Business Briefcase

Chamber announces plans to bolster U.S.-Cuban trade

WASHINGTON – Amid a surge in interest in U.S. investment opportunities in Cuba, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Friday it is launching a council aimed at removing trade barriers and improving business ties between both countries.

Leaders of the U.S.-Cuba Business Council said they will work with Congress as well as the public and private sectors in both countries to create jobs and advocate for reforms in the U.S. and Cuba.

“We’re facing a historic opportunity to support a vital and growing Cuban private sector, one that is defined by entrepreneurs whose expanding efforts show that the spirit of free enterprise is already taking hold in the country,” U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue said.

The new council said it will also urge the Cuban government to make policy changes that lessen control over Cuban businesses.

Steelmaker considers layoffs

MINNEAPOLIS – U.S. Steel could lay off 210 more workers at a plant in Minnesota, according to a WARN notice filed last week with the state of Minnesota and the United Steelworkers.

The potential layoffs at the Keetac taconite plant in Keewatin, about 60 miles northwest of Duluth, could last as long as six months and would add to the roughly 400 workers who were laid off at the plant when it was idled this summer, U.S. Steel spokeswoman Courtney Boone said.

If the new round of layoffs comes through, only about 200 maintenance workers would be left at the plant, she said.

Hyundai recalls 500,000 cars

DETROIT – Hyundai is recalling nearly a half-million midsize cars in the U.S. to replace key engine parts because a manufacturing problem could cause them to fail.

The recall covers 470,000 Sonata sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years equipped with 2-liter or 2.4-liter gasoline engines.

The company also is recalling nearly 100,000 Accent small cars because the brake lights can fail.

In documents on the Sonata recall posted Friday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Hyundai says metal debris may not have been fully removed from the crankshaft area during manufacturing at Hyundai’s Alabama engine plant. That can restrict oil flow to the connecting rod bearings, and since they are cooled by oil, they could fail. If that happens, the engines could stall and cause a crash.

So far, Hyundai said it has no reports of crashes or injuries from the problem.

DuPont lawsuit to move ahead

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal judge has refused to dismiss one of two test cases that could potentially help settle thousands of similar lawsuits against chemical giant DuPont.

The complaint by an Ohio woman alleges the Delaware-based company knew the potentially dangerous risks posed by a chemical its plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia, had been depositing into the Ohio River, but declined to inform the public.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that DuPont unsuccessfully asked Judge Edmund Sargus on Thursday to dismiss the case.

Sargus agreed to read motions filed by DuPont that argue the evidence doesn’t support the awarding of punitive damages.

More than 3,500 lawsuits allege DuPont’s dumping of a chemical known as C8 into local drinking water caused diseases including cancer.