United States

Ottawa is refusing to rescue AbitibiBowater Inc. with loan guarantees--putting thousands of jobs in communities across Canada at risk after the forest products giant filed for bankruptcy protection, the Globe and Mail reported. AbitibiBowater, one of the country's oldest companies and the world's biggest producer of newsprint, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Thursday, citing a debt burden of more than $6 billion (U.S.), and plans to file for similar protection in Montreal today, under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

The key players who will determine whether Chrysler LLC has a future in Canada are digging in their heels, increasing the danger that a rescue effort could collapse, the Globe and Mail reported. The campaign to convince the Canadian Auto Workers to offer more concessions to Chrysler Canada Inc. is growing increasingly public, with would-be Chrysler saviour Fiat SpA jumping into the fray this week, followed by Industry Minister Tony Clement, and yesterday, Chrysler Canada president Reid Bigland.

Fiat SpA's chief executive, facing a two-week deadline to work out a partnership with Chrysler LLC, warned the troubled U.S. carmaker's unions he would ditch the idea unless they agreed to cut labor costs, Reuters reported. In a clear message to U.S. and Canadian unions, Sergio Marchionne told Wednesday's Globe and Mail newspaper a deal on the partnership had only a 50-50 chance of succeeding because of lack of progress in talks with union leaders. "Absolutely we are prepared to walk.

Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne is again in the United States for talks with potential partner Chrysler, a source close to the company said on Thursday. He may have a meeting with Chrysler executives in New York, where an auto show is currently underway, Reuters reported. Fiat and Chrysler are trying to finalize a partnership by the end of April which would help the U.S. car maker avoid bankruptcy. On Wednesday, Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press said his company was working around the clock to complete the deal.

The federal government says it wants to protect consumers and parts suppliers faced with a potential bankruptcy filing by General Motors of Canada or Chrysler Canada by backstopping their warranties on new car sales and bolstering support for the parts makers, The Globe and Mail reported. Worried that the companies' financial crisis will drive away customers and seal their fate, Industry Minister Tony Clement said Ottawa would insure the warranties of new GM and Chrysler vehicles sold between yesterday and the conclusion of their restructuring efforts.

There are many small tragedies within a global disaster like this, the Business Spectator reported, and one of them is Ventracor--for years one of Australia’s leading biotech prospects. Two weeks ago, Ventracor went into voluntary administration and is now, amazingly, facing complete closure. It has no debt and a technology that works: 400 people are walking around in the United States with its artificial heart whirring in their chests.

Japan's economy, the second-largest in the world, is shrinking at the fastest pace in more than 30 years, roughly twice as fast as the U.S. economy, The Washington Post reported. Exports and imports declined in February at a record rate, with monthly sales to the United States down nearly 60 percent compared with last year. Tokyo is giving itself public-works medicine for these global trade ills, deploying legions of men and women with flags and hard hats to repave streets, repaint crosswalks and fix broken clocks in city parks.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, an avowed friend of the United States and the leader of the European Union’s biggest economy, is diplomatic about the coming visit by President Obama. But she is clear that she is not about to give ground on new stimulus spending, stressing the need to maintain fiscal discipline even as she professes to want to work closely with the new American president. “International policy is, for all the friendship and commonality, always also about representing the interests of one’s own country,” Mrs.

As companies try to hasten the restructuring process, they're negotiating deals with creditors before they reach the courts, an analysis by the Globe and Mail has found. Restructuring experts say this carefully crafted strategy is increasingly the norm as companies attempt to prenegotiate agreements with most of their major creditors, then file under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada or Chapter 11 in the United States just long enough to have a court impose terms on any unwilling lenders.

At least 17 of the 20 major nations that vowed at a November summit to avoid protectionist steps that could spark a global trade war have violated that promise, with countries from Russia to the United States to China enacting measures aimed at limiting the flow of imported goods, according to a World Bank report unveiled yesterday. The report underscores a "worrying" trend toward protectionism as countries rush to shield their ailing domestic industries during the global economic crisis, The Washington Post reported.