming, which is problematic because in Southern California we have a lot of laws governing trees,” he said. “Normally, you don’t trim until October, and in fact, the exact same style and type of tree about 200 feet this way are not trimmed. But those aren’t providing shade to the picketers, are they?”

Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, whose district includes Universal City, said in a statement that no permits had been issued for tree trimming at the site. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said his office was investigating the issue.

An NBCUniversal spokesperson said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that it knew the trimming had “created unintended challenges for demonstrators, that was not our intention.” The studio said it was working to provide some shade coverage for picketers.

Jeff Turner, The Associated Press

Wed, July 19, 2023

Tunisia's El General: The rapper who helped bring down Ben Ali

Mike Thomson - BBC News, Tunis
Wed, July 19, 2023 

Rapper El General sings his latest release, Sfax 1.jpg

Tunisian rapper El General was just 21 when his haunting, raw video Rais Lebled, or Mr President, went viral in late 2010.

Standing in a darkened, sewage strewn alley - festooned in graffiti - he ripped into the country's then dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali - in a way none had dared before.

Born Hamada Ben Amor, the fiery young man's explosive song gave voice to the anger, frustration and despair of a whole generation.

"I knew there would be consequences, which scared me due to my young age. I realised the danger of what I had done," he tells the BBC.

El General was fast becoming famous but with his baseball cap pulled down low of his forehead, few knew his real identity. However, with chanting protestors bellowing his song throughout the country, El General's cover was eventually blown and he was arrested.

"I thought this is the end, you know, because at that time if you went into the Ministry of Interior you wouldn't come out again."

Thankfully and perhaps surprisingly, El General was freed after a few days. By this point his song was not only a revolutionary anthem in Tunisia but had become a rallying cry for pro-democracy protesters across the Middle East, from the streets of Egypt to the souks of Bahrain.

El General's face adorned the front page of Time magazine, which listed him among the 100 most influential people in the world.

El General is now married, and lives with his family in an upmarket suburb of the capital

By mid-January 2011, Ben Ali had fled the country. El General and all those who took to the streets in what became known as the Jasmin Revolution had won.

Unfortunately, democracy was to prove a big disappointment to many in Tunisia. Although it survived there, unlike in other countries that rose up during the Arab Spring, successive governments did little to improve the lot of most Tunisians.

Most politicians came to be viewed as more interested in pointless squabbling and their own self-importance than rescuing a nosediving economy. Democracy was soon seen by many as synonymous with anarchy, political inertia and the collapse of law and order.

All of which led to the landslide victory of Kais Saied in the 2019 presidential election. The balding former law professor promised to rescue the country from political and economic chaos. What followed is described by his critics as akin to a coup.

After suspending parliament in July 2021, the populist president went on to give himself the powers to rule by decree. Soon after that he scrapped parliament, which has since been replaced by a feebler version, largely stripped of powers to oppose the president.

Mr Saied went on to dissolve the High Judicial Council, which guarded the independence of the courts, before sacking more than 50 judges.

Last year Mr Saied rewrote the constitution after winning a referendum, which had been boycotted by most opposition groups, amassing even more power for himself. Next came the arrest of dozens of those who have opposed him, from politicians, lawyers and journalists to academics and activists.

To El General, the clock appears to be turning right back to the days of fear and repression.

"We are more under control than ever. We don't know if we're living in the present or back in 2010. I'm one of many who feel our country is in danger. We are still in shock. We didn't expect this level of repression."

While Mr Saied has been largely effective in supressing dissent, he has had much less success in keeping prices down.

Inflation is pushing many foods beyond the price of even middle-class Tunisians and there are severe shortages of staples like rice, sugar and oil. All of which, one market vendor lamented, is forcing some people to sift through roadside rubbish for food.

Kais Saied was a publicity-shy professor who became president

Nowhere is the rise in poverty more evident than in the struggling suburb of Ettadhamen in the capital, Tunis, where youth unemployment is particularly rife.

With drug abuse soaring, a gym owner there, who preferred not to be identified, has begun offering kick-boxing classes. He hopes this will give young people some pride and an interest in something other than narcotics.

One young man, sweating heavily from a vigorous work-out, explained that he aimed to get to the top of the sport, so that he could compete in kick-boxing competitions in Europe. The idea being to jump ship as soon as he got there.

"If I get the chance to go abroad and box, the first thing I'll do is think of a way to stay there. I can't lie, if I find a way to do this I won't come back."

Sadly for him, the gym owner later revealed that the sport's authorities have got wise to wise to such schemes.

He said they were now taking the passports of Tunisians competing overseas and escorting them to and from competitions.

Thousands of other desperate Tunisians are joining soaring numbers of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in trying to reach Europe in small makeshift boats.

Sadly many don't make it. Since 2014 nearly 28,000 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean illegally.

Many do survive the extremely dangerous journey. So far this year more than 60,000 migrants have arrived in Italy, double the number for the same period in 2022.

As the numbers grow, so does the EU's determination to stop them coming. This is proving quite an earner for the Tunisian leader.

Despite saying earlier this year that he was not willing to act as Europe's border guard, earlier this week Mr Saied accepted about $118m (£90m) from the European Union (EU) to help combat Tunisia's people-trafficking trade.

A further $1bn is being offered by the EU for investment in Tunisia. This, though, is dependent on Mr Saied agreeing to the terms of a $2bn bail-out package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). So far he has refused to do that.

The IMF deal requires him to cut costly subsidies and slim down the bloated government workforce, which Mr Saied knows will be highly unpopular and could even lead to another uprising, this time against him.

For the time being at least Mr Saied remains surprisingly popular, though there are growing numbers of people who are deeply worried about the direction he is taking the country. From incendiary speeches about migrants and the jailing of his political opponents, to his deliberate enfeebling of parliament and the judiciary.

The mass dismissal of judges by the president caused outrage in Tunisia

One such person is El General, though times have changed. Since the huge success of his uprising anthem, he has got married and settled down to raise his family.

The former firebrand now lives in a large imposing house in one of Tunis's upmarket suburbs.

Having watched his country fall victim to growing repression all over again, El General says he felt compelled to return to song-writing.

His insists the lyrics of his latest release include criticism of Mr Saied, though this time it is certainly no revolution rap.

It seems El General is content to leave this fight to a new generation of rappers, who perhaps have a little less to lose.

"El General will always be El General, but maybe there is someone who would now be more revolutionary than me. Like in football, for example, we say Lionel Messi is the best of the best, and maybe in a few years there will be someone playing football better than him."

You can listen to Mike Thomson's report on the BBC World Service's Assignment programme