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Day: 25 August 2026 (Page 1 of 2)

‘The fundamentals in Canada are pretty good’: Canada’s big banks are shrugging off Trump’s trade war

2026-08-25 /

Top executives at the Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank separately referred to the Canada-U.S. trade situation as “manageable”, reports Jeff Lagerquist at CBC News.

Canada’s largest lenders started reporting third-quarter financial results this week. Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank were first to report on Tuesday. National Bank issues its results on Wednesday, followed by the Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and CIBC on Thursday.

Speaking on a post-earnings conference call with stock market analysts, Scotiabank chief executive Scott Thomson called the recent trade volatility “manageable,” as he spelled out bright spots in Canada’s economy.

“The fundamentals in Canada are pretty good,” Thomson said. “If you look at the job growth numbers, if you look at the fiscal capacity on the back of oil prices and if you look at some of the activity that’s starting because of the prime minister’s agenda, you actually have a backdrop that’s pretty good.”

Trump’s trade war with Canada threatens GOP candidates in border battlegrounds

2026-08-25 /

Trump’s tariff war with Canada is putting vulnerable GOP candidates in border states in a precarious position about 10 weeks out from the midterms, with economic anxiety already running high, report Mallory Wilson and Julia Manchester at The Hill.

Trump’s 50% import taxes on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports took effect on Saturday after bilateral negotiations collapsed at the eleventh hour. Trump threatened to also impose 50% import taxes on cars, trucks, auto parts, and steel to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

Some strategists say the impact on Americans, particularly in states with close economic ties to Canada, will only compound GOP challenges around affordability, with voters losing trust in Republicans to handle the economy.

Trump fights with Republican senators as import taxes on Canadian goods intensifies

2026-08-25 /

Trump is headed for a clash with Senate Republicans over his decision to pause tariffs on beef imports while ratcheting up tariffs on key Canadian goods, reports Alexander Bolton at The Hill.

Trump’s plan to exempt 300,000 tons of product for ground beef from out-of-quota tariffs to address Americans’ concerns about high food prices while simultaneously threatening Canada with 50% import taxes (tariffs on imports) that could impact auto and housing prices has sparked a furious response from GOP senators across the party’s political spectrum.

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Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on $27.6 billion (us$19.94bn) worth of U.S. goods, ​matching dollar-for-dollar new duties imposed by the Trump administration

2026-08-25 /

The counter-tariffs take effect on U.S. goods from September 8 and ​will impose duties of 15%, 25% and 50% across ​700 products imported from south of the border, reports Promit Mukherjee at Reuters.

In terms of financial support for affected workers ​and industries, Canada announced a $7.5 billion package of new ​and enhanced measures including support for small and medium-sized businesses, a stream for funding cash flows of companies, and support for workers who could ​be at risk due to the new tariffs.

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The U.S. isn’t negotiating trade with Canada. This is a shakedown

2026-08-25 /

Andrew Coyne, The Globe and Mail: Understand: this was not the USMCA renegotiation. That process still awaits us. This was merely the prelude to that, the admission fee if you will. So take all the concessions the Trudeau government yielded just to get USMCA signed in 2018. Add the concessions the Carney government has made, from scrapping the digital services tax to dismantling our retaliatory tariffs to the Gordie Howe Bridge debacle, to keep hopes of renegotiating USMCA alive. Then add whatever concessions they were prepared to make in the latest, abortive round.

Where does that leave us? At the starting line of the next round of negotiations. And should we get a deal, by means of whatever further concessions were required? That would set us up for the next round of talks, and the next round of concessions.

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Alberta premier under pressure to take more of a ‘Team Canada’ approach

2026-08-25 /

While premiers from most provinces and territories said they backed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to impose counter tariffs on U.S. goods, dollar for dollar, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on her regular radio call-in show that she worried about the effects of a trade war on Alberta farmers, furniture makers and apiarists.

Smith’s diplomatic tone is driven by her attempt to stay in the good books of the U.S., which is Alberta’s most voracious oil customer, said political scientist Elizabeth Smythe, professor emeritus at Concordia University of Edmonton.

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Canada did the right thing by not giving into Trump

2026-08-25 /

Patrick Leblond: A deal would have prevented further economic woes imposed on Canada in the short run. But what matters is that the Carney government didn’t give in to the Trump administration’s economic coercion.

Concessions were made during the negotiations but not to the point of increasing our long-term dependence on the U.S. or confirming to the Americans that they can threaten us successfully. That was the right move. Otherwise, the Americans would soon be back for more.

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