Friday, July 18, 2025

 

Common feature between forest fires and neural networks reveals the universal framework underneath




Scientists find that scaling laws apply to deep neural networks exhibiting absorbing phase transitions



School of Science, The University of Tokyo

Similarity between a wildfire and activity of digital “neurons” in deep neural networks 

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Both a wildfire and activity of digital “neurons” exhibit a phase transition from an active to an absorbing phase. Once a system reaches an absorbing phase, it cannot escape from it without outside help.

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Credit: Tamai et al 2025





Researchers from the University of Tokyo in collaboration with Aisin Corporation have demonstrated that universal scaling laws, which describe how the properties of a system change with size and scale, apply to deep neural networks that exhibit absorbing phase transition behavior, a phenomenon typically observed in physical systems. The discovery not only provides a framework describing deep neural networks but also helps predict their trainability or generalizability. The findings were published in the journal Physical Review Research.

In recent years, it seems no matter where we look, we come across artificial intelligence in one form or another. The current version of the technology is powered by deep neural networks: numerous layers of digital “neurons” with weighted connections between them. The network learns by modifying the weights between the “neurons” until it produces the correct output. However, a unified theory describing how the signal propagates between the layers of neurons in the system has eluded scientists so far.

“Our research was motivated by two drivers,” says Keiichi Tamai, the first author, “partially by industrial needs as brute-force tuning of these massive models takes a toll on the environment. But there was a second, deeper pursuit: the scientific understanding of the physics of intelligence itself.”

This is where Tamai’s background in statistical physics of phase transitions gave him the first hint. Absorbing phase transitions refer to a sharp shift at a tipping point from an active to an absorbing phase, from which the system cannot escape without outside help. An example of such a physical system would be a fire burning out. Crucially, these systems exhibit universal behaviors near the tipping point and can be described using universal scaling laws if certain properties are preserved. If deep neural networks exhibit absorbing phase transitions, then then universal scaling laws may apply, providing unified framework for describing how they function. Consequently, researchers would be able to predict whether a signal would “burn out” in a certain deep learning set up.

To investigate, the researchers combined theory with simulations. They derived the exponents, which are universal across systems, and scaling factors, which differ across systems, from theory when possible and used simulations to confirm the scaling laws in more complex cases.

“What a coincidence, I thought,” Tamai says, remembering when he first noticed the link between deep neural networks and absorbing phase transitions. “I never imagined I would end up doing research on deep learning, let alone finding an effective use of a concept I worked on as a doctoral student in physics.”

The finding also brings us closer to understanding the physics of intelligence itself, as it reinvigorates the brain criticality hypothesis, which states that some biological networks operate near phase transitions. Tamai is excited about the prospects of this line of research.

“Alan Turing hinted at this connection as early as 1950, but the tools weren’t ready back then. With the rapid accumulation of evidence in neuroscience and the rise of near-human-level AI, I believe we’re at a perfect moment to revisit and deepen our understanding of this fundamental relationship.”

 

New tool gives anyone the ability to train a robot



MIT engineers designed a versatile interface that allows users to teach robots new skills in intuitive ways.




Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Versatile Training 

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A new handheld interface developed by MIT engineers enables a person to teach a robot new skills, using any of three training approaches: natural teaching (top left), kinesthetic training (middle), and teleoperation. 

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Credit: Courtesy of Mike Hagenow and Julie Shah





Teaching a robot new skills used to require coding expertise. But a new generation of robots could potentially learn from just about anyone. 

Engineers are designing robotic helpers that can “learn from demonstration.” This more natural training strategy enables a person to lead a robot through a task, typically in one of three ways: via remote control, such as operating a joystick to remotely maneuver a robot; by physically moving the robot through the motions; or by performing the task themselves while the robot watches and mimics. 

Learning-by-doing robots usually train in just one of these three demonstration approaches. But MIT engineers have now developed a three-in-one training interface that allows a robot to learn a task through any of the three training methods. The interface is in the form of a handheld, sensor-equipped tool that can attach to many common collaborative robotic arms. A person can use the attachment to teach a robot to carry out a task by remotely controlling the robot, physically manipulating it, or demonstrating the task themselves — whichever style they prefer or best suits the task at hand. 

