Good morning… is anyone else still confused about what day it is? Earth spinning faster may have something to do with it. I had a mini panic attack yesterday thinking I missed the Friday edition. 😅

Some important dates and things to keep in mind:

☑️Canada’s job report comes out Friday morning - after the time this email comes out, and possibly before the time you end up reading.

☑️We’re now 10 days away from the July 21 trade deadline for Canada and the US to lock in a trade deal. Now we know what comes if a deal isn’t agreed to. Read below.

☑️Final day of Prime day week sales today. Some last minute recommendations will be below.

☑️TSX is on a slight upward trend, with its 5-day average is +0.26%. In comparison, the DOW’s 5-day average is +0.19%.

📈June’s IVEY PMI is 53.3, a 4-month high, indicating stronger economic activity.

CANADA

🇨🇦 Trump threatens 35% tariffs by Aug. 1

The wind must have changed directions because President Trump has once again changed his tune and has turned the aggression up with 10 days to go before the July 21st deadline, penning a letter to PM Carney on Truth Social, threatening 35% tariffs on “Canadian products sent into the United States, separate from all Sectoral Tariffs.”

Trump also said that any reciprocal tariff rate would be added to the 35%. So, if PM Carney decided to counter with a 25% tariff, Trump would raise the tariff to 60%.

The usual suspects were cited in the letter as fentanyl and Canada’s supply management in the dairy sector were brought up.

• Fentanyl remains an odd one that doesn’t make sense, as 99% of pills and 97% of powdered fentanyl have entered the United States from Mexico over the last decade.

• The dairy situation is different - and also negotiated by President Trump during his first term as President. Canada protects its domestic producers by limiting the amount of dairy that can be imported into the country. If an importer exceeds a certain threshold, the tariff can range from 241% to nearly 300%. No U.S. dairy products have ever been tariffed this amount.

The 35% tariff is higher than the blanket tariffs of 15% to 20% Trump is eyeing up for other trading partners. The 35% rate is also higher than the current 25% rate on Canada.

Bottom line: It’s another tactic from Trump to get concessions and get Carney to back down on some issues. There’s wiggle room that exists in the letter, as Trump says “if Canada works with me to stop the flow of fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter.” There was likely some optimism on trade talks following Canada scrapping the DST, but markets will remain on shaky ground with the whiplash policy coming from the Trump administration.

CANADA

🇨🇦 Canadian Stories

🥊Canada fighting copper tariffs. Along with the new 35% tariff in August, the 50% tariff on copper is set to take effect at the same time. The United States is Canada’s largest copper customer with 52% of Canada’s copper going to them in 2023. Canada’s total copper exports totalled over $9-billion that year. Canada, Chile and Peru account for 90% of the US’s copper imports.

🏫Ontario college layoffs. Since the cap on international student permits was announced in 2024, Ontario colleges have either let go, or will be letting go, over 8,000 positions. It’s one of the largest mass layoffs in the province’s history.

⬇️American travel continues trend. The latest StatsCan numbers released on Thursday showed 1.66-million Canadians returning from travel to the States in June. The number shows a decline of 22% for air travel and 33% for land.

👟Keep those shoes on! Canadian airports will align with the United States in scrapping the security measures that require you to remove your shoes through security.

💸Military expected to cut costs. Despite announcing an injection of investment into Canada’s defence, the Department of National Defence was not spared from the government’s letters to find operational savings of 7.5%, 10% and 15% over the next three years starting in 2026.

📫Government looks at Canada Post. Public Services and Procurement Canada will begin consultations to determine what the future of Canada Post looks like and what services will be available (and how many days of the week). In 2023, Canada Post posted a $750-million loss and followed it up in 2024 with a $1.3-billion loss.

More stories:

• The Liberal government will be launching a “red tape review” to reduce “outdated and overcomplicated” regulations and accelerate economic growth.

• The U.K. identified partnerships with allies such as Canada as part of their new strategy to boost their economy. This could grant Canada easier access to procurement and trade opportunities with the United Kingdom.

• Three victims in separate locations but in related attacks were taken to hospital in critical condition after targeted stabbings at the Calgary Stampede.

• Equitable Bank (EQ) has named Chadwick Westlake, their former finance chief, as the new CEO following the unexpected death of their previous CEO, Andrew Moor, in June.

WILDFIRES

🇺🇸🇨🇦 Anyone have their smoke catcher?

Six Republican lawmakers wrote a formal letter to the Canadian embassy telling Canada to do something about wildfire smoke going over the border and ruining the summer for Americans. And no, this isn’t The Onion.

In the official letter, lawmakers wrote saying the “suffocating” smoke from wildfires has limited the ability of people to go outside and breathe safely. The letter said the summer is the best time of year to “spend time outdoors recreating, enjoying time with family and creating new memories.”

It’s a new level of tone-deaf as fires rage on, having killed two people so far and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate their homes - because that’s the lasting memory everyone wants from summer.

Canadian officials responded saying they take forest fire mitigation seriously and that the two countries regularly exchange personnel and resources to battle various forest fires.

