TPP Trumped, Focus Switches to Bilateral Trade Deals

By Ed Zwirn (Read  in Wards Auto, Jan. 27, 2017)

TPP opponents include Trump, protesters in Wellington, New Zealand. Neal Ballantyne

TPP opponents include Trump, protesters in Wellington, New Zealand.
Neal Ballantyne

Now that Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the auto industry faces other trade-policy challenges, particularly the attempts to strike bilateral deals one-on-one with many countries at once. Continue reading

Hemp, Flax Growing as Auto Plastics Building Blocks

Ford’s Mielewski says almost 300 parts in automaker’s vehicles derived from sources including flax, soybeans, cotton, wood, jute and natural rubber.

Ford’s Mielewski says almost 300 parts in automaker’s vehicles derived from sources including flax, soybeans, cotton, wood, jute and natural rubber.

Wards Auto

Aug. 25, 2016

By Mandy Kovacs

with Ed Zwirn in New York and Barbara Barkhausen in Sydney 

OTTAWA – Auto-components researchers are developing the use of grasses such as hemp or flax to make tough but lightweight bioplastics that also help reduce a vehicle’s carbon footprint by using a renewable resource. Continue reading