The MIT team tested the new tool, which they call a “versatile demonstration interface,” on a standard collaborative robotic arm. Volunteers with manufacturing expertise used the interface to perform two manual tasks that are commonly carried out on factory floors. 

The researchers say the new interface offers increased training flexibility that could expand the type of users and “teachers” who interact with robots. It may also enable robots to learn a wider set of skills. For instance, a person could remotely train a robot to handle toxic substances, while further down the production line another person could physically move the robot through the motions of boxing up a product, and at the end of the line, someone else could use the attachment to draw a company logo as the robot watches and learns to do the same.  

“We are trying to create highly intelligent and skilled teammates that can effectively work with humans to get complex work done,” says Mike Hagenow, a postdoc at MIT in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. “We believe flexible demonstration tools can help far beyond the manufacturing floor, in other domains where we hope to see increased robot adoption, such as home or caregiving settings.”

Hagenow will present a paper detailing the new interface, at the IEEE Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) conference in October. The paper’s MIT co-authors are Dimosthenis Kontogiorgos, a postdoc at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL); Yanwei Wang PhD ’25, who recently earned a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science; and Julie Shah, MIT professor and head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Training together

Shah’s group at MIT designs robots that can work alongside humans in the workplace, in hospitals, and at home. A main focus of her research is developing systems that enable people to teach robots new tasks or skills “on the job,” as it were. Such systems would, for instance, help a factory floor worker quickly and naturally adjust a robot’s maneuvers to improve its task in the moment, rather than pausing to reprogram the robot’s software from scratch — a skill that a worker may not necessarily have. 

The team’s new work builds on an emerging strategy in robot learning called “learning from demonstration,” or LfD, in which robots are designed to be trained in more natural, intuitive ways. In looking through the LfD literature, Hagenow and Shah found LfD training methods developed so far fall generally into the three main categories of teleoperation, kinesthetic training, and natural teaching. 

One training method may work better than the other two for a particular person or task. Shah and Hagenow wondered whether they could design a tool that combines all three methods to enable a robot to learn more tasks from more people.

“If we could bring together these three different ways someone might want to interact with a robot, it may bring benefits for different tasks and different people,” Hagenow says.

Tasks at hand

With that goal in mind, the team engineered a new versatile demonstration interface (VDI). The interface is a handheld attachment that can fit onto the arm of a typical collaborative robotic arm. The attachment is equipped with a camera and markers that track the tool’s position and movements over time, along with force sensors to measure the amount of pressure applied during a given task. 

When the interface is attached to a robot, the entire robot can be controlled remotely, and the interface’s camera records the robot’s movements, which the robot can use as training data to learn the task on its own. Similarly, a person can physically move the robot through a task, with the interface attached. The VDI can also be detached and physically held by a person to perform the desired task. The camera records the VDI’s motions, which the robot can also use to mimic the task when the VBI is reattached. 

To test the attachment’s usability, the team brought the interface, along with a collaborative robotic arm, to a local innovation center where manufacturing experts learn about and test technology that can improve factory-floor processes. The researchers set up an experiment where they asked volunteers at the center to use the robot and all three of the interface’s training methods to complete two common manufacturing tasks: press-fitting and molding. In press-fitting, the user trained the robot to press and fit pegs into holes, similar to many fastening tasks. For molding, a volunteer trained the robot to push and roll a rubbery, dough-like substance evenly around the surface of a center rod, similar to some thermomolding tasks. 

For each of the two tasks, the volunteers were asked to use each of the three training methods, first teleoperating the robot using a joystick, then kinesthetically manipulating the robot, and finally, detaching the robot’s attachment and using it to “naturally” perform the task as the robot recorded the attachment’s force and movements. 

The researchers found the volunteers generally preferred the natural method over teleoperation and kinesthetic training. The users, who were all experts in manufacturing, did offer scenarios in which each method might have advantages over the others. Teleoperation, for instance, may be preferable in training a robot to handle hazardous or toxic substances. Kinesthetic training could help workers adjust the positioning of a robot that is tasked with moving heavy packages. And natural teaching could be beneficial in demonstrating tasks that involve delicate and precise maneuvers. 

