Premiers meet ahead of PM briefing on Canada-U.S. trade negotiations
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Why Trump's deals with the EU, Japan may not be templates for Canada in trade talks
U.S. President Donald Trump's successive announcements of deals setting baseline tariffs on the European Union and Japan are prompting questions about whether they're a road map for Canada to follow in trade talks. Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the bones of an agreement (new window) on Sunday. It sets across-the-board tariffs of 15 per cent on most European Union exports to the United States, along with a commitment by Europe to invest $600 billion US in the American economy and spend $750 billion on U.S. energy products — although there's plenty of fine print still to come. That makes it broadly comparable to the deal Trump announced last week with Japan (new window) : a 15 per cent across-the-board tariff and a Japanese commitment to invest $550 billion in the U.S. Trump was threatening to hit Europe with 30 per cent baseline tariffs and Japan with 25 per cent on Aug. 1, so both trading blocs are selling the deals as wins. Because Canada is facing the threat of 35 per cent tariffs on some goods on the same date, does that mean Canada should be aiming for a similar agreement? Prime Minister Mark Carney certainly isn't saying so. Asked whether any forthcoming deal will be in the ballpark of those 15 per cent baseline tariffs, he emphasized the differences between Europe's and Canada's trading relationship with the U.S. We are in a different position, and that is why these negotiations ... are different, Carney said on Monday, citing Canada's geographical closeness and energy exports to the U.S. Europe, in that agreement yesterday, made commitments to buy American energy, he said at a news conference in Prince Edward Island. America needs Canadian energy. WATCH | Canada's trade talks with the U.S. are different from Europe's, Carney says: Across-the-board tariffs 'difficult for Canada to accept' There are plenty of reasons why a 15 per cent baseline tariff rate is not something for Canada to aspire to, given that its economy is proportionally far more dependent on the U.S. market than Europe's and Japan's are. Jonathan O'Hara, an international trade lawyer in the Ottawa law office of McMillan LLP, said Canada should set its sights on a better deal than the EU or Japan negotiated since it's already so tightly integrated with the American economy. On a broad level, having some kind of across-the-board tariffs, I think, would be very difficult for Canada to accept, O'Hara said in a weekend interview with CBC News. WATCH | Here's what's in Trump's tariff deal with the EU: Yet it appears that Canada doesn't actually face the prospect of tariffs that are truly across-the-board. That's because it has something that neither the European Union nor Japan have: an actual free-trade deal. Trump's fentanyl emergency tariffs, currently set at 25 per cent — which he's threatening to raise to 35 per cent on Friday — hit only those goods that don't comply with the rules of origin in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). That means the vast bulk of Canada's exports to the U.S. (new window) are currently crossing the border tariff-free. Steel and aluminum tariffs a big question That may be why Carney's Liberal government does not feel the same sort of pressure as Europe and Japan to get a deal on Trump's timeline, said Drew Fagan, a professor at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Overall, the average tariff on Canadian goods going into the United States is about as low as any place in the world, he told CBC News. What's important for us is that the [CUSMA] free-trade agreement continues to hold. Whether it will in the future, of course, is a fundamental question. The biggest exceptions to Canada's mostly tariff-free access to the U.S. are steel and aluminum (new window) , hit by Trump's 50 per cent global rate as he tries to prop up that sector at home. Enlarge image (new window) A worker is shown welding at a steel manufacturing facility in Hamilton on July 16. The biggest exceptions to Canada's mostly tariff-free access to the U.S. are steel and aluminum, hit by Trump's 50 per cent global rate as he tries to prop up that sector at home. Photo: The Canadian Press / Chris Young In their deals reached with the U.S., neither the EU nor Japan are let off the hook from that tariff. While Canada is surely angling for something better on steel and aluminum — such as the U.K.'s 25 per cent tariff (new window) , potentially headed to zero — the European and Japanese agreements suggest that will be tough to achieve. Carlo Dade, director of international policy at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, said Canada will likely face a tariff rate comparable to Europe's. U.S. and Canada might not reach trade deal, Trump says (new window) The Americans have decided to readjust the terms of trade, Dade said. The price of access to the U.S. market is going up globally. It appears everyone is going to have to pay an increased cost. There are plenty of signs to suggest that the prospects are slim for Canada to reach a deal by Trump's deadline of Friday: Carney said the talks are complex (new window) , his top trade negotiators are downplaying the importance of the deadline (new window) and Trump himself is saying there may not be a deal at all (new window) . Mike Crawley (new window) · CBC News · Senior reporter Mike Crawley has covered Ontario politics for CBC News since 2009. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in B.C., spent six years as a freelance journalist in various parts of Africa, then joined the CBC in 2005. Mike was born and raised in Saint John, N.B. Follow Mike Crawley on Twitter (new window) With files from Natasha Fatah, Karen Pauls and Andrew Nichols
