Canadian Minister of Trade Ed Fast on Friday predicted a rise in Christmas tree exports this season, amid reported shortages in the US.
The US’ northern neighbor is known for producing bushy, winter-resilient firs, pines and spruces, ideal for decoration during the holiday season.
“Christmas trees represent a key export for Canada,” Fast said in a statement. “Following a decrease in demand for Canadian Christmas trees during the recession in the United States in 2008 and 2009, Canadian tree exports are on the rise, especially due to a Christmas tree shortage in the United States.”
Canada is the world’s largest exporter of Christmas trees, according to the government. Last year, it shipped more than 1.5 million Christmas trees worth C$28 million (US$24 million) to the US, Japan and other countries.
The shortage of trees looming in the US — which some growers dispute — is blamed on a dwindling number of local tree farms, severe weather that damaged crops and a spike in demand.
According to the US National Christmas Tree Association, Americans bought more than 33 million Christmas trees last year, up from 24 million in 2012.
In related news, a western New York brewery has constructed a Christmas tree out of hundreds of beer kegs — all that is missing is the beer.
The Genesee Brewing Co built the 7m Christmas tree out of 300 stainless steel kegs outside its Brew House in downtown Rochester, New York.
The keg tree is trimmed with 180m of green lights and topped by a rotating Genesee sign. More than 20 of Genesee’s elves — also known as employees — got to work designing and building the keg tree.
Alas, beer lovers, the kegs are empty, but the company says when the tree is dismantled the kegs will return to the production line and be refilled.
The official public lighting ceremony is set for Thursday.
Additional reporting by AP
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS