Good morning. President Donald Trump doubled down on sweeping new tariffs set to take effect this week, brushing off market turmoil and global backlash as the price of fixing what he calls a broken trade system – a high-stakes gamble that has rattled investors, stunned allies, and pushed the world closer to a new era of economic nationalism.
Today, we highlight concrete steps Canada can take to weather the storm – and spotlight one company that’s helping Canadian businesses navigate the new rules of engagement.
But we’ll open with an eye on morning markets, after a Sunday drop in U.S. futures and Asian shares set the stage for another volatile week.
In the news
Stock markets across Asia plunged today, joining a global rout sparked by Trump’s tariff turmoil, James Griffiths reports. Japan’s Nikkei closed 7.83 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 13.22 per cent, suffering its worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Wall Street futures were again deeply in the red, while TSX futures followed sentiment lower.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 3.93 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 3.74 per cent, Germany’s DAX slid 3.87 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 4.2 per cent.
The Canadian dollar traded at 70.17 U.S. cents.
In the know
Canadian union leaders are calling out their U.S. counterparts for backing Donald Trump’s new auto tariffs, which have triggered layoffs in Ontario and fractured decades of cross-border labour solidarity.
- One system: Trump’s 25 per cent tariff applies to all foreign-made vehicles, with partial exemptions for USMCA-compliant cars and trucks starting May 3.
- Two unions: Unifor leaders say UAW’s support for tariffs ignores the integrated nature of North American auto supply chains. “We’re not friends,” one union head told reporter Vanmala Subramaniam. “The gloves are off.”
» Fuel giant Parkland is facing a takeover push from its largest shareholder, Simpson Oil, which wants to replace most of the board and revive calls for a sale, Jameson Berkow reports.
- Boardroom brawl: Both sides have proposed rival slates of directors ahead of an annual general meeting in May. Parkland backs just three of Simpson’s nine nominees and has launched a strategic review, hiring Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
- What’s at stake: Parkland’s shares have dropped 24 per cent since Simpson began pushing for a sale. Any U.S. buyer would now face tougher scrutiny under Ottawa’s new foreign takeover rules. Parkland rebuffed a $45-a-share takeover offer worth nearly $8-billion from Texas-based Sunoco LP in 2023.
Last week in one picture.Michael Probst/The Associated Press
In focus
The week ahead: Weathering the storm
What we’re watching today: The Bank of Canada is releasing two key surveys that will offer an early read on how businesses and households were responding to economic uncertainty heading into spring.
- Economists say today’s results, based on February data, will help show whether optimism from earlier in the year was already starting to fade.
- RBC analysts expect a pullback in hiring and investment plans, especially in export-facing sectors, and signs that businesses are preparing to pass higher costs on to consumers.
With another rate decision looming, sentiment data like today’s will help shape the bank’s next move – and its message. In its most recent announcement, Governor Tiff Macklem cut the key rate to 2.75 per cent, the seventh consecutive cut, but opted not to publish a full forecast.
Instead, the bank released the results of new consultations that showed growing anxiety over job security, stalled investment, and the escalating tariff fight with the U.S.
Canada’s next steps
The trade war with the U.S. has accomplished what decades of policy reports and competitiveness studies could not: It has forced Canada to reckon with the scale of its economic potential – and its long-standing reluctance to act on it.
Across sectors, the same dynamics are coming into view, Adam Radwanski writes: This country has energy, talent, land, food, and global reach. What it lacks is co-ordination and urgency. For once, we have that.
Here are a few of our takeaways from Adam’s piece, which lays out what the next government can do if it treats this as a turning point – not just another round of consultations.
- Let’s get moving: Canada has what the world wants – oil, gas, minerals, food – but not the infrastructure to move it. Projects like Cedar LNG show how joint federal–provincial assessments can fast-track approvals. Ports and trade corridors need the same focus. Governments will need to act fast and smart – not just throw money around or cut regulations without a plan. There’s no time for Ottawa’s usual years-long committees, roadshows and hearings.
