US Hits EU, Canada and Mexico with Steel, Aluminum Tariffs
The United States on Thursday said it will impose tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, reigniting investor fears of a global trade war as Washington's allies took steps to retaliate against U.S. goods.The move, announced by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a telephone briefing on Thursday, ended months of uncertainty about potential tariff exemptions and suggested a hardening of the Trump administration's approach to trade negotiations.It also sent a chill through financial markets…
Imtech: Investigating Fraud Allegations
Dutch engineering and construction firm Imtech is investigating allegations it operated a cartel to overcharge German energy company RWE for the building of a power plant in the Netherlands. The allegations, detailed in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and German newspaper Handelsblatt on Thursday, follow earlier allegations of accounting fraud at its German and Polish operations. The company put out a statement late on Tuesday in response to questions put to it by the two newspapers in which it mentioned "allegations of possible competition law violations" on "two projects in the energy sector" between 2008 and 2010 without going into further detail.
China to Counter Vietnam Version on S.China Sea
China said on Tuesday that it wanted to counter Vietnam's "slander" to the world about what was happening in disputed areas of the South China Sea, after Beijing asked the United Nations to circulate documents outlining its position. A senior U.S. diplomat called on China to provide evidence to back up its claim to 90 percent of the sea, believed to be rich in energy and minerals. And the Philippines, embroiled in disputes with China over its claims to parts of the sea, defended a weekend get together on the disputed Spratly Islands of Philippine and Vietnamese servicemen and said another gathering would be staged next year. Tensions have been running particularly high between China and Vietnam…
Scientists Say Antarctic Glaciers in 'Irreversible' Thaw
Vast glaciers in West Antarctica seem to be locked in an irreversible thaw linked to global warming that may push up sea levels for centuries, scientists said on Monday. Six glaciers, eaten away from below by a warming of sea waters around the frozen continent, were flowing fast into the Amundsen Sea, according to the report based partly on satellite radar measurements from 1992 to 2011. Evidence shows "a large sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet has gone into a state of irreversible retreat"…
BP to Burn Off Some Collected Oil
According to a June 10 report from Reuters, BPwill begin burning up to 10,000 barrels a day of oil from its Gulf of Mexico leak possibly as early as Monday, June 14, a company executive said. The British energy giant is collecting oil spewing from its blown-out seabed well through a containment cap and plans to test a second system to capture more oil over the weekend, Kent Wells, BP's senior vice president of exploration and production, said in a telephone briefing. BP said the cap system atop the well collected 15,800 barrels (660,000 gallons/2.5 million liters) of oil on Wednesday, June 9, a small increase over the 15,010 barrels captured the day before. (Source: Reuters)
