U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard agreed on Wednesday to begin formal discussions on possible reforms to the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, Greer's office said, Reuters reported. Possible reforms for the USMCA Joint Review include stronger rules of origin for industrial goods, more collaboration on critical minerals, increasing efforts to defend workers and producers, and U.S.-Mexican efforts to combat "the relentless dumping of manufactured goods in our region," the USTR's office said in a statement.
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After threatening to euthanize about 30 beluga whales, Marineland, a shuttered Canadian aquatic park, is now likely to send the animals to marine facilities in the United States, the Canadian government said on Monday, the New York Times reported. Marineland, once a bustling tourist destination in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is headed toward bankruptcy and last year asked the federal government for financial help and approval to export the animals to a theme park in China.
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South Korea scrambled on Tuesday to assure the U.S. it remained committed to implementing a trade deal after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would hike tariffs on autos and other imports from its ally, blaming a delay in enacting the pact agreed last year, Reuters reported. Trump said on Monday that South Korea's parliament was not living up to its side of the deal by swiftly enacting the agreement he reached with President Lee Jae Myung to make huge investments in U.S. business projects in return for tariff cuts.
U.S. control of Venezuela's oil exports has ensnared barrels that had been servicing debt to China, lining up another potential showdown between the two superpowers that could further complicate the South American country's path out of default, Reuters reported. Around a tenth of Venezuela's $150 billion foreign debt pile is estimated to be loans from China that the OPEC member was paying in oil cargoes — until the U.S. seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month. Debt experts said the ramifications of China's claim on the cargoes and any clash with the U.S.
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The U.S. is in talks with Chevron Corp., other crude producers and the world’s biggest oilfield service providers about a plan to quickly revive output in Venezuela at a fraction of the estimated $100 billion cost for a complete rebuilding, Bloomberg News reported. Oilfield contractors such as SLB Ltd., Baker Hughes Co. and Halliburton Co. would focus their initial efforts on repairing or replacing damaged or outdated equipment and refreshing older drilling sites, according to senior administration officials who asked not to be identified discussing internal plans.
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President Donald Trump threatened Canada with 100% tariffs against all its exports to the US if it makes a trade deal with China, escalating tensions between the U.S. and its northern neighbor, Bloomberg News reported. Trump, referring to Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Governor Carney,” said the Canadian leader was “sorely mistaken” for opening up his country to more business from China, including a recent deal allowing an increase in Chinese electric vehicle exports.
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Global markets shifted abruptly into a defensive posture this week, with U.S. equities dropping over 2% amid a dual shock of fiscal instability in Japan and renewed trade war tensions between the U.S. and Europe, according to a market commentary published by QCP on Wednesday, Blockspace reported. Bitcoin has fallen below $90,000, failing to hold its recent reclamation of the $97,000 level as the cryptocurrency struggles to find footing.
Lawmakers in the European Parliament agreed to put off work on the European Union’s trade agreement with the U.S. as President Trump continues his push take over Greenland, the Wall Street Journal reported. “By threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument, the U.S. is undermining the stability and predictability of EU-U.S. trade relations,” Bernd Lange, chair of the parliament’s international trade committee, said in a statement Wednesday.
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President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a row over the future of Denmark's vast Arctic island, Reuters reported. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said additional 10% import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain — all already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump. Those tariffs would increase to 25% on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the U.S.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney's new approach to Canada's foreign policy can perhaps be distilled in one line: "We take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be," BBC.com reported. That was his response when asked about the deal struck with China on Friday, despite concerns over its human rights record and nearly a year after he called China "the biggest security threat" facing Canada. The deal will see Canada ease tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles that it imposed in tandem with the US in 2024. In exchange, China will lower retaliatory tariffs on key Canadian agricultural products.
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