Canada’s live music scene is shrinking, and with it, the stages where Canada’s next generation of artists make their debut, BNN Bloomberg reported. The latest loss is Velvet Underground, a 350-person capacity venue on Queen Street West in Toronto that announced earlier this month it will permanently close at the end of October. It joins a growing list of closures across the country, including the Dakota Tavern in Toronto, 648 Kingsway in Vancouver, Blue Dog Bar in Montreal and the Dream Cafe in St. John’s.

China's manufacturing activity shrank for a sixth month in September, an official survey showed on Tuesday, suggesting producers are waiting for further stimulus to boost domestic demand, as well as clarity on a U.S. trade deal, Reuters reported. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to a six-month high of 49.8 in September versus 49.4 in August. It remained below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. The prolonged slump underlines the twin pressures on China's economy: domestic demand has failed to mount a durable recovery in the years since the pandemic while U.S.

Canada's government is to provide C$400 million ($287.13 million) in financial support for Algoma Steel under its large enterprise tariff relief scheme, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said on Monday, Reuters reported. The company has been one of the large steel enterprises worst hit by the 25% tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump slapped on Canadian imported steel, a duty he later cranked up to 50%.

Germany expects the United States to apply a 15% tariff rate to pharmaceuticals and heavy trucks, a government spokesperson said during a regular press conference on Monday, Reuters reported. U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new import tariffs last week, including 100% duties on patented drugs and 25% levies on heavy-duty trucks, triggering fresh trade uncertainty.

Donald Trump faces fresh hurdles in his push to secure major investment pledges from Asian allies, after South Korea said Washington’s terms were unrealistic and a contender to lead Japan’s ruling party hinted at the possibility of reviewing the agreement, Bloomberg News reported. “We are not able to pay $350 billion in cash,” South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said in a Channel A News television interview on Saturday evening, referring to Seoul’s investment pledge with Washington.

The U.S. on Monday cracked down on companies in China and other countries that use subsidiaries or other foreign affiliates to get around curbs on chipmaking equipment and other goods and technology, Reuters reported. The Commerce Department issued a new rule expanding its restricted export list, known as the Entity List, to automatically include subsidiaries owned 50 percent or more by a company on the list, according to a posting in the U.S. Federal Register. The action greatly increases the number of companies that require licenses to receive American goods and services.

The Bank of Mexico cut its benchmark interest rate to a three-year low Thursday as expected and said further reductions are possible, while it still sees inflation returning to its target next year, the Wall Street Journal reported. The five-member board of governors voted 4-1 to lower the overnight interest-rate target by a quarter of a percentage point to 7.50% in a 10th consecutive cut that brought the rate to its lowest level since June 2022. Deputy Gov. Jonathan Heath voted to keep the rate at 7.75%.

India said on Friday its officials held “constructive” talks with U.S. counterparts during a visit to Washington this week, and both sides agreed to continue discussions aimed at concluding a mutually beneficial trade deal soon, Reuters reported. "Both sides exchanged views on possible contours of the deal," the commerce ministry said in a statement. Read more.