“We imagine using our demonstration interface in flexible manufacturing environments where one robot might assist across a range of tasks that benefit from specific types of demonstrations,” says Hagenow, who plans to refine the attachment’s design based on user feedback and will use the new design to test robot learning. “We view this study as demonstrating how greater flexibility in collaborative robots can be achieved through interfaces that expand the ways that end-users interact with robots during teaching.”

This work was supported, in part, by the MIT Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Engineering Excellence and the Wallenberg Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.

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Written by Jennifer Chu, MIT News

Paper: “Versatile Demonstration Interface: Toward More Flexible Robot Demonstration Collection”

https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.19141v2

Trump’s tariffs threaten to take the fizz out of Champagne’s crucial U.S. market


By Reuters
 July 18, 2025 

Champagne is being poured "beer-like way," achieved by tilting the glass and gently sliding the Champagne down its inside wall into the flute (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

VERZENAY — Champagne producers in northeastern France need to find new markets after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened 30 per cent tariffs on EU exports, the chairman of a French industry group said, suggesting Brazil, Southeast Asia and South Africa as options.

The U.S. is the biggest market for champagne with 10 per cent of champagne exports by volume and 15 per cent by value and producers say the tariffs will push up prices for consumers and threaten jobs all along the supply chain, including in the United States.

“The repercussions for all family champagne exports will be severe because it will mean lost income from bottle sales, which will also affect the grape harvest quotas we will be allowed to collect,” said Stephane Vignon, whose family has been producing Champagne in Verzenay since 1946.

With 70 per cent of champagne sales currently concentrated in just five countries, tariffs should push producers to seek new markets, said Maxime Toubart, chairman of industry group Comite Champagne (Champagne Committee).

He said France’s cognac industry, which is mainly reliant on exports to China and the U.S. where it could also face duties, provides a cautionary tale for champagne producers on the need to diversify. But replacing U.S. sales is not easy, he said.

“We can’t just say we’ll sell three million fewer bottles in the U.S. and put them in Japan instead. So actually, there is no alternative today to this fall in volume,” he said.

Total champagne exports fell more than 10 per cent last year but rose slightly in the first four months of 2025 ahead of a 10% tariff in April, farm office France Agri Mer said.

“If tomorrow the 30% tariff is implemented, I think it will definitely impact the relationship,” said Hugo Drappier of the Drappier Champagne house. “We’ve always managed to build a relationship of trust with our clients through the quality of our wines ... Let’s hope that relationship isn’t broken.”

(Writing and additional reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Michaela Cabrera. Editing by Gabriel Stargardter and Sharon Singleton)
Hidden advisor fees continue to dog mutual fund performance: Dale Jackson


By Dale Jackson
 July 18, 2025 

Canadian cash is shown. (Shutterstock.com)

Investors who purchased TD mutual funds through a discount broker before Sept. 12, 2024, have until Dec. 20 of this year to file a claim to be compensated.

The province of Ontario has approved a $70.25M class action settlement with TD Asset Management relating to allegations trailing commissions were paid to discount brokers for advice, even though the brokers were not permitted to provide investment advice.

The settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by TD Asset Management but the practice of discount brokers collecting trailing commissions was banned by Canadian securities regulators in June 2022.

Despite the ban, discount brokers are not compelled to offer non-advisor versions of mutual funds. Mutual fund companies are not even compelled to offer a discount version.

How trailing commissions are supposed to work



Trailing commissions are intended to compensate legitimate advisors who recommend mutual funds and provide “ongoing advice”.

Few mutual fund investors even know they are paying a trailing commission because it is baked into the price. Trailing commissions are collected by mutual fund companies through a broader annual fee called the management expense ratio (MER).

Fund holders pay the MER based on the amount they have invested in the fund whether it makes money or not. MERs vary from company to company and according to asset class, but a typical fee on an equity fund often tops 2.5 per cent. Inside that fee a typical trailing commission is one per cent.