CTV News
37 minutes ago
- CTV News
Trump administration slashed federal funding for gun violence prevention: Reuters exclusive
The scene on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street, near 345 Park Avenue where a New York Police Department police officer was shot, Monday, July 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) CHICAGO -- The Trump administration has terminated more than half of all federal funding for gun violence prevention programs in the U.S., cutting US$158 million in grants that had been directed to groups in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Of the 145 community violence intervention (CVI) grants totaling more than $300 million awarded through the U.S. Department of Justice, 69 grants were abruptly terminated in April, according to government data analyzed by Reuters. The elimination of CVI programs is part of a broader rollback at the department's grant-issuing Office of Justice Programs, which terminated 365 grants valued at $811 million in April, impacting a range of public safety and victim services programs. A DOJ official told Reuters the gun violence grants were eliminated because they 'no longer effectuate the program's goals or agency's priorities.' Thousands of Office of Justice Programs grants are under review, the official said, and are being evaluated, among other things, on how well they support law enforcement and combat violent crime. The majority of CVI grants were originally funded through the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and part of a push by former president Joe Biden to stem the rise of gun violence in America, including establishing the first White House Office for Gun Violence Prevention. That office was 'dismantled on day one' of Trump taking office, said former deputy director of the office, Greg Jackson. Prior to the Biden-era funding, most gun violence prevention programs were funded on the state level. 'These programs five years ago, if they did exist, had very small budgets and didn't have large, multimillion-dollar federal investments,' said Michael-Sean Spence, managing director of community safety initiatives at Everytown for Gun Safety, which has worked with 136 community-based violence intervention organizations since 2019. Twenty-five of the groups were impacted by funding cuts. The grants supported a wide range of CVI programming to prevent shootings such as training outreach teams to de-escalate and mediate conflict, social workers to connect people to services and employment, and hospital-based programs for gun violence victims. '[It's] preventing them from doing the work in service of those that need it the most at the most urgent, and deadliest time of the year,' Spence said, referring to summer months when there's typically an uptick in shootings. Gun violence deaths in the U.S. grew more than 50% from 2015 to the pandemic-era peak of 21,383 in 2021, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Since then, deadly shootings have been in decline, falling to 16,725 in 2024, which is more in line with the pre-pandemic trend. As of May 2025, deaths are down 866 from the same period last year. Defunded programs While cities like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles received the bulk of gun violence prevention funding, southern cities like Memphis, Selma, Alabama and Baton Rouge, Louisiana also received millions and were more reliant on the grants due to limited state support for the programs, experts told Reuters. 'Very few state legislatures are passing funding right now, that's why the federal cuts were such a tragic hit,' said Amber Goodwin, co-founder of Community Violence Legal Network, who's part of a coalition of lawyers working to get grants reinstated. Nearly a dozen interviews with legal experts, gun violence interventionists, and former DOJ officials said funding cuts threaten the long-term sustainability of community violence intervention initiatives that have taken years to establish and are embedded in predominantly Black and Latino communities. Pha'Tal Perkins founded Think Outside Da Block in 2016, a nonprofit based in Chicago's violence-plagued Englewood neighborhood. Federal funding allowed him to hire full-time staff, but when grants were stripped, he was forced to lay off five team members. 'Being able to have outreach teams at specific places at the right time to have conversations before things get out of hand is what people don't see,' Perkins said. The programs initiated in 2022 marked the first time grassroots organizations could apply for federal community violence prevention funding directly, without going through law enforcement or state intermediaries, according to three former DOJ officials. Aqeela Sherrills, co-founder of Community Based Public Safety Collective in Los Angeles, provided training on implementing violence intervention strategies to nearly 94 grantees, including states, law enforcement agencies, and community-based organizations. Prior to the cuts, 'we were onboarding 30 new grantees through the federal government. Many of these cities and law enforcement agencies have no idea how to implement CVI,' Sherrills said. Police support Some critics of CVI argue that the programs aren't effective and that federal dollars would be better spent on law enforcement to stymie gun violence. Others view the initiatives as inherently 'anti-gun' and are 'nothing more than a funnel to send federal tax dollars to anti-gun non-profits who advocate against our rights,' said Aidan Johnston, federal affairs director of the Gun Owners of America. That view is not universally shared by law enforcement, however. In June, a letter signed by 18 law enforcement groups and police chiefs in Louisville, Minneapolis, Tucson and Omaha called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to reinstate funding that has resulted in 'measurable and significant reductions in violence and homicides.' 