Fallout from 25 per cent tariffs continues to roil markets
The Presidents of Mexico and the United States have confirmed that tariffs imposed by both countries will be delayed by a month. They delay follows a conversation between Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and US President Donald Trump.
“We had a good conversation with Trump,” Sheinbaum said in a social media post. The Mexican peso erased its losses from earlier in the day following her comments.
According to reporting by The Financial Times Sheinbaum has agreed to send 10,000 Mexican National Guard troops to its northern border immediately to combat the drug trafficking issues that Trump has said were the motivation for these tariffs.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump outlined his plans for the month-long pause, "we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico. I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a 'deal' between our two Countries."
Key market indexes such as the S&P 500 and the TSX 60 opened the day down significantly, with investors pricing in the impact of these tariffs on corporate earnings. Many global markets have begun to pare back those losses following the news that Mexican tariffs will be suspended.
Canada’s status still unresolved
CBC reports that Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a conversation early Monday morning about the impacts of this trade war. They are expected to speak again later on Monday before tariffs take effect on Tuesday. No significant outcome from that initial call has been reported as yet.
Read more: Trade war begins: Canada and Mexico strike back at Trump's tariffs | Wealth Professional
While initially citing the US trade deficit with Canada as well as border security and fentanyl, Trump also brought up banking fairness on Sunday night. The US President argued that Canada does now allow US banks to operate here claiming that “Canada’s been very abuse of the United States for many years.”
Ford targets US contracts, Musk
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a series of retaliatory actions against US firms on Monday. In a LinkedIn post he said that Ontario would ban American companies from provincial contracts until US tariffs are removed. He claimed that this procurement business amounts to $30 billion.
Ford took particular aim at Elon Musk in the post as well.
“We’re going one step further. We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” the post reads.
