Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 7, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● B7 BUSINESS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2024 Potential China EV tariffs welcomed by GM Canada THE potential of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports is being wel- comed by the Canadian head of Gener- al Motors as major producer BYD looks to enter the market. “We’re encouraged by the govern- ment’s examination of these issues,” said Kristian Aquilina, president of GM Canada. “Because on the basis of strong competition, a fair playing field, it encourages us to invest heavily, em- ploy deeply.” The federal government wrapped a 30-day consultation last week on wheth- er to follow the lead of the U.S. and the European Union on imposing steep tar- iffs to counter the volume of production coming out of China. Canada’s auto sector faces “un- fair competition” from China’s state- directed policy of overcapacity and broad range of non-market policies and practices, the federal government said in announcing the consultations. Without directly calling out Chinese producers, Aquilina noted similar con- cerns: “An unfair playing field can be quite detrimental, and it’s only right that the government look at these issues and consider all of the facts.” He deferred to the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association for more specific commentary on the tariffs. The group has pushed strongly for align- ment with U.S. policy so the more than $40 billion in Canadian EV industry in- vestments announced over the past four years can have room to succeed. “This transition is happening, but it does take time, and we have to make sure that adequate supports are in place to allow these investments, and these new facilities to come online,” said president Brian Kingston. Aligning with the U.S. would also send the right signals ahead of North American trade talks scheduled for 2026, said Kingston. “Now is the time. Let’s put these policies in place, show the American people we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in this approach to China.” Groups like Unifor, the Global Auto- makers of Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce have also ex- pressed support, while climate-focused associations like Clean Energy Canada have pushed back over concerns the move would cut off more affordable op- tions for electric vehicles. The potential tariffs could be sub- stantial. In May, the U.S. boosted its tariffs to 100 per cent from 25 per cent, while the EU has set tariffs that could run upwards of 38 per cent. For now, the only Chinese-made EVs imported into Canada are from U.S. tech giant Tesla, made at the company’s Shanghai factory, which are subject to a six-per-cent import tariff. There is, however, the potential for China-based BYD, the world’s biggest electric vehicle producer by volume, to come to Canada. A July 24 lobbyist registration showed the company had hired a consultant to ad- vise on “matters related to the expected market entry of BYD into Canada,” and the application of tariffs on EVs. BYD, which phased out gasoline-only models in 2022, sold over three million vehicles last year. The company debuted its Seagull EV last year at a starting price of the equiva- lent of about $14,600 for a 305-kilometre range version. General Motors, meanwhile, discon- tinued its entry-level Chevy Bolt EV last year, only to clarify it planned to later relaunch the model. Timing of a return, and potential pricing, of the Bolt is still not fixed, but the company is aiming to bring it back late next year, said Aquilina. For now, the company is focused on rolling out its newly arrived Chevy Equinox EV, retailing for around $50,000, which he said puts GM with the most affordable EV in Canada that has around 500 km of range. While the price range is still out of reach for many, it also reflects rising prices generally for cars. The average price for a new vehicle in Canada was about $68,000 for June, up from $55,000 two years ago, accord- ing to AutoTrader. Meanwhile, Canadian Black Book says the average price of an EV topped $73,000 last year. The push higher in EV prices came as producers made bigger vehicles with bigger batteries that made for greater range (and potential profits), but GM says it sees customers’ appetites to give up some of that range. “At the outset when range anxiety was at its highest, that became the thing that customers wanted more than anything else,” said Aquilina. “What the Bolt has proven … is that customers are willing to make that trade-off between range and price be- cause, of course, there is a relationship and that’s really given us encourage- ment to reintroduce the Bolt.” — The Canadian Press IAN BICKIS Nissan developing ‘cool paint’ to cut vehicle temperatures TOKYO — Nissan showed Tuesday what it called a “cool paint” to keep people inside vehicles cooler, although the coating is six times thicker, making commercialization still a challenge. The company’s announcement Tues- day was timely, coming as Japan was en- during