Canada will soon crack down on COVID-19 mandates, forcing banks, telecommunications companies and all other federally regulated workspaces to ensure their employees are inoculated, Ottawa said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan made the announcement two months after the government said it would oblige the public sector and employees working in the federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors to get their shots.

President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. and its allies would meet a military escalation into Ukraine with a series of actions, including strong economic measures, bolstering Ukrainian defenses and fortifying support for Eastern European nations, as allies work together to prevent renewed conflict in Eastern Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than two hours on Tuesday, the leaders held a secure video call to address what the U.S. has described as large and unusual troop movement near Russia’s border with Ukraine in recent weeks. The U.S.

Mexican automotive production and exports fell for the fifth month running in November, figures from the national statistics agency (INEGI) showed on Monday, as ongoing shortages of semiconductors put the brakes on the industry, Reuters reported. Mexican automotive production plunged by 20.25% from November 2020 to 248,960 vehicles, while auto exports declined by 16.46% to 240,341 units, the INEGI data showed. A global semiconductor shortage has prompted automakers in Mexico and the rest of North America to implement rolling shutdowns, curtailing production and hitting workers hard.

Petroleos Mexicanos, the world’s most indebted oil company, will get a $3.5 billion cash injection from the government as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador orders a new business plan for the struggling company, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned producer will use the funds to pay down obligations and also embark on a series of bond buybacks and new issuance to reduce the cost to service its debt. As part of the initiative, Pemex will also overhaul its five-year business plan, according to a statement released by the company Monday.

Mexican budget airline Interjet plans to resume flights in 2022 with 10 leased Airbus SE airplanes after shutting down a year ago when its already-suffering finances were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, company representatives said on Friday, Reuters reported. The pandemic's toll on the global tourism industry had exacerbated operational and debt problems at Interjet, putting the company on the brink of bankruptcy.

The main trucking lobbies in Canada and the United States are warning that vaccine and testing requirements for workers will further disrupt supply chains because there is already a dire shortage of drivers, Reuters reported. Canada will require vaccines for truck drivers starting in January, while the Biden administration has issued rules requiring truck drivers at companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. More than two-thirds of goods traded between Canada and the United States travels on roads and highways.

The embattled Mexican airline Interjet is planning a return to operations by next year with a new fleet comprised of 10 Airbus SE A320 jets and potentially 10 Czech-made Let L-410 planes, Bloomberg News reported. The plan to fly again depends on the company’s ability to navigate a “distressed investing” strategy that will be separated into three tranches, said insolvency specialist Ivan Romo, who is helping with Interjet’s restructuring. The company is in talks with four firms for close to $750 million in financing, Romo said.

The European Union has experienced a "breakthrough year" with the United States even if not all trade irritants are gone and now wants to work with its transatlantic ally to start forging trade rules for the future, the EU trade chief said, Reuters reported. A year on from Joe Biden's defeat of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election, the two sides have suspended their disputes over aircraft subsidies and steel and aluminium tariffs and launched an alliance to cooperate on future technologies. "One can say that this year was indeed a breakthrough year for EU-U.S.

The Bank of Mexico on Wednesday raised its inflation forecast and lowered its growth expectations for this year, saying the balance of risks for inflation had deteriorated and were biased to the upside, Reuters reported. Banxico, as the bank is known, projected gross domestic product growth of 5.4% for 2021, down from a prior view of 6.2%. It forecast 3.2% growth in 2022, up from a previous estimate of 3.0%.

Canadians who have spent less than 72 hours in another country will no longer need a Covid-19 test to return to Canada, making it easier and cheaper for residents near the 5,500-mile border to make quick trips to the U.S. to pick up groceries, fill gas tanks or go holiday shopping, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. businesses along the Canadian border say they are anticipating a boost in cross-border shopping and tourism after nearly 20 months of suffering from Washington’s decision to ban tourists from entering the U.S. via northern land-border crossings.