GZERO North
Hard Numbers: US-Canada beef beef, Ukraine’s “Green Marshall Plan,” Line 5 payout, a June snowstorm!
Meat at a grocery store in Toronto.
Creative Touch Imaging Ltd via Reuters Connect
8 billion: Canada has beef with the US over, well, beef … and other processed meats. Ottawa has said that a US proposal to change the packaging requirements of meats – to make it clearer which products are grown and processed in the US – puts the US-Canada protein supply chain, worth a whopping $8 billion, at risk and would “discriminate” against its producers. It’s unclear whether Canada plans to pursue a dispute resolution process if the rule is implemented.
20 million: As Ukraine seeks international donations to fund its green economic recovery – dubbed the “Green Marshall Plan” – Canada on Wednesday pledged CA$20 million to aid that effort, while the US says it will dole out a little more … committing to an additional $1.3 billion to rebuild and modernize Ukraine’s infrastructure in the near term. Kyiv, for its part, is looking for a whopping $40 billion for this project.
*5.1 million: A US federal judge ruled that Calgary-based Enbridge, a natural gas utility, must pay a Wisconsin-based Indigenous group some $5.1 million and move part of an oil pipeline by 2026 that impinges on the group’s land. Still, the judge stopped short of saying the pipeline, known as Line 5, should be shut down, which would have caused major economic disruptions in both Canada and the US.
30: It may be June, but residents in Jasper, Alberta, woke up this week to a fresh winter storm that dumped 30 centimeters (12 inches) of snow, toppling trees. Residents were told to get their winter tires in check and avoid non-essential travel, which could end up disrupting some … summer travel plans.
* Disclosure: Enbridge was a sponsor at the Eurasia Group US-Canada Summit in April.
In his latest Quick Take, Ian Bremmer warns the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is deepening into a prolonged global crisis, with rising economic and geopolitical costs and little sign of progress in US-Iran negotiations.
The menu options have recently changed #PUPPETREGIME
Trump wants a win in Cuba. But between a defiant regime, weak opposition, and Cuban Americans with high expectations, a quick fix is harder than it sounds.
Just as world commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, countries in Asia and Africa are increasingly turning to nuclear power to compensate for the energy shortages caused by the blockades around the Strait of Hormuz.