PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. – Canadian National will get another intermodal boost from the fast-growing Port of Prince Rupert, which on Tuesday announced a container port expansion that should be complete in 2022. The port and terminal operator DP Wor...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/06/20-prince-rupert-container-port-expansion-to-boost-canadian-national-intermodal-traffic
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
They might want to hold off on expansion until the trade situation settles down. Tariffs going up everywhere. Trump says the world has treated the United States very unfairly.. 75% of goods shipping from Prince Rupert via CN are destined to US markets. Only 25% are destined to markets in Canada. Trump says NAFTA is horrible and that China has treated the US horribly.. looks rather ominous for large scale infrastructure projects like this that are predicated on "business as usual but only more so".
Shhhh, CN's finally spending some money after almost 20 years of cuts, don't spoil it for us!!!!!
Seriously though, as opposed to only handling new business Prince Rupert has gotten much of its traffic by stealing existing freight from U.S. ports like LA-Long Beach, and it looks like they think they can continue to compete with the big boys long-term.
CN's current infrastructure projects are long overdue, fully completing this summer's list will not be enough to handle "business as usual", let alone any more.
CN is now running at least 3 10,000'+ intermodals to and from Prince Rupert each way, every day.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Yes the picture has changed dramatically since the G7. If these tariffs and protectionist measures continue to be the future then you will see CN and others dramatically scale back with all expansion plans. It's going to be a very tough call to make.
It's a certainty that many emergency boardroom meetings are dominated by angst and grinding teeth. The picture has changed.
Also make no mistake that the USA is fully capable of being self sustaining and to heck with the world. The very few things they cannot source internally can simply be purchased wherever, someone will be willing to make the sale. If that is the future then countries like Canada will have to develop markets elsewhere, India, Indonesia and so on but that won't happen overnight. Already a reaction is Canadian trade with Europe has been pursued aggressively but Italy vows to stop it all! Not so easy peasy you see .
However, President Trump has also stated he would like to see no tariffs at all and when everyone starts playing fair and even that could happen.
The world is walking on eggshells right now and we need really smart, competent and capable people to negotiate with the USA immediately and stop, in our case here in Canada, tying everything into gender equality issues and climate change or in China's case, currency manipulation and cyber espionage.
So if you are at the helm of CN with your team around you just how do you move forward and make the right call? The game has changed.
I suspect Trump's definition of fair and the the rest of the World's definition of fair are in conflict with each other.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Miningman So if you are at the helm of CN with your team around you just how do you move forward and make the right call? The game has changed.
The Soviet Union aspired to be self-sufficient too, at one time. Never did work out.
If tomorrow I were picked to be supreme dictator of CN I would stay the current course, the track and yard expansions are still needed to efficiently handle year-round a much lower volume of traffic than we are currently seeing.
I would order additional new AC locomotives, counting leasers we currently have nearly 400 road locomotives on the property (GE Dash-8, EMD SD40-2, SD60 and leased SD75M) which are on their last legs and should be replaced in the near future.
I would keep in mind that Donald Trump has a volatile personality and a history of changing his mind or backtracking on certain issues when confronted with harsh, harsh reality, as we saw the other day with his executive order regarding illegal migrant children.
And I would pay very close attention to the upcoming mid-term U.S. elections, as a potential preview of Trump's electoral future.
He is no spring chicken either, and I would not be surprised to seem him drop dead of a heart attack or other age-related disease at any time.
Anything can happen.. I'm old enough to remember life in Canada before free trade and NAFTA. Somehow we managed to survive without free trade, and that was when we had a population of 26 million (verses our 37 million today). I hope NAFTA stays as the adjustment to a more protectionst regime would be difficult, painful, long,and protracted. NAFTA has been unfair to our friends to the south? Last time I checked NAFTA was a negotiated rules based agreement, where all three signatories to the deal agreed on the terms, rules, and the dispute resolution mechanisms. NAFTA was certainly not imposed on the US by Canada and Mexico, although one might come to that conclusion based on some of the inflammatory rhetoric one hears nowadays.
In one other major way CN has unique exposure to risk should NAFTA fail.. due to its former IC mainline through America's heartland, terminating at the Gulf. A major Canadian trunk line running through Trump's protectionst America.. no.. I can't imagine that being a problem..
Dude-- Presidents Trumps personal White House Doctor stated under great scrutiny that the President has extremely good genes and could live to 200!
Of course he was toying a bit with the press but the point is he is exceptionally healthy. He has never touched alcohol or smoked ever.
I happen to think he has the best interests of the USA at heart, and to Ulrichs point of NAFTA being "forced" onto the US, instead claims that the US negotiators were incompetent and stupid and made really bad deals that he wishes to correct.