While one per cent might seem like a small amount it could add up to tens of thousands of dollars as a portfolio grows over time. That’s tens of thousands of dollars not invested and not compounding over time.

How to spot a trailing commission

The best way to tell if your mutual fund has a trailing commission is by simply looking at the letter that follows the name of the mutual fund in your account.

As a general rule, funds that have a trailing commission will have an A (advisor) at the end, and the version that does not charge a trailing commission will have a D (discount).

If the name of a mutual fund purchased through a discount broker is followed by an A, you are paying for advice you never get. The first step is to find out if your discount broker even offers a D version of your fund. In some cases, they do but they conveniently (for them) failed to provide you with the lower cost version. If your discount broker does not offer a D version go to the mutual fund company website and see if they offer a discount series.

Not all fund companies follow the same lettering code, but the proof is in the difference in MERs. If different versions of the same fund show MERs with a difference of about one per cent it really doesn’t matter what they call it. You want the less expensive version.

The trouble with trailing commissions


Trailing commissions are banned in countries including the United Kingdom and Australia even for mutual funds sold through an advisor.


In addition to being hidden, the concept of having a mutual fund company reward advisors for choosing their mutual funds for a client raises questions about who the advisor is actually serving. Is the advisor recommending a fund each year because it is right for the investor or because it has the best compensation from the mutual fund company?

In some cases, a lower cost exchange traded fund (ETF) or investing directly in the market would be more prudent but many advisors are only licensed to sell mutual funds.

If you invest in mutual funds through an advisor, ask about trailing commissions and if there is a way to avoid them.


Dale Jackson

Columnist, 
BNNBloomberg.ca
Foreign investors are divesting from Canadian securities, StatCan says


By Jordan Fleguel
July 17, 2025 


Statistics Canada building and signs are pictured in Ottawa 
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

New data suggests that Canadian securities are falling out of favour with foreign investors, while Canadians are investing more of their money abroad.

On Thursday, Statistics Canada released tracking data on Canada’s international securities transactions in May, which found there was “strong foreign divestment in Canadian shares” during the month.

“Foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $2.8 billion in May, a fourth consecutive monthly divestment,” the agency said in a release.

“In May, non-resident investors reduced their exposure to Canadian shares by $11.4 billion. On a sector basis, the divestment in May was widespread, led by shares from the energy and mining, management of companies and enterprises, as well as manufacturing sectors.”

Foreign investors did, however, increase their holdings of Canadian government bonds, acquiring $13.1 billion compared to a $25.1 billion divestment in April.


“The activity in May reflected foreign acquisitions of provincial (+$8.0 billion) and federal (+$6.9 billion) government bonds, which were moderated by a divestment of $4.2 billion in private corporate bonds,” said StatCan.

Despite the overall divestment in Canadian shares, Canada’s benchmark stock index, the S&P/TSX composite, increased by 5.4 per cent in May compared to April after three consecutive monthly declines.


Canadians move money out


Canadian investors, meanwhile, increased their exposure to foreign securities by $13.4 billion in May, up significantly from $4.1 billion the month before, according to StatCan.

“In May, investors targeted U.S. shares, while reducing their exposure to U.S. government debt instruments,” the agency said.

“Canadian investors bought $11.5 billion of foreign shares in May, the largest investment since February. Sizable acquisitions of U.S. shares (+$14.2 billion) in May were moderated by sales of non-U.S. shares (-$2.8 billion).”

The benchmark American stock index, the S&P 500, increased by more than six per cent in May compared to April after it, like the TSX, had declined for three straight months prior.

StatCan said that when it came to Canadian purchases of foreign debt securities in May, investors mainly purchased U.S. corporate bonds and non-U.S. bonds, while reducing their holdings of U.S. government bonds and Treasury bills.

As a result of increased investment abroad and the foreign divestment of Canadian securities, Canada saw a net outflow of $16.2 billion from its economy in May, marking “a fourth consecutive month of net outflows, bringing the total to $83.9 billion,” said StatCan.


