Here are five things you need to know this morning
Tit-for-tat-for-tit: U.S. President Donald Trump says he will announce even more tariffs today, additional reciprocal levies targeting any country that dared to respond to his initial tariff threat with tariffs of their own. Trump announced the move via Truth Social, the social media network he owns, and the proclamation came with few additional details but plenty of capitalization. “THREE GREAT WEEKS, PERHAPS THE BEST EVER BUT TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” the president said. Trump is scheduled to sign a number of executive orders at 1 p.m. eastern time today, ahead of a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so presumably we will get more details on the next level of trade war escalation.
You can’t make America great again without Canadian aluminum: Speaking of escalation, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Canada should consider export taxes on products like aluminum to leverage the U.S. President to back off on tariffs of his own. Trump has already announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminum that are set to come into effect as soon as next month, and Legault thinks that’s one battle that Canada can win. “They really need us,” Legault told reporters in Washington. While there’s a lot more theoretical domestic capacity in the U.S. on the steel side of things, that’s not the case for aluminum. More than half of U.S. aluminum imports come from Canada, and most of it from Quebec which has eight smelters across the province. Trump would argue all those imports aren’t needed and the U.S. could ramp up production to offset them but given the sheer volume we’re talking about here -- the U.S. imported more than 80 per cent of its domestic aluminum demand last year, according to official data -- that doesn’t seem plausible. Unless there’s a decommissioned smelter hiding somewhere at Mar-A-Lago, the U.S. needs Canadian aluminum, so the premier’s argument seems to be built on making sure they know that.
Brookfield posts earnings: We’ll be watching shares in Brookfield Corporation this morning as the financial conglomerate posted results before the bell. At first blush the numbers seem mixed, as revenue fell by 21 per cent to $19.43 billion, while net income plunged by 97 per cent to $101 million. But the company raised its quarterly dividend by 13 cents. So, will investors like what they see or not? As always, the market is never wrong, so we’ll watch what the shares do when trading opens at 9:30 a.m. And we’ll hear from Christopher Ballard, Managing Director at Check Capital Management Inc., to break down his thoughts on the numbers.
AIMCO shakeup continues: Alberta Investment Management Corporation has decided to shutter new offices in Singapore and New York and part ways with its global head of private assets. The investment fund has replaced David Scudellari and named Peter Teti as interim head for the unit, Bloomberg reports. Kevin Bong, the executive who rang the Singapore office, has also left the fund. The moves come after a major shakeup at the pension fund last year.
OSFI delays Basel capital floor rules indefinitely: Canada’s top banking regulator is putting a long-term pause on changes to how banks calculate their lending risks. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said it will delay planned increases to the capital floor level until further notice. OSFI has already delayed the implementation by a year, and the move comes as regulators in other countries including the U.S. are doing the same. The change would require Canadian banks to calculate more of the risks in their loan books using a standardized model in lieu of internal methods.