So as Canadians, the Dude, Ulrich and myself let's end supply management of Dairy which is nonsense anyway and its 300% tariff only for the benefit of a few rich Quebec dairy farmers and to the detriment of the rest of us and end government sudsidies on softwood lumber and be done with it. This would get an immediate positive response from Uncle Sam.
According to Wilbur Ross yesterday.. Canadian steel is NOT a security threat to the United States, and the United States in fact has a trade surplus of steel with Canada. So why the tariffs on steel?.. I dunno.. I buy my shoes here too.. haven't yet run to Buffalo to get around the onerous shoe tariff.. And he says his predecessors are stupid and thus negotiated bad deals? Ummmm.. right..
UlrichLast time I checked NAFTA was a negotiated rules based agreement, where all three signatories to the deal agreed on the terms, rules, and the dispute resolution mechanisms. NAFTA was certainly not imposed on the US by Canada and Mexico, although one might come to that conclusion based on some of the inflammatory rhetoric one hears nowadays.
Sounds like Union/Labor conflict over the negotiated Contract. One party tries to run roughshod over the other party(s) on one item or another. Often happens when their is regime change happens on one side of the agreement or the other. Sort of like the Evil Step-parent holding a grudge against the children created prior to their entry into the union.
I think there is a lot of sturm und drang right now, which is Trump’s way of going in to a negotiation. There will be a deal made, just as with South Korea. Whether it is two bilateral agreements - Canada-US and Mexico-US - or NAFTA 2, a deal will be struck.
As one of our people succinctly put it the other day.. "we (Canadians) don't export cars to the United States.. we build cars together for a common North American market". And so it is with alot of other products.. Cars made here have parts in them that cross the border back and forth in the course of manufacture to best utilize supply chain efficiencies on both sides of the border. Cancelling NAFTA would put a stop to that. I don't know.. maybe in the long run that would be better.. who knows. Transportation is getting ever more expensive, and moving parts all over the place may not be long term viable anyway.. Maybe we should go back to the days when products were made from raw materials in one location.. Bring in the steel and rubber and whatever else.. and out comes a completely finished car or other product.
The President is also overweight, has high cholesterol and consumes large quantities of McDonalds grease. Tick tock, tick tock... heart attack!
Maybe the supply-management dairy system deserves a look, but if the only alternative is the American system, which has led to wild price swings and bankrupt farmers then no thanks!
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2018/04/13/dairy-crisis-crushes-farmers-wisconsins-rural-identity-jeopardy/511881002/
Every country subsidises farmers, Canada and the U.S. are no exception:
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2015/02/12/milking-taxpayers
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4018441
https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/2016/02/01/the-downside-of-farm-subsidies/
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/taxpayers-oblivious-to-the-cost-of-farm-subsidies/article13055078/
As for softwood lumber that debate pre-dates NAFTA and is unlikely to end anytime soon, even though most international rulings on the issue have been in Canada's favour:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada–United_States_softwood_lumber_dispute
The latest U.S. tariffs have not had much visible effect yet, those lumber trains keep rolling along!
For our Prime Minister, who knows absolutely less than zero about trade, to officially adopt an anti US stance disquised as an anti Trump posture is extremely dangerous and stupid.
The frustrating thing for us Canucks is that we do not have a trade surplus with the US nor do they have a deficit with us. In fact it's a bit in favour of the US. The problems are softwood lumber and dairy so let's fix it.
For our US friends here on the Forum, it is going to be difficult to rid the 300% dairy tariff without rippling serious separatist movements in Quebec. Our Liberal Prime Minister will not do it, and the Quebec dairy farmers have the Conservative leader in their pocket. The only guy against this garbage and wrote a book about it, was just recently ousted from the Cabinet.
This is not a David and Goliath tale, or the mouse that roared. Canada must fix this fast or you will see CN in full retreat as reality sets in.
At least the Liberals and Conservatives have finally agreed on something!
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/11/trump-canada-latest-trade-war-trudeau-relationship-fears
SD70Dude At least the Liberals and Conservatives have finally agreed on something! https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/11/trump-canada-latest-trade-war-trudeau-relationship-fears
Indeed they have, and to Trudeau's credit, he's been able to tap into the best minds on both sides of the aisle. I agree, he's not an intellectual heavyweight, but his ability to get good people onside around him has more than made up for it. That's a leader's primary function anyway.. to coordinate people and resources to ensure proper governance and security. Freeland in particular gives me hope.. she's smart and hard working, and the right person for the trade file..
I don't think we should capitulate on dairy supply management.. First off dairy represents a very small part of our trade with the US, and second, other countries including ther US also subsidize their dairy industries. Yet, for some reason the mainstream media seem to forget that..all they hear is 270% tariff and how unfair we are..
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