Jordan Fleguel

Journalist, BNNBloomberg.ca

Cape Breton’s Donkin coal mine up for sale by U.S.-based owner


By The Canadian Press
 July 18, 2025 

Workers repair the road leading to the Donkin coal mine in Donkin, N.S., on Monday Dec. 13, 2004. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX — An idle Cape Breton underground coal mine that has been plagued by rockfalls is reportedly up for sale.

Nova Scotia-based Morien Resources Corp. receives a royalty from the Donkin mine, and says the mine’s owner has announced it intends to explore a sale of its 100 per cent ownership in the operation.

Attempts to reach mine owner Kameron Colliers ULC were unsuccessful.

Morien owns a production royalty on coal sales from the mine that is binding and will continue if there is a change in ownership.

The Nova Scotia company says it’s unclear whether a successful sale will result in the mine restarting operations.

Nova Scotia’s government suspended operations at the mine in 2023 after two roof rockfalls, and allowed them to resume in March 2024 following a review by a third-party consultant.

The mine, which remains idle, first opened in 2017 and was described by the province as the world’s only operating subsea coal mine.

It resumed operations in September 2022 after it was shuttered in March 2020 amid slumping coal prices and roof collapses that led to repeated stop-work orders.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025.
Oilfield service group says relief from counter-tariffs on U.S. sand ‘fantastic news’

By The Canadian Press
July 17, 2025 

A sand dune is backdropped by Atlas Energy plant at the beginning of a 68-kilometre conveyor belt that carries sand needed for hydraulic fracturing Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Kermit, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

CALGARY — The federal government is offering Canadian oil and gas drillers counter-tariff reprieve on the vast amounts of sand they import from the United States.

The sand is used in the hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — process to help free resources trapped in hard-to-access shale formations deep underground

It’s among the imported U.S. goods on which Canada has imposed a surcharge in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s flurry of tariffs.

Sand from Wisconsin meets the specs needed by Canadian drillers, and the lion’s share of what they use is brought in from the Midwestern state.

A federal order published in the Canada Gazette newsletter this week says relief is available for companies that import silica and quartz sand, among other products.


Gurpreet Lail, the chief executive of industry group Enserva, says it’s fantastic news, as the counter-tariffs on sand alone would have cost industry $275 million a year.

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Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025.
Carney confirms possibility of lumber quotas in trade deal with the United States

By The Canadian Press
 July 16, 2025 

Prime Minister Mark Carney waits to speak during a tour of a steel manufacturing facility, in Hamilton, Ont., Wednesday, July 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

HAMILTON — Prime Minister Mark Carney says any future trade deal with the United States could include “some element of managed trade,” including quotas, on softwood lumber exports.

Carney’s comments come after B.C. Premier David Eby told Bloomberg News that the federal government has been speaking with the provinces about quotas to resolve the softwood lumber dispute.

The prime minister says he’s been in close contact with Eby about the softwood file, adding that resolving the conflict is a “top priority” as the United States prepares to double various duties to 34.45 per cent.

Canada and the United States have been without a softwood lumber agreement since 2015, and Eby has previously said that resolving the dispute could “build momentum” for a larger, more comprehensive trade deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threat is to impose 35 per cent tariffs by Aug. 1 on Canadian goods currently not compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Carney says he agrees with Eby’s idea of resolving the softwood lumber dispute as part of a larger trade deal, but notes that both issues are unfolding along different times lines.

With files from David Baxter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2025.

The Canadian Press
TD strategist says ‘we are inching closer to a wartime economy’ as nations stockpile resources

By Jordan Fleguel
July 16, 2025 


The global flow of metals and minerals is being significantly impacted by geopolitical tensions and a growing deglobalization trend, according to one expert, who says commodity trading is becoming less efficient and more costly.

“When I zoom out, what we’re starting to see and what’s really important for our clients is that every day, we’re inching closer to wartime economy,” Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities, told BNN Bloomberg in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

“Critical minerals strategy for the west is a national security strategy that is facing an increasing sense of urgency since China issues export controls on rare earth elements, and that strategy is now fuelling competition to secure resource access.”Latest updates on commodities here

Amid China’s ongoing trade war with the U.S., Beijing announced in April that it was suspending a wide range of critical mineral and magnet exports – materials that are a crucial part of global automotive, aerospace and semiconductor supply chains.

