Trump says 25% tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico could come Feb. 1

Shortly after delivering an inauguration speech that only briefly touched on trade issues, U.S. President Donald Trump said his country could impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods as soon as Feb. 1. The news came after Canadian politicians and business leaders breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had avoided the damaging tariffs that Mr. Trump had vowed to implement on Day One of his presidency, Jason Kirby and Steven Chase report. Mr. Trump also ordered several cabinet secretaries and senior officials on Monday to investigate a slew of trade issues, including the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the U.S.’s persistent trade deficits and new export opportunities. He has requested reports and recommendations on trade policy by April 1.

Amazon to close all seven of its Quebec warehouses, lay off 1,700 permanent staff

Amazon Canada is closing all seven of its Quebec warehouses and laying off 1,700 permanent staff, Pippa Norman and Nicolas Van Praet report. The online retailer will be returning to a third-party delivery system, which it employed in the province before 2020. Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait also said in a statement that affected employees are being offered up to 14 weeks of pay after facilities close and transitional benefits such as job placement resources. The closings will take place over the next two months and will include one fulfilment centre, two sorting centres, three delivery stations and one large-parcel delivery station, which is co-located with a sorting centre. Approximately 250 temporary seasonal employees will also be affected.

How U.S. tariffs would cascade across North America

If U.S. tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico are implement, it would lead to higher costs across the continent, Royal Bank of Canada economists said in a report. The economists also found that tariffs don’t need to be reciprocal to raise costs in Canada and U.S. Why? North American supply chains have become tightly integrated over decades. For example, some vehicle parts cross borders multiple times on their path to completion. “Since trade flows between Canada and the U.S. (and Mexico and the U.S.) are so integrated, raising tariffs on U.S. industrial imports would also raise costs for U.S. exporters, and in turn, feed through to higher Canadian import costs,” RBC chief economist Frances Donald and assistant chief economist Nathan Janzen explained in the report. Matt Lundy also takes a closer look in the latest Decoder series.

Canada Post in talks with Ottawa over cash flow crunch that could affect operations

Canada Post said it expects to exhaust its cash reserves in the first half of this year and is working with the federal government to explore its options, Vanmala Subramaniam reports. The letter carrier has been hit by high labour costs, specifically large employee pension contributions, and dwindling use of its letter-mail services over the past five years. The filing was made to the federal Industrial Inquiry Commission, which was established in December to manage a long-standing labour dispute between the Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. On Friday, Ottawa said it will extend a $1-billion loan to Canada Post to keep the crown corporation afloat.

Canadian retailers are facing a $9.1-billion problem: Organized theft

Shoplifting has always existed, but Canadian retailers are raising alarm about an increase in incidents of organized theft that are far greater in scale – a $9.1-billion problem, to be exact. In addition to financial losses, many incidents have been tied to organized crime and a rising number are turning violent, including threats to customers and staff and assaults during robberies. Susan Krashinsky Robertson spoke to retailers who are upping their security systems to fight back against thieves, along with some who worry the cost of increased measures will be passed on to consumers.

As prices soar, even middle-class families are turning to charities for housing help

Due to the steep cost of owning a home, many middle-class families are turning to charities for assistance, Rachelle Younglai reports. Housing non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity and Options for Homes are increasingly helping families with an annual income of $100,000 or more. At the same time, they are struggling to help low-income earners at all. The non-profits say external factors such as the rising cost of construction and the mortgage stress test, which went into effect for uninsured borrowers in 2018, make it challenging to reach low-income buyers. For years, the shortage of affordable housing has been in major cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, but now the problem has spread to places such as Peterborough and beyond.

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