HARD NUMBERS: Killer oyster parasite spreads, Canada offers tariff relief, Small batch opioid precursors pose big problem, Moscow says “no” to new US-Russia nuclear treaty
Oysters from Prince Edward Island are displayed in a Toronto market.
95: An oyster parasite with a kill rate of up to 95% is spreading fast on Prince Edward Island, putting the lucrative industry at risk. Canadian food inspectors say the culprit – called “multinucleate sphere X” or “MSX” – has no effect on humans who eat contaminated oysters, but it shortens the mollusks’ lifespan. Oyster exports are PEI’s third most lucrative industry, bringing in about $24 million annually. Lobsters are in first, at nearly $300 million.
25: Canada is prepared to offer firms relief from a new 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum coming into effect later this month. Ottawa imposed the measure to fight what it says is “dumping” in which China, suffering low domestic demand, exports unsold commodities at ultra-low prices. After Canadian firms warned they won’t be able to adjust their supply chains quickly enough, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government will develop a “framework” in which companies can request relief.
$800: How does so much fentanyl get into the United States? In small packages, according to a Reuters report, which finds that traffickers of the chemicals used to make the drug exploit a US trade loophole that permits packages with a value below $800 to enter the US with minimal inspections. Over a two-year period, a single trafficker profiled in the report ferried small packages arriving from China with enough precursors to make 5 billion fentanyl pills.
2: With just two years until the expiration of the last major nuclear arms limitation treaty between Russia and the US, Moscow may not seek to sign a new treaty at all. Russia last year suspended participation in the 2010 pact, known as the New START treaty, because of frictions with Washington over the Ukraine war. To sign a new agreement under these circumstances, said an unnamed Russian official, “will only entertain the pride of the United States.”