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.
Read more
Panama’s president accused Donald Trump of lying to congress after the US leader reiterated his intention to take over the Panama canal, Bloomberg News reported. Trump told lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that Panama had broken the agreements it made when it took over the waterway a quarter century ago. “Once again, President Trump lies,” President Jose Raul Mulino said in a post on X.
Read more
U.S. President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%, sparking trade wars that could slam economic growth and lift prices for Americans still smarting from years of high inflation, Reuters reported. The tariff actions, which look set to upend nearly $2.2 trillion in annual U.S. trade with its top three trading partners, went live at 12:01 a.m. (0501 GMT).
Read more
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday that his tariffs on Canadian imports were "a very dumb thing to do" and said Ottawa was striking back immediately at its closest ally, Reuters reported. Trudeau, who is stepping down at the end of the week, also accused Trump of wanting to ruin the Canadian economy. Trudeau, speaking hours after Trump launched a trade war against Mexico and Canada, announced immediate 25% tariffs on C$30 billion worth of U.S. imports. If need be, Canada will target another C$125 billion worth in 21 days' time, he said.
Read more
A top official of Indian tech firm Byju’s violated his fiduciary duty to lenders by wrongly hiding $533 million from them, according to a US court ruling on Friday, a win for creditors vying to collect on a defaulted $1.2 billion loan, Bloomberg News reported. Byju’s fraudulently transferred at least part of the money to a small hedge fund based in Miami to keep it out of lenders’ hands, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey also ruled.
Read more
Company executives and foreign officials are scrambling to avert the consequences of another tight deadline from President Trump, who has threatened to put stiff tariffs on goods coming in from China, Canada and Mexico starting just after midnight Tuesday. The president describes this as an effort to pressure those countries to stop the flow of deadly drugs and migrants to the United States. But Mr.
Read more
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System booked a loss on its $325 million investment in Northvolt AB, the Swedish electric vehicle battery maker that filed for bankruptcy protection last year, Bloomberg News reported. “At the time we made the investments, Northvolt represented an attractive growth opportunity supported by several other of the world’s most respected investors,” a spokesperson for the pension manager said by email.
Read more
Canada's big bank CEOs are urging the federal government to remove internal trade barriers, evaluate tax policies and other regulation as the country's top lenders cautioned that tariff and trade risks are clouding the economic outlook, Reuters reported. The six big Canadian banks, which control more than 90% of the banking market and are among the biggest publicly listed companies in Canada, beat analysts' expectations for first-quarter profits but set aside large sums to shield against bad loans in an uncertain economy. The banks' CEOs delivered similar remarks on earnings calls this week.
Read more
Canada’s economic growth accelerated last quarter and momentum carried into the start of this year as the central bank’s forceful rate cuts boosted household spending, Bloomberg News reported. Advance data suggest gross domestic product rose 0.3% in January, following a 0.2% expansion in December that ended the fourth quarter with a stronger-than-expected increase at a 2.6% annualized pace, Statistics Canada said Friday. That’s the strongest growth since the second quarter, and a pickup from an upwardly revised 2.2% increase between July and September.
Read more