Skip to main content

Featured

CUSMA Not Renewed: What the Trade Deal Impasse Means for Your Wallet

  July 2, 2026 | Trade & Economy The mandatory six-year review of Canada's most important trade agreement came and went this week — and it did not go the way Ottawa hoped. On July 1, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed that the United States will not renew the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in its current form, sending the deal into a more uncertain, year-by-year footing right as Canadians are already navigating tariffs, a soft labour market, and a technical recession. Here is what actually happened, why it matters, and what it could mean for your budget in the months ahead. The short version CUSMA isn't dead. It remains legally in force until 2036. But instead of locking in a fresh 16-year term, the deal now shifts into annual reviews, with existing tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and softwood lumber unresolved for now. What happened on July 1 CUSMA was built with a mandatory joint review every six years. If Canada, the U.S. and Mexico had a...

article

Federal Reserve to Hold Interest Rates Steady Despite Market Anticipation

 

The Federal Reserve is expected to hold on interest rate cuts as they assess the economy and inflation . The policymakers are likely to signal that they expect to wait until they’re confident that inflation, which has tumbled from its peak, is reliably moving to their 2% target. 

The central bank’s benchmark rate influences the cost of most consumer and business loans, and companies, investors, and individuals have been eager for the central bank to ease the cost of borrowing. However, the economy remains healthy and doesn’t appear to need the stimulative benefits of a rate cut, which can spur more borrowing and spending and could even re-ignite inflation. The stock market is near a record high, and the yield on the influential 10-year Treasury note is well below its peak of nearly 5% last fall.

The Federal Reserve will likely move closer Wednesday to cutting its key interest rate after nearly two years of hikes that were intended to fight the worst inflation in decades. Yet it may not provide much of a hint about when — or how fast — it will do so. Most Fed watchers think the central bank’s first rate reduction will occur in May or June.














.

Comments