Latest news with #Bloomberg
Toronto Sun
19 minutes ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Retaliatory tariffs padding Canada's finances as expenses rise
Published Jul 25, 2025 • 2 minute read Cranes unload shipping containers onto trucks at the Fairview Container Terminal in the Port of Prince Rupert in Prince Rupert, B.C., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. The Port of Prince Rupert is the closest North American West Coast port to Asia and has the deepest natural harbour in North America. Photo by James MacDonald / Bloomberg Canada's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods are partially offsetting weaker revenue from corporate and sales taxes as federal government expenditures continue to rise. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Revenue from customs import duties rose to $2.4 billion in April and May, according to data released Friday by Canada's Department of Finance. That's up from $842 million in the same period a year earlier, capturing revenue from retaliatory tariffs that Prime Minister Mark Carney has levied on imports of some US goods. The proceeds from the tariffs are helping to offset a decrease in corporate income tax and government sales tax revenue, which are down 15% and 17% respectively from a year earlier. That decrease is likely due to slowing economic activity caused by trade uncertainty. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey say Canada's economy is expected to contract at a 0.4% annualized rate in the second quarter. Carney's election campaign platform put expected tariff revenues at about $20 billion this fiscal year, and the prime minister has pledged to redistribute any proceeds to sectors and workers hit hardest by US President Donald Trump's barrage of trade levies on aluminum, steel and autos. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As the two countries eye a potential trade agreement on August 1, questions are mounting as to whether Carney will proceed with more reciprocal levies should a deal with Trump fail to materialize — so far he's held off on a dollar-for-dollar response, though some of the country's provincial leaders have advocated for more aggressive action. Combined, total federal government revenue in the two months was little changed relative to the same period last fiscal year, holding at around $79.6 billion. Federal government program expenses are rising, the data show, and are up 4% from the previous fiscal year, totaling $75.8 billion. Employment insurance benefits are 9.1% higher, while operating expenses rose 7.3% to $18.6 billion. Debt charges rose 3.8% to $9.6 billion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne tasked cabinet ministers with cutting expenditures in the government and public service. Some departments have warned their employees that the cost reductions could lead to layoffs. Economists and the country's Parliamentary Budget Officer have warned that Carney's infrastructure and defense expenditures are likely to push the federal deficit much deeper this fiscal year. The C.D. Howe Institute expects the fiscal shortfall to total $92.2 billion. In December, the Liberal government had forecast a deficit of $42.2 billion. Carney has pushed the release of the country's federal budget to October — it's typically delivered in the first half of the year. The finance department has issued a debt management strategy, with gross bond and bill issuance set to exceed the COVID-19 pandemic era. — With assistance from Mario Baker Ramirez. Read More Hockey Toronto & GTA Sports Toronto & GTA Columnists
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
20 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Standard
China's Unitree Robotics offers a humanoid robot for under $6,000
The startup, among the frontrunners in Chinese robotics, on Friday announced its R1 bot with a starting price of 39,900 yuan (or $5,900) Bloomberg By Bloomberg News Unitree Robotics is marketing one of the world's first humanoid robots for under $6,000, drastically reducing the entry price for what's expected to grow into a whole wave of versatile AI machines for the workplace and home. The startup, among the frontrunners in Chinese robotics, on Friday announced its R1 bot with a starting price of 39,900 yuan (or $5,900). The machine weighs just 25kg and has 26 joints, the company said in a video posted to WeChat. It's equipped with multimodal artificial intelligence that includes voice and image recognition. The four-figure price tag highlights the ambitions of a new generation of startups trying to leapfrog the US in a groundbreaking technology. Unitree rose to prominence in February after CEO Wang Xingxing joined big names like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Jack Ma and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s Pony Ma at a widely publicized summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The new robot's launch coincides with China's biggest AI forum, set to kick off this weekend with star founders, Beijing officials and AI-hungry venture investors converging in Shanghai. The World Artificial Intelligence Conference will bring together many of the key figures expected to drive China's efforts around AI, which is finding a physical expression in the rapid development of more humanoid robots. After decades of dominance by American companies like Boston Dynamics, Chinese companies are pushing ahead with humanoids for factories, households and even military use. Pricing is crucial to their proliferation. Unitree's older G1 robot, which found a home in research labs and schools, was priced at $16,000. A more advanced and larger H1 model goes for $90,000-plus. Rival UBTech Robotics Corp. said recently that it planned a $20,000 humanoid robot that can serve as a household companion this year, seeking to expand beyond factories. If it works as advertised, Unitree's new robot would mark a milestone for the robotics industry, particularly when it comes to complex humanoids. Morgan Stanley Research estimates that the cost of the most-sophisticated humanoid in 2024 was around $200,000.
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Rubio lauds Pakistan's anti-terror role, vows deeper ties in meeting with FM Dar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday acknowledged Pakistan's sacrifices in the fight against terrorism and praised its constructive role in promoting regional stability, Aaj News reported. The remarks came during his first in-person meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, who is on an official visit to the United States. During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors, including agriculture, minerals, and digital technology. The delegation-level talks were attended by senior officials from both sides, including Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S., Rizwan Saeed Sheikh. Dar received a warm welcome upon arrival and appreciated the U.S. leadership's efforts toward peace. He highlighted Pakistan's potential as an investment destination and reiterated the importance of deepening trade and technology collaboration. The deputy prime minister is also scheduled to speak at the US think tank, The Atlantic Council, sharing Pakistan's perspective on regional and global issues as well as the future of Pak-US relations. Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, and senior embassy officials received Dar at the train station in the US capital. Reciprocal tariff: Pakistan officials to meet Trump administration, Bloomberg reports During his week-long visit, Dar attended high-level signature events of Pakistan's UN Security Council (UNSC) presidency in New York, while he met UN Secretary General António Guterres, on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, as well. A day ago, Bloomberg, quoting US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce as saying, reported that a Pakistani delegation will soon meet the administration of US President Donald Trump in a bid to reach an agreement on a trade deal. In a US Department of State press briefing on Wednesday, Bruce said she will attend the meeting between the Pakistani delegation and US officials. Islamabad is looking forward to the 29% reciprocal tariffs to be lifted that the Trump administration initially levied, Bloomberg said. The South Asian country has proposed to increase imports of soybeans and cotton, while it is already the second-largest buyer of US cotton by value, after China. Whereas, Pakistan's biggest export destination is the United States. Bilateral ties between Pakistan and US have improved in recent times, with Trump's holding a rare meeting with Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House. The FO stated on July 19 that FM Dar's visit is an indication of Pakistan's increasing importance in both its relations with the US and the global landscape. Moreover, in order to complete a trade agreement, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has also visited the United States and met with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington recently to advance economic cooperation, as per the Ministry of Finance. Reuters last week reported that the negotiations, focused on reciprocal tariffs, are part of a broader push to reset economic ties at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments and Pakistan's efforts to avoid steep US duties on exports.
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Gaza Needs a Ceasefire to Stop Hunger
Israel and Hamas leaders are giving different facts about the level of hunger in Gaza. But what really matters is a ceasefire to end the suffering, says Bloomberg Opinion columnist Marc Champion. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Munis Trail Treasuries by Most Since 2020 After Issuance Boom
The municipal-bond market is logging its worst performance relative to US government debt since the start of the pandemic, as a burst of new bond sales pressures prices. State and local government debt has lost about 1% this year, trailing the 3% gain on US Treasury securities by roughly 4 percentage points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
