The Quebec government is pulling the plug on a $7-billion electric-vehicle battery project near Montreal and trying to recoup some of its investment, BNN Bloomberg reported. Economy Minister Christine Fréchette announced Tuesday that the government is cutting its losses on the planned Northvolt battery factory after spending $510 million on the troubled venture, once touted as the largest private investment in the province’s history. The Quebec government pledged up to $2.9 billion in financing for the project, while Ottawa committed up to $4.4 billion.

U.S. risk advisory business Kroll has acquired Kirby Healy, a Dublin-based corporate insolvency practice, for an undisclosed sum, the Irish Times reported. The New York-headquartered company, which provides a range of services from valuation, compliance and regulation, said the move would deepen “Kroll’s footprint in Ireland” and was part of a broader growth strategy in Ireland, aimed at meeting increased demand. The acquisition increases the company’s Irish team to more than 70 employees and the number of restructuring experts it has in Dublin to 26.

Confidence in the eurozone’s economic outlook fell back as sluggish growth weighed on sentiment, with little hope of a major rebound ahead, surveys of households and business showed, the Wall Street Journal reported. The European Commission said Thursday that its economic sentiment indicator for the currency area edged down to 95.2 this month from 95.7 in July, thwarting economists’ expectations of a slight uptick in sentiment. Consumer confidence fell back, as did sentiment in industry and construction.

The European Commission proposed on Thursday removing tariffs on imported U.S. industrial goods, part of a trade agreement with the United States that should result in retroactive cuts to U.S. tariffs on European cars, Reuters reported. The proposals are the first EU step in enacting the framework agreement between U.S. President Donald Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on July 27, which saw the EU accept a broad 15% tariff to avoid a damaging trade war.

U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports are biting into the income of some American retail-focused companies, with at least two already in bankruptcy court and others forecasting significant losses, the South China Morning Post reported. Exporters were shouldering a relatively small share of duties on goods sent from China to the US, leaving American firms to absorb the remaining costs or pass them on to consumers, according to minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting on July 29-30, citing the views of its participants.

The Panama Canal Authority plans to sell rights to two, yet-to-be-built ports to bring in more operators and limit the influence of any one group, specifically Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co. and China’s state-run Cosco, the Wall Street Journal reported. The head of the authority, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, said he wants to bring in more competition now that MSC and China’s largest shipping company have emerged as significant players in a clash between the U.S. and China over who controls two existing Panama Canal ports. In March, U.S.

In a factory in Hekinan, a seaside town southwest of Tokyo, machines spit hot metal rods into baskets. On a recent Monday, afternoon light poured in through yellowed windows, and the air inside was hot and smelled of metal shavings, the New York Times reported. The plant, operated by an 84-year-old Japanese automotive parts maker, Asahi Tekko, produces components that are fitted into Lexus and Land Cruiser models at nearby Toyota factories. Many of those vehicles are then shipped to the United States.

Silicon Valley startup Lyten will need to convince carmakers it can succeed where bankrupt Swedish EV battery maker Northvolt failed - creating a European champion to reduce the region's reliance on China, Reuters reported. Lyten, which develops lithium-sulfur batteries, unexpectedly announced on August 7 it was buying Northvolt's assets, offering a lifeline to future European battery production for electric vehicles.

The European Union is pushing for U.S. tariffs on European cars and auto parts to be reduced retroactively to August 1 under the terms of a framework trade deal reached in July, CBTNews.com reported. The move could provide quick relief for European automakers that have faced steep U.S. tariffs in recent years. Under the agreement, Washington committed to lowering its current 27.5% tariff on cars and auto parts from the EU once Brussels introduces legislation to cut duties on U.S. goods.