Canada's big banks are expected to have shored up loan loss reserves in the second quarter, with four of the big six banks putting aside over C$1 billion to shield against potential loan defaults in a time of trade uncertainty, Reuters reported. Large loan loss provisions take away from earning potential, a problem the banks have faced in the past few years as a high interest rate environment made it increasingly more difficult for consumers and businesses to repay loans and borrow money.

The U.S. International Trade Commission determined on Tuesday that domestic solar panel makers were materially harmed or threatened by a flood of cheap imports from four Southeast Asian nations, bringing the United States a step closer to imposing stiff duties on those goods, Reuters reported. The "yes" vote by the three-member ITC means the Commerce Department will issue orders to enforce countervailing and anti-dumping tariffs on solar products imported from Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam that the agency finalized last month.

Canada's annual inflation rate fell to 1.7% in April due to a drop in energy prices, but analysts said a rise in closely watched core measures would make life hard for the Bank of Canada as it ponders its next rate move, Reuters reported. The overall inflation rate fell from 2.3% in March after the removal of a federal consumer carbon tax, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. Analysts had forecast the annual rate would ease to 1.6% while the Bank of Canada last month predicted it would fall to about 1.5%, mainly due to the removal of the carbon tax and lower crude prices.

Japan on Tuesday clarified its stance on U.S. tariffs, saying it wants all new levies put into place by the administration of President Donald Trump completely removed, confirming a hard-line position ahead of high-level negotiations that might be held later this week in Washington, the Japan Times reported. “As we have repeatedly stated, we find the series of U.S. tariff measures — including those on automobiles, auto parts, steel, aluminum, and reciprocal tariffs — extremely regrettable,” said Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference.

The European Union’s exports to the U.S. hit a record high in March as businesses stockpiled goods ahead of an expected rise in tariffs that was announced by President Trump in early April, the Wall Street Journal reported. The EU exported 59.5% more goods to the U.S. compared with the same month of the previous year, totaling 71.4 billion euros, or around $79.86 billion, statistics agency Eurostat said Friday. The EU’s trade surplus with the U.S., a key sticking point with Trump, swelled to 40.7 billion euros from 16.7 billion euros in March 2024.

The European Union wants a trade deal with the U.S. that sees a larger reduction in tariffs than negotiations with the U.K. and China have so far yielded, officials from the bloc said Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. President Trump imposed a series of tariffs that affect Europe’s makers of automobiles, steel and aluminum. On April 2, he announced a sharp rise in tariffs on all imports from Europe, but a week later reduced the increase to 10% for 90 days to allow for negotiations. Last week, the U.S. and the U.K.

Japan's economy shrank for the first time in a year and at a faster pace than expected, data for the March quarter showed on Friday, underscoring the fragile nature of its recovery now under threat from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies, Reuters reported. Real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted an annualised 0.7% in January-March, preliminary government data showed, much bigger than a median market forecast for a 0.2% drop.

Toronto-based lithium battery recycling firm Li-Cycle said on Wednesday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and expects to start a formal sale for its business or assets, Reuters reported. The firm's U.S. units have also commenced proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Li-Cycle has entered into a $10.5 million debtor-in-possession financing and a stalking-horse credit bid for at least $40 million with London-listed Glencore, its largest secured creditor.

A struggling technology company that has ties to China and relies on TikTok made an unusual announcement this week. It had secured funding to buy as much as $300 million of $TRUMP, the so-called memecoin marketed by President Trump, the New York Times reported. GD Culture Group, a publicly traded firm with a Chinese subsidiary, has only eight employees, its public filings show, and recorded zero revenue last year from an e-commerce business it operates on TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.