,h3>Veterans Choice might need funds[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — Weeks after receiving $2.1 billion in emergency funding, the Trump administration says the private-sector Veterans Choice health care program may need more money as early as December to avoid a disruption of care for hundreds of thousands of veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it hopes to move quickly on a long-term legislative fix that would give veterans wider access to private doctors. The VA plan would seek money to keep Choice running for much of next year as the agency implements wider changes. The proposal is set to be released in coming weeks.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were monitoring.

Choice allows veterans to receive outside care if they must wait 30 days or more for an appointment or drive more than 40 miles to a VA facility.

[naviga:h3]U.S. may slap duty on jets from Canada [/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commerce Department says Canada unfairly subsidized Montreal-based aircraft manufacturer Bombardier and is calling for a nearly 220 percent duty to be slapped on every Bombardier C Series plane imported into the United States.

The decision is a victory for Chicago-based aviation giant Boeing, which said Bombardier used the subsidies to sell its C Series jets at artificially low prices.

It also is likely to raise tensions between the United States and Canada, its No. 1 trading partner.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the U.S. values its relationships with Canada, but even the closest allies of the United States must play by the rules.

[naviga:h3]New home sales slump in August[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — Sales of new U.S. homes slumped 3.4 percent in August, the second straight monthly decline.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000. This followed a 5.5 percent decline in July. Still, sales gains earlier this year mean that sales are running 7.5 percent higher year-to-date than in 2016.

Sales could worsen in coming months as parts of Texas and Florida — both hit by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma — find that new construction gets delayed as the focus turns to rebuilding properties that were flooded or damaged by the fierce winds and rainstorms.

But August’s drop in new home sales also points to the limits of the rebound from the Great Recession.

[naviga:h3]Swiss company to settle corn lawsuits[/naviga:h3]

MINNEAPOLIS — Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta said Tuesday it has agreed to settle tens of thousands of U.S. lawsuits by farmers over the company’s rollout of a genetically engineered corn seed variety before China approved it for imports.

Syngenta said in a statement that the settlement would establish a fund to pay claims by farmers and others who contracted to price corn or corn byproducts after Sept. 14, 2013. Details will be announced after the agreement is submitted for court approval later this year, it said.