AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- Tensions escalated between the two neighbors after US President Donald Trump imposed 10 per cent tariff on non-alloyed unwrought aluminum imports from Canada.
- Biden’s push for “Buy American” approach promises to bring back manufacturing to the U.S and reduce dependency on imports.
- Biden’s US$2-trillion climate plan aims for carbon-free electricity by 2035 and the need to accelerate retirement of fossil fuel plants.
The US election 2020 counting day is here and results of the race will hopefully soon unfold. After months of campaigning efforts, promising statements will soon see the light of the day when the new president comes to power.
Tensions escalated between the US and Canada after the Trump administration imposed 10 per cent tariffs on non-alloyed unwrought aluminum imports from Canada earlier this year. The tariff does not apply to downstream aluminum products.
Canada with ample supply of hydroelectric power enjoys natural aluminum producer advantage.
Touting his “America First” trade agenda, Trump signed Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to protect the aluminum industry at home.
The tariff has hurt Canadian businesses and undermined the new US-Mexico-Canada North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in a year that is already witnessing lowered domestic demand for aluminum. This tariff imposition is also likely to increase end-product prices for US consumers and dent market confidence in procuring supplies of aluminum across North America.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland had earlier pledged that Ottawa would retaliate as it did in 2018, by slapping tariffs of C$16.6 billion on US imports ranging from bourbon to ketchup.
This time too, Canada retaliated swiftly to the 10 per cent tariff imposition by announcing C$3.6 billion tariff on US aluminum products with effect from September 16.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s push for “Buy American” approach promises to bring back manufacturing to the US and reduce dependency on imports. This will be mostly through taxing offshore corporations and procuring investments, which doesn’t bode well for Canadian businesses.
Trump and Biden hold two different stances on the energy sector.
While Biden is in support of clean energy sources and renewables, Trump favors the fossil fuel industry. Biden, in his election campaign, has proposed an aggressive plan to boost clean energy, eliminate fracking and fossil fuel with subsidies being removed, and reduce carbon footprint to support global warming. Trump’s agenda, on the other hand, primarily focuses on fossil fuel-fired generation.
Biden’s US$2-trillion climate plan aims for carbon-free electricity by 2035 and harps on the need to accelerate retirement of fossil fuel plants.
Trump administration is working on regulatory rollbacks to achieve energy independence by keeping the energy prices low.
Biden, however, is not looking at shutting down shale oil production but is keen on modernizing and harnessing energy efficient sources to include restrictions on new oil projects on US federal land.
Today, US is one of the largest shale oil producers and exporters under Trump’s regime. However, with Biden coming to power, the oil and gas, and energy sector will see a transition to clean energy sources. There will be tax incentives for using clean energy, and this will impact the demand for shale oil, and oil producers will be at a disadvantage.
If voted to power, the Biden administration is looking at implementing measures to combat climate change by creating an Advanced Research Project Agency on Climate within the US Department of Energy to facilitate rapid commercialization of technologies. It will not support uranium mining for environmental reasons.
However, the Trump administration is keen on revitalizing the nuclear fuel cycle to include uranium production, conversion, and access to uranium deposits on federal lands.
