President Donald Trump's increased tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminum imports took effect on Wednesday, stepping up a campaign to reorder global trade in favor of the U.S. and drawing swift retaliation from Europe, Reuters reported. Trump's action to bulk up protections for American steel and aluminum producers restores effective global tariffs of 25% on all imports of the metals and extends the duties to hundreds of downstream products made from the metals, from nuts and bolts to bulldozer blades and soda cans.
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Telecommunications company Mitel Networks Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas late Sunday, seeking to complete a restructuring that will eliminate $1.15 billion in debt, Reuters reported. Mitel entered bankruptcy with $1.3 billion in debt. The company's debt has hampered its ability to quickly adjust to changing demands as businesses shifted to remote and hybrid work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court documents filed on Monday.
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Canada will keep in place its retaliatory tariffs against US-made products as long as President Donald Trump persists with a trade war, said Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister-designate, Bloomberg News reported. “The Canadian government is rightly retaliating with our own tariffs,” Carney said during his victory speech Sunday.
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Hudson’s Bay, the Canadian department store chain founded in 1670, is preparing for a bankruptcy filing within days, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The chain became a stand-alone business following its December 2024 deal to spin off its Saks Fifth Avenue subsidiary through a combination with Neiman Marcus Group. As part of that transaction, Saks acquired Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion, establishing a new entity called Saks Global, which also owns Bergdorf Goodman. Saks Global isn’t expected to file for bankruptcy itself, only Hudson’s Bay will.
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President Donald Trump said that he may implement reciprocal tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products as soon as Friday, threatening again to disrupt trade with a major US partner and reigniting a fight over two industries that have long been the center of cross-border disputes, Bloomberg News reported. “Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and for dairy products. 250% — nobody ever talks about that — 250% tariff — which is taking advantage of our farmers. So that’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office.
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Canada's unemployment in February was unchanged from the prior month and new job additions was only marginally up, data showed on Friday, showing early signs of an impact of uncertainty around U.S. tariffs on hiring decisions of companies, Reuters reported. The unemployment rate for February was at 6.6% and the economy added a net of 1,100 jobs, Statistics Canada said. "I think the market will largely look past this one for a couple reasons," said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. "First of all, the big story now is the trade war.
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Canada's trade surplus in January exceeded expectations by a wide margin to post a 32-month record as fears of tariffs from the U.S. pushed exports of cars and energy products, especially south of its border, data showed on Thursday, Reuters reported. Canada posted a trade surplus of C$3.97 billion ($2.76 billion), more than double the upwardly revised C$1.69 billion seen in December, Statistics Canada said. This was a second consecutive month when exports far exceeded imports although both grew by a healthy margin. U.S.
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Telecommunications company Mitel Networks is poised to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection imminently, Bloomberg News reported. The privately held Canadian company is currently engaged in intricate debt restructuring negotiations with its creditors, driven by persistent revenue declines and impending debt maturation. These details were disclosed by sources who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information. Mitel’s debt instruments are experiencing unprecedented depreciation, with financial intermediaries effectively valuing the loans as negligible.
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U.S. tariffs that took effect on Tuesday are threatening to derail Canada's fledgling economic recovery and will fuel a rise in consumer prices and unemployment, potentially triggering a recession, Reuters reported. Canada relies on the United States for 75% of its exports and a third of all imports. Its dependency on trade for economic growth leaves Canada vulnerable to a protracted trade war. The Canadian economy had started showing signs of improvement after several anemic quarters thanks to six consecutive interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada.
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