- Modernize the industrial base: The auto sector might be shrinking, but manufacturing isn’t dead. With the right procurement, training and capital support, producers in Ontario and elsewhere could shift toward defence, mining and nuclear supply chains. Clean energy – including hydro, uranium, and sustainable fuels – is no longer just a climate issue. It’s an industrial strategy.
- Bet on people: Talent is one of Canada’s biggest advantages. Indigenous communities are already leading major developments but need more support to scale. Immigration policy should remain ambitious, not reactive. And AI – pioneered here – still has room to lead in responsible adoption, if scaled wisely.
Canadians and Americans demonstrate at Peace Arch Park in Surrey, B.C.Nav Rahi/The Globe and Mail
Shall we play a game?
What happens next will test how seriously Canada takes its own strengths. But even the most forward-looking plan exists within a global storm. As Canada maps its next steps, the trade conflict driving this urgency continues to intensify.
In Waterloo, Grant Robertson reports, a strategy firm that once helped the CIA navigate the Cold War is now helping Canadian businesses game out their responses to Trump’s tariffs. The firm uses escalation models from game theory – a field built to understand what happens when every action invites a stronger reaction.
“These games destroy value,” Open Options president Tim Jeske told The Globe. “Both parties will lose. The best strategy is not to get into one. But once you’re in, the only strategy is to commit.”
Governments are already matching blow for blow. China, Brazil, Canada – all retaliating. The longer the cycle continues, the harder it becomes to exit.
As John Rapley writes, the adjustment to the end of an American-led global order is already under way. Even as leaders try to stretch out Trump’s anger, astute governments will be looking to reduce their dependence on the U.S.
Beaver Canoe clothing at the Roots store ore on Bloor St. West, are photographed on June 14, 2022. Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail. This year is the 40th anniversary of Beaver Canoe brand.Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail
Roots: The next movement
The tariffs giveth, and the tariffs taketh away. You might think Roots Corp., a brand that built its identity around its Canadian heritage, would be relatively insulated from trade tensions given its overwhelmingly Canadian customer base. But with a global supply chain stretching across North America, Asia, and beyond, Roots is vulnerable to rising import duties that can drive up costs and erode profits.
Shares in apparel and shoemakers plunged after Trump announced strict new tariffs on imports from countries like Vietnam and China. On Friday, many of those stocks recovered after the President announced Vietnam was willing to scrap its tariffs. But for Canadian retailers, the whipsaw outcomes of a trade war being fought on an hourly basis might offer little relief.
For Roots, which reports quarterly fourth-quarter and full-year financial results on Wednesday morning before markets open, this potential vulnerability arrives just as it had been building momentum. Last quarter, the company posted profits of $2.4-million, a sharp increase from $519,000 a year earlier, as sales climbed by roughly 5.4 per cent to $66.9-million.
Also on our radar this week:
- Power hour: TC Energy chief executive François Poirier will give a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto on Thursday. Poirier is part of a group of Canadian energy sector chief executives calling on the leaders of the federal political parties to help boost the industry as a way to strengthen economic sovereignty.
- Corus results: Television and radio broadcaster Corus Entertainment Inc. will release its second-quarter results and hold a conference call with analysts on Friday.
With a file from The Canadian Press
Charted
Consider the cucumber
There are so many charts about market carnage that I feel like we need a break. Let’s look instead at the Ontario-grown cucumis sativus. The threat of tariffs exposes the fragile supply chains channelling the fruit’s journey from Canadian greenhouse to American pickle.
Bookmarked
On our reading list
It’s Monday: Do you know where your tax slips are? Here’s why so much information is missing from CRA accounts this year.
Carrick: The trade war has investors in a feisty mood – here’s what they bought in March.
Trichur: How U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is handling pressure from the President.
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