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BUSINESSWednesday 23 March 2016
U.S. expands tougher ‘dolphin-
safe’ rules around the world
PAUL WISEMAN In this Thursday, May 7, 2015, file photo, U.S. Trade Representa- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, shakes hands with
AP Economics Writer tive Michael Froman speaks at a panel discussion on the Trans- Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, following his federal budget
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pacific Partnership Agreement at a university in Kuala Lumpur, speech in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
United States, facing sanc- Malaysia. on Tuesday, March 22, 2016.
tions for discriminating
against Mexican tuna im- Associated Press Associated Press
ports, is expanding tough-
er rules for labeling tuna of the world,” U.S. Trade Fishermen often have lo- Canada projects
‘”dolphin-safe” on the rest Rep. Michael Froman said cated tuna by tracking dol-
of the world instead of eas- in a statement. phins with speedboats and deficit 3 times larger
ing up on Mexico. The dolphin-safe labels are helicopters, then circling
Last fall, the World Trade supposed to ensure that them with nets to get at than originally said
Organization ruled that the canned, dried and frozen tuna underneath. To earn
United States was unfairly tuna has been caught a ‘dolphin-safe’ label, tuna
using stricter tracking and without endangering dol- must have been caught on OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin
verification standards on phins. Schools of tuna tend a fishing trip that did not in- Trudeau’s new Liberal government projected Tuesday a
tuna fishing in the waters to gather and swim with volve harming, trapping or federal deficit almost three times the size it promised dur-
from San Diego to Peru, some species of dolphins. killing dolphins.q ing last year’s election.
where Mexican fleets op- Finance Minister Bill Morneau predicted there will be a
erate, than it was imposing $29.4 billion Canadian deficit (US$22.4 billion) this year
on fleets elsewhere. In re- and made no mention of returning to a balanced bud-
taliation, Mexico has been get. Trudeau had promised a $10 billion Canadian (US$7.6
preparing to slap $472 mil- billion) deficit during the election.
lion in tariffs against imports The budget includes more than $2.6 billion Canadian
of high fructose corn syrup (US$2 billion) over five years for education on aboriginal
from the United States. reserves, plus nearly $1 billion over five years for educa-
The U.S. decided against tion infrastructure. The government also promised millions
loosening the rules on for Canada’s public broadcaster.
Mexico, choosing instead It also provides $5.6 billion Canadian (US$4.3 billion) more
a plan that “elevates re- in benefits to veterans and their families over five years,
quirements for tuna prod- but delays indefinitely a plan to spend billions more on
uct from every other region procuring badly needed military ships, planes and vehi-
cles. The promised re-equipping of the Canadian military
Lumber Liquidators pays has essentially been postponed until after the next elec-
tion.
$2.5M to settle California case Canada’s oil-rich economy has slowed as the price of
crude as plummeted. The government assumes an oil
TOANO, Va. (AP) — Be- price of US$40 a barrel this year.
leaguered flooring retailer The budget made no mention of a bailout for plane and
Lumber Liquidators is pay- train maker Bombardier, although a bailout package has
ing $2.5 million to settle al- been much discussed in Parliament and remains widely
legations that some of its expected. The aerospace giant is seeking $1 billion Ca-
products violated Califor- nadian (US$770 million) in federal support.q
nia’s air-safety standards.
The penalty announced In this March 12, 2015, file photo, a man walks past a Lumber
Tuesday was the latest that Liquidators store in Philadelphia.
Lumber Liquidators has ab-
sorbed for formerly selling Associated Press
laminate flooring made in pany didn’t acknowledge ing around the formalde-
China. any wrongdoing in the set- hyde levels of the China-
In this case, Lumber Liqui- tlement with the California made flooring.
dators faced allegations Air Resources Board.
that the imported flooring Last year, Lumber Liquida- The legal fallout so far has
contained high levels of tors paid $13.2 million in been less costly to Lumber
the carcinogen formalde- fines and pleaded guilty Liquidators than the dam-
hyde that violated Califor- to environmental crimes age done to its stock since
nia’s air-quality controls. for importing China-made investigation shown slightly
The flooring was sold at flooring that contained tim- more than a year ago “60
Lumber Liquidators’ Cali- ber illegally logged in east- Minutes” raised questions
fornia stores from Septem- ern Russia. Lumber Liquida- about whether the retailer
ber 2013 until May 2015 tors still faces a variety of was selling potentially haz-
when the retailer suspend- class-action lawsuits revolv- ardous flooring.q
ed sales of the products
made in China.
Lumber Liquidators cur-
rently operates 40 of its 375
stores in California.
The Toano, Virginia, com-