'These aren't feel-good programs; they're lifesaving, law-enforcement-enhancing strategies that work,' they wrote. Columbia, South Carolina Deputy Police Chief Melron Kelly, who was unaware of the letter, told Reuters that CVI programs were relatively new in the city, but as a result, the police began collaborating more with community organizations. Kelly said Columbia's CVI programs focused on preventing retaliatory shootings that can escalate a neighborhood conflict. 'Public safety really starts in the neighborhood before police get involved. CVI work is very important; we've seen a drastic reduction in violent crime post-COVID and shootings are almost at a 10-year low,' Kelly said. Now, organizations are trying to figure out how to keep the doors open now that federal money has run dry. Durell Cowan, executive director of HEAL 901, a community violence prevention nonprofit in Memphis, received a $1.7 million CVI grant in October 2024. Cowan's organization received $150,000 in federal funds since the beginning of the year before his grant was canceled. He's had to dip into his personal savings to keep his 14-person staff on payroll, he said. Recently, he secured funding from an out-of-state nonprofit as well as a $125,000 emergency grant from the city. Still, he may be forced to conduct layoffs if federal government dollars don't start flowing again. 'We shouldn't be pulling from our own personal finances and life insurance policies to cover the cost of public safety,' he said. Reporting by Bianca Flowers in Chicago. Editing by Kat Stafford and Michael Learmonth, Reuters
CTV News
38 minutes ago
- CTV News
Procter & Gamble hikes U.S. prices amid tariff challenges, CEO change
Procter & Gamble on Tuesday forecast annual results largely below estimates and said it would raise prices on some products in the U.S., a day after naming insider Shailesh Jejurikar as CEO to steer it through tariff uncertainty. The consumer goods bellwether's shares were down 1.2 per cent in volatile early trading. P&G, which topped fourth-quarter estimates, said it would raise prices on about a quarter of its products in the U.S., starting this month, to help offset the cost of new tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The price hikes have been communicated to retailers such as Walmart and Target and are in the mid-single digits across categories, a spokesperson said, and will be seen on shelves starting in August. P&G expects fiscal 2026 annual net sales growth of between one and five per cent, largely below estimates of a 3.09 per cent growth. Market growth slowed from where it was at the start of the year in both the U.S. and in Europe, and volatile macroeconomic, geopolitical and consumer dynamics were resulting in headwinds that were not anticipated at the start of the year, CFO Andre Schulten said during a call with journalists. 'The consumer clearly is more selective in terms of shopping behavior in our categories and we see a desire to find value either by going into larger pack sizes in club channel or online or big box retailers or by lowering the cash outlay,' Schulten said. The comments from the world's largest consumer goods maker reinforce how consumers, particularly in the lower-income category, are seeking value as they look to stretch their household budgets. Packaged food maker Nestle said last week that consumers in North America remained weak. Still, organic sales grew about two per cent in fiscal 2025, driven by P&G's portfolio of branded pantry staples, as well as higher pricing, particularly for fresher products. 'Given the immense pressure put on U.S. consumers in particular, the organic growth is a very good sign that long-term earnings projections should hold up,' said Brian Mulberry, portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management. P&G, which makes household basics spanning from Bounty paper towel to Metamucil fiber supplements, estimated tariffs will increase its costs by about US$1 billion before tax for fiscal 2026. That compares with projections of between US$1 billion and US$1.5 billion made in April. The company rolled out a restructuring effort in June to exit some brands and cut about 7,000 jobs over the next two years to increase productivity. Prices rose about one per cent in the fourth quarter, while volumes were flat. P&G expects fiscal 2026 core net earnings per share growth in the range of US$6.83 and US$7.09, compared with estimates of US$6.99, according to estimates compiled by LSEG. For the three months ended June 30, the company's revenue rose to US$20.89 billion, topping estimates of US$20.82 billion, while core profit of US$1.48 per share also beat expectations. --- Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila
