Good evening and welcome to Markets Desk.
The U.S.-Canada trade relationship is deteriorating fast. Canadian trade envoy Steve MacKinnon reportedly told American counterparts to, quote, kiss my ass, as talks collapsed with ninety thousand jobs now hanging in the balance. Economists and analysts broadly agree this dispute is self-inflicted damage to one of America's most integrated trading partnerships.
Shifting east, Beijing is raising the temperature on a separate front, warning Washington it will take all necessary measures if the United States expands sanctions targeting companies doing business with Iran. That language is pointed and deliberate, arriving at a moment when U.S.-China relations remain fragile and markets are already pricing in elevated geopolitical risk across energy and emerging market assets.
Closer to home, the data center buildout that has underpinned so much of the AI trade is running into a political wall. Opposition to new facilities is now surfacing in midterm races from Ohio to Wyoming, and neither a communications fix nor a presidential endorsement changes the underlying math. Communities are being asked to absorb significant land use, water, and power costs with limited local economic return, and voters are beginning to push back.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
