Government

DETROIT — A tax credit of up to $7,500 could be used to defray the cost of an electric vehicle under the Inflation Reduction Act now moving toward final approval in Congress. But the auto industry is warning that the vast majority of EV purchases won’t qualify for a tax credit that large.

Gradually phasing out diesel fuel sales in Portland, Ore., is among 43 climate change actions before the City Council’s second public hearing and vote slated for Aug. 24.

Productivity slumped for a second straight quarter as the economy shrank, driving another surge in labor costs that risks keeping inflation elevated and further complicates the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame price increases.

The national average price of diesel dropped to less than $5 a gallon for the first time since March, falling 14.5 cents to settle at $4.993, according to Energy Information Administration data released Aug. 8.

U.S. ports will see less retail cargo entering the country in the second half of the year as economic growth slows amid back-to-back interest rate increases and persistent inflation.

Oregon is asking for public input on a congestion pricing plan to impose tolls on all lanes of Portland’s two interstates that would result in commercial trucks paying higher rates than passenger vehicles.

The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis determined the only potential adverse impacts of Canadian Pacific’s proposed merger with Kansas City Southern would be train noise, according to the STB’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement released Aug. 5.

DETROIT — Two crashes involving Teslas apparently running on Autopilot are drawing scrutiny from federal regulators and point to a potential new hazard on U.S. freeways: The partially automated vehicles may not stop for motorcycles.

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said he sees no signs of a strike or a lockout looming in the contract negotiations between dockworkers and employers at some of the nation’s most important ports, even as talks continue without a contract.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats have agreed to eleventh-hour changes to their marquee economic legislation, they announced late Aug. 4, clearing the major impediment to pushing one of President Joe Biden’s paramount election-year priorities through the chamber in coming days.