The move raised alarms in economies across the world, from India to the U.S., and was a stark reminder of China’s dominance in the critical minerals industry.


With their trading relationships in flux, the world’s two largest economies are racing to secure their own minerals and metals, squeezing physical markets, Ghali said.

“We’ve seen significant signs of stockpiling behaviour, both in the U.S. as traders are incentivized to rush metal in ahead of a tariffs announcement, and within China with stock piling that has strategic hues,” he explained.

“Both of these systems are draining global inventory balances, and for many of these metals, those inventory balances have already drained below levels that are critical for the market structure. Metals markets in many instances are in a really precarious position.”

The metal that’s been top of mind for most commodity traders in recent weeks and months is copper, which has a range of uses from electrical wiring to construction materials and electric vehicle components, including batteries.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in an effort to boost domestic copper production, announced last week that imports of the metal will face a 50 per cent tariff beginning Aug. 1. Copper prices surged to record highs on the news.

“Ultimately, this is the end stage of the deglobalization narrative. Trade becomes less efficient, it becomes more costly, and raw material prices have to reflect that,” Ghali said.

“The conclusion that we’re coming to is that a world in which the trade of raw materials is fragmented, and perhaps a function of geopolitical allegiance more so than market efficiency, is a world where raw material prices have to be higher and perhaps significantly so.”


Jordan Fleguel

Jornalist, BNNBloomberg.ca
Canadian businesses should shift practices amid Trump tariffs: accountant

By Joshua Santos
July 16, 2025 

As Canadian businesses brace to face tariffs on exported goods to the United States, an accountant suggests owners shift their practices as a tariff free deal seems unlikely.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney signalled most countries will likely have to accept a baseline tariff rate on their goods by the U.S.

“I think your observation that Prime Minister Carney is warming the public up to the idea to expect tariffs is absolutely right,” Lachlan Wolfers, global head of indirect taxes at KPMG International, told BNNBloomberg.ca in a Wednesday interview. “It could also signal that a deal is relatively imminent as well.”

U.S. President Donald Trump recently sent letters to a handful of countries outlining higher tariffs they’ll face if they don’t make trade deals by Aug. 1. Indonesia, which faced a tariff rate of 32 per cent conceded to a 19 per cent tariff rate of their own.

Canada faces a 35 per cent tariff, up from 25 per cent initially imposed in March. Some of Canada’s top exports to the U.S. are subject to different industry-specific tariffs but key exports include oil and petroleum products, cars and trucks.
Trade War coverage on BNNBloomberg.ca

The United States said it has taken in about US$100 billion so far and could collect $300 billion by the end of the year. The U.S. and United Kingdom previously agreed to 10 per cent tariff rate and Vietnam agreed to a lower-than-promised 20 per cent tariff on many Vietnamese goods. Wolfers suggests a 10 per cent baseline tariff might be the best-case scenario for Canada.

“The U.K. deal is instructive,” said Wolfers. “What it says is 10 per cent is a baseline, which I think is probably a best case scenario for Canada.”

He advised businesses to shift from a defensive to an offensive strategy, focusing on mitigating tariff costs, long-term planning and trading around uncertainties effectively.

“I think the message from a Canadian perspective needs to be, how do we turn from defence into offence? Offence is not necessarily retaliatory tariffs,” said Wolfers. “Offence is around how businesses can take active steps to mitigate their own tariff costs and to trade around this as effectively as possible. What I’ve seen is the uncertainty in markets has created an environment where people haven’t been able to engage in that medium to long term planning. My advice is they now need to do.”Latest updates on investing here

Wolfers noted these are not comprehensive trade agreements, but rather narrow deals designed more for headline impact than substantial trade resolution. The actual rate will depend on ongoing negotiations between Canada and the US.


Joshua Santos

Journalist, BNNBloomberg.ca