record sweltering temperatures. Nissan Motor Co. tested the paint on vehicles scuttling around Tokyo’s Haneda airport, where there are plenty of unshaded areas that make it a good place to assess the technology. The vehicles with the special paint looked like ordinary cars, but felt much cooler to the touch. The cool paint lowered the cars’ roof- panel temperature by 12 C and the in- teriors by 5 C, according to Nissan. Cooling materials already are widely used in buildings and other items. Cool- er cars can reduce use of air-condi- tioning and relieve the toll from heat on engines and electric vehicle batteries. Toyota Motor Corp. has also been ex- perimenting with paint that delivers low- er cabin temperatures, mostly focusing on colours that refract the sun’s rays. Nissan’s cool paint reflects sunlight better and also creates electromagnetic waves that block the rays, redirecting energy away from vehicles. Nissan’s paint was developed with Radi-Cool of China, which developed a film, fabric and coating that cut heat. Radi-Cool works with various other Japanese companies, offering cool- er-feeling hats and sun parasols. Nissan is the only Japanese automaker part- nering with Radi-Cool. Susumu Miura, a Nissan Research Center manager, said there were no discernible negative effects to people’s health from the electromagnetic waves emitted by the paint. Such waves are all around us, he said. “My dream is to create cooler cars without consuming energy,” he said. — The Associated Press YURI KAGEYAMA MELINA MARA / THE WASHINGTON POST Attendees eat lunch at a Google developer conference. The U.S. tech giant is facing multiple court challenges that could force it to remake itself and its businesses. Baby Googles, Apple search engine? Antitrust ruling could change internet A U.S. federal judge said Monday that Google broke the law to kneecap web search competition in ways that entrenched the tech com- pany’s power. It was the second time in the past year that a judge or jury had declared Google an illegal monopoly. The previ- ous time was over how Google runs its Android app store. The next steps, which involve propos- ing legal fixes to undo Google’s behav- iour, are essentially about imagining an alternative future in which Google isn’t Google as we know it. What new ideas could flourish, which new companies might get off the ground or what products might be cheaper if Google were handcuffed from flexing its monopoly power over search? We have the internet we have, and it’s hard to imagine something different or if you’d like it more. I’ve sketched out six changes that could result from the two monopoly rulings on Google. This is educated speculation. It’s also possible not much will really change. That’s what happened after Google was found to have broken the European Union’s anti-monopoly laws. The U.S. government must now pro- pose to Judge Amit Mehta ways to re- strain Google’s actions to fix its mon- opoly. It could take years to resolve. In the app store case, a judge will soon de- cide how Google must change its illegal status quo. Google said it plans to appeal Mon- day’s ruling. A spokesman for Google declined to discuss speculation about what happens next. 1. Imagine a Google-quality search engine but without ads — or one tailored to news junkies or Lego fans It’s possible Google could be forced to let other companies access its search technology or its essential data to cre- ate search engines with the technical chops of Google — but without Google. You might imagine a company takes Google’s secret sauce and tweaks it to make a kid-friendly search engine, suggested Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project and a frequent critic of Big Tech power. Another company could prioritize websites that look out for your privacy. Another might show searches in a visual-first way. “We’re going to see the innovation of mankind come out,” Stoller said. Letting a thousand Google-type search engines bloom is probably the idea Goo- gle critics have embraced the most. But even if the government asks for it and Mehta agrees, it might not work. There have been, and are, other search engines, including Microsoft’s Bing, the privacy-focused DuckDuck- Go and Neeva, started by a former sen- ior Google executive. DuckDuckGo and Bing are nowhere near as popular or as lucrative as Google. Neeva was little used and shut down this year. The question we could see tested is: if Google is forced to share the search prowess the judge said it gained illegal- ly, could rivals make more appealing search engines? 2. Would Apple create a search en- gine? Google pays Apple billions of dollars a year — US$20 billion in 2022 — to make Google the standard way to search the web on Apple’s Safari browser. That arrangement gives Google ac- cess to valuable searches from Apple device owners, and it guarantees Apple gobs of money. Megan Gray, an antitrust law special- ist with GrayMatters Law & Policy and a critic of Google’s power, said the judge could significantly change or end Goo- gle’s deals with Apple and companies that put Google search front-and-centre on Android phones and web browsers. The likeliest scenario is you’d need to pick whether to use Google on your iPhone or something else. But tech- nologists and stock analysts have also speculated for years Apple could make its own search engine. It would be like when Apple started Apple Maps as an alternative to Google Maps. Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment. 3. Could prices go down for the prod- ucts that advertise next to your search- es (which is most products)? Mehta said Google has the power to charge artificially high prices for the text ads you might see when you search for terms like “auto insurance quotes Minneapolis.” In theory, if alternative search engines get popular, there would be more compe- tition and lower prices for the insurance providers and other companies trying to grab your attention when you search. And again, in theory, if they pay less for advertising, car insurance and other products you buy could be cheaper. 4. The company could break up into Baby Googles This one seems unlikely, but the government could ask the judge to split Google into parts to fix its illegal monopoly power. In this scenario, the Chrome browser might be its own com- pany and so might Google search and Android, for example. Stoller said when corporations such as Standard Oil and AT&T have been forced to split up in past illegal-monop- oly rulings, the component companies were liberated to come up with clever ideas that didn’t have a chance inside the giant corporation. 5. What if Google weren’t allowed to know so much about you? Jason Kint, chief executive of online news lobbying group Digital Content Next, said Google’s multiple products should no longer be allowed to com- mingle information about what you do. It would essentially be a divorce of Google’s products without breaking the company up. That could mean, for example, that whatever you did on your Android phone or the websites you visit using Chrome would not feed into one giant Google repository about your activities and interests. If Google had less information, it could be better for your privacy, and it might help other companies, including news organizations that don’t have Goo- gle’s wealth of data. 6. You might be able to download al- most anything from Google’s Android app store The judge in the other Google monop- oly case has seemed receptive to loos- ening the company’s absolute power over apps. That might mean you would be able to buy an Amazon Kindle e-book from its Android app, which you can’t do now. Games such as Fortnite that have been absent from Android phones might be available, too. In a recent court hearing, the judge also seemed open to cutting the fees Google collects when you buy digit- al subscriptions to things like Disney Plus, Match.com or X from Android apps. That could translate into lower prices for things you buy in apps. — Washington Post SHIRA OVIDE Great-West Lifeco reports rise in Q2 net earnings to $1B WINNIPEG — Great-West Lifeco Inc. says its second-quarter earnings roughly doubled from last year as it benefited from interest rate move- ments and lower business expenses. The insurer says it had net earn- ings of $1 billion, or $1.08 cents per share, up from $498 million or 53 cents per share last year. Great-West says the gains reflect an improved market experience from interest rate movements and low expenses related to business transformation activities, as well as a $121 million loss last year from asset rebalancing in Europe. Adjusted earnings, or what Great- West calls base earnings, came in at $1.04 billion, up from $978 million last year. Great-West says it hit record base earnings in the second quarter as its U.S. growth surpasses expectations and is set to become the largest seg- ment within the company’s portfolio this year. The company reported a base return on equity of 17.2 per cent, up from 15.9 per cent last year. — The Canadian Press Suncor Energy earns $1.57B in second quarter CALGARY — Suncor Energy Inc. says it earned $1.57 billion in its second quarter, down from $1.88 billion in the second quarter of 2023. The Calgary-based oil giant says on an adjusted basis, it earned $1.63 bil- lion, up from $1.25 billion in the prior year’s quarter. Its adjusted earnings worked out to $1.27 per common share in the second quarter, up from 96 cents in the same period of 2023. Suncor says its upstream production for the three months ended June 30 to- talled approximately 771,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from ap- proximately 742,000 barrels per day in the prior year’s quarter. The company says its refinery crude throughput increased to 430,500 bar- rels per day and its refinery utilization was 92 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, compared with 394,400 barrels per day and 85 per cent in the prior year’s quarter. Suncor saw record quarterly refined product sales of 594,700 barrels per day in the second quarter, compared with 547,000 barrels per day during the same time last year. — The Canadian Press ;