Remember… earlier this year, Canada deployed resources to help California battle their massive forest fires.

On Thursday, Manitoba declared a state of emergency province-wide. Garden Hill ordered a full-scale evacuation for 4,500 community members as forest fires grew in Northern Manitoba. On Wednesday night, it took less than 12 hours for an advisory to turn into a mandatory evacuation order as fires engulfed Snow Lake, forcing over 1,000 people from their homes.

WORLD

🚨 More Headlines

🇺🇦Ukraine weathering the storm. Ukraine braced for 13 missiles and over 700 drone and decoy drones as nightly attacks have become stronger over the last two weeks. President Trump committed to sending more weapons to Ukraine to defend themselves earlier this week as he’s grown increasingly frustrated with Russia

🇪🇺EU looks to protect auto industry. As part of larger trade negotiations with the US, the EU is looking to protect its auto industry from import tariffs while the US continues to seek growing investment in manufacturing within the country by carmakers. Auto tariffs are considered a ‘red line’ and easing of auto tariffs is “essential” for any trade deal between the two.

🚀Europe seeks greater independence from US. European leaders are looking to reduce dependence on the US and launch their first satellites from mainland Europe. Spaceports are located in the north of Sweden and Norway. In 2024, Europe only accounted for 10% of the world’s $1.43-billion investment in space ventures. In the same year, Europe only launched 3 pieces of hardware into space as opposed to the US’s 154.

🇺🇸Texas missed chances to mitigate floods. Texas officials rejected Kerr County’s previous proposal for funding to FEMA for mitigation systems to warn and prevent flash floods. Local officials had long known the community faced risks and looked to get ahead of it before state officials got in the way.

🏦 Numbers

• $4-trillion. On Wednesday, NVIDIA won the race to be the first company valued at $4-trillion, surpassing the value of Microsoft and Apple on the way there. The company’s success comes from building the majority of the hardware during the current AI boom. The stock dropped by the end of the day, valuing the company at $3.97-trillion on close.

• 50% tariffs. The US and Brazil are in a back-and-forth spat, threatening upwards of 50% tariffs on one another. President Trump says there’s a witch-hunt against former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for his coup attempt in 2022. Current president, Luiz Inácio Lula, has said Brazil will match any tariff placed on them.

BUSINESS

✌️ X CEO is out as Grok melts down

Less than 24 hours after Grok went full antisemite and racist, X CEO, Linda Yaccarino stepped down from her position at the platform. Considering her main job when being brought on as CEO was to tame advertiser fears of the platform and win them back, it shouldn’t be a complete shock.

After a tumultuous transition into Elon Musk’s ownership which saw advertisers flee from the platform, the combination of her efforts in courting advertisers and Musk’s previously cozy relationship with President Trump at the start of his second term led to 96% of advertisers returning to the platform and spending money.

The initial advertiser exodus was due to the platform having Nazi content on it and Musk’s own antisemitic outbursts.

In her statement, she championed her team for seeking to prioritize the safety of the platform’s users, despite the platform leaning towards content that gets the most clicks, which included more right-wing content and pushing right-wing media voices up the algorithm.

Grok going off the rails seemed to be a step too far, however, after the AI chatbot referred to itself as “MechaHitler" just a couple of weeks after Elon Musk publicly criticized his bot for being “woke” and citing mainstream media sources for information. In the update pushed to Grok that was posted on GitHub, the AI chatbot was instructed to “assume subjective viewpoints sourced from the media as biased” and to make politically incorrect claims as long as they’re “well substantiated.”

NEWS

💭 ICYMI

🧑‍💻Web browser wars. OpenAI is gearing up to launch a web browser to challenge Google’s Chrome. It would integrated with ChatGPT, giving the platform access to more user data.

📺Black Mirror creators break from Netflix. Black Mirror creators used a loophole to get out of their exclusive deal with Netflix, meaning they can work with any production company (including Netflix) that they so please.

🇨🇦Over 120-year sturgeon caught in BC. A massive sturgeon measuring over 10-feet was caught by a fishing charter in British Columbia. It’s estimated to be over 120-years-old and has never been caught. The sturgeon was tagged and released back to its home.

🧑‍⚖️YouTube cracking down on “AI slop.” YouTube will be updating its policies to prevent creators from generating revenue on repetitive and inauthentic content, otherwise known as faceless AI slop.

RECOMMENDATIONS

✅ Weekend to-do

☑️ Weekend reading:

• How to grow the economy in a crisis: Read

• Five psychological tricks to make yourself feel happier: Read

• How a family dog saved a house: Read

☑️Watch: Superman, opening in theatres today, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 82%.

☑️Last minute Prime deals:

• Block out the noise and save hundreds of dollars opting for noise-cancelling headphones from Anker instead of the $300+ brands. Currently 40% off.

• Feeling back pain when sitting at your desk? This ergonomic chair is 40% off.

• Amazon’s HD Fire TV stick is over 50% off for all your entertainment needs.

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