A court-appointed special master recommended a nearly $7.4 billion bid from Venezuela creditor Gold Reserve for the country’s state-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum, roughly double the prior leading offer, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Robert Pincus, the special master overseeing the forced sale of Venezuela’s stake in Citgo, said in court papers filed Wednesday that the bid from Gold Reserve’s Dalinar Energy is the highest and best offer.

Attabotics Inc., a Calgary-based robotics and automation startup, has filed for bankruptcy protection, according to multiple reports, the Calgary Herald reported. The company, founded in 2016 by CEO Scott Gravelle, designs and manufactures an automated storage and retrieval system, using robotics. Attabotics reportedly had more than 300 employees, including about 250 in Calgary as of 2022. It is unclear how many, if any, of the tech company’s employees will keep their jobs.

Canada’s share of exports destined for the US shrank to the smallest proportion since at least 1997, excluding the Covid pandemic. Shipments to other countries reached a new high, led by gold exports, Bloomberg News reported. With President Donald Trump’s tariffs crushing exports and imports between Canada and its biggest trading partner, the country’s share of exports destined for the US shrank to 68.3% in May, from last year’s monthly average of 75.9%, according to Statistics Canada data Thursday. Exports to the US were down for a fourth straight month, declining 0.9% in May.

Indonesia will sign a pact worth $34 billion with business partners next week to boost purchases from the U.S., as part of efforts to strike a trade deal with Washington ahead of the July 9 deadline, Indonesia's chief economic minister said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The deal would include increasing imports of fuels and investment by Indonesian companies in energy and agriculture sectors in the U.S. Separately, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia (GIAA.JK), opens new tab also said it is in talks to buy up to 75 jets from Boeing BA.N. Jakarta is facing a 32% tariff in U.S.

Italy risks losing 20 billion euros ($23.6 billion) in exports and 118,000 jobs next year if the U.S. imposes tariffs of 10% on all European products, the head of the main Italian business lobby said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. "Italy does not just export luxury products - with a demand that isn't very sensitive to prices - but mainly machinery, means of transport, and leather goods," Confindustria President Emanuele Orsini told daily Il Corriere della Sera in an interview.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he has reached a trade deal with Vietnam, just ahead of the 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs ending for more than 90 countries that barter with the U.S., Freight Waves reported. Goods from Vietnam to the U.S. will now face a 20% import tax, instead of the 46% duty rate Trump said he would impose on merchandise from the country during his “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2. Trump paused the reciprocal tariffs on imports from most countries for 90 days on April 9, but kept a 10% baseline import tax in place for almost all U.S.

A U.S. judge ordered Argentina to give up its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion court judgment against the country, Investing.com reported. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan ruled yesterday that Argentina must transfer its YPF shares within 14 days to a BNY Mellon custody account. The country must also instruct the bank to transfer the shares within one business day to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs in the case are Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management, which are represented by litigation funder Burford Capital.

The European Union wants immediate relief from tariffs in key sectors as part of any trade deal with the United States due by a July 9 deadline, but the bloc expects even a best-case deal to include a degree of asymmetry, EU diplomats told Reuters. The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, is pushing three key points in Washington this week even as it accepts the U.S. baseline tariff of 10% as unavoidable. Both sides are working towards an agreement in principle, with the final details to be ironed out later.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said warned on Monday that countries could still face sharply higher tariffs on July 9 even if they are negotiating in good faith, adding that any potential extensions will be up to President Donald Trump, Reuters reported. Bessent, who earlier floated the idea of negotiating extensions, told Bloomberg Television that he expects there to be "a flurry" of trade deals leading up to the July 9 deadline, after which 10% U.S. tariff rates on goods from many countries are set to snap back to Trump's April 2 announced rates of 11% to 50%.

Canada scrapped its digital services tax targeting U.S. technology firms just hours before it was due to take effect on Monday, in a bid to advance stalled trade negotiations with the U.S., Reuters reported. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump will resume trade negotiations in order to agree on a deal by July 21, Canada's finance ministry said in a statement late on Sunday. Wall Street futures hit record highs on Monday morning as sentiment in the markets rose amid optimism over U.S. trade negotiations with key partners, including Canada.