Canadian oil at risk

The cheap Canadian oil America craves is becoming a key bargaining chip in President Trump’s threatened trade war. The countries’ energy markets have grown increasingly intertwined in recent decades, with multibillion-dollar pipelines and sprawling refineries built for Canadians to funnel stateside the tar-like crude from booming oil fields in Alberta. Surging trade has driven down prices at the pump in the Midwest and helped transform the Gulf Coast into a global export hub. But Trump has already jolted that relationship, promising 25pc tariffs on all imports from Canada and directing federal agencies to re-evaluate trade policies with countries including America’s most important foreign oil supplier. The spectre of tariffs on Canada’s energy-dependent economy has left officials from Ottawa to provincial power centres scrambling. Even if crude ends up exempt, the Canadian government is considering retaliation that could ensnare oil shipments.

(Adapted from “How A Trump Trade War Puts Cheap Oil From Canada At Risk,” by David Uberti, published on January 22, 2025, by the Wall Street Journal)

Trump’s merchandise

Nearly a decade after he launched a political movement that has drawn in millions of Americans, Donald Trump has become an ever-present cultural force. His slogan and face are plastered on billboards, bumper stickers, hats and T-shirts, netting huge profits for the president and the speciality retailers around the country who sell unsanctioned Trump-themed products. Like the rest of Trump’s business empire, the merchandise operation shows no sign of shutting down. The company uses his image and likeness for products and sells everything from guitars to cologne, shoes and Bibles. Since launching last February at Sneaker Con, a trade show for sneakerheads, Trump’s shoes have been spotted on the feet of Republicans in the halls of Congress and at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate. “There’s something about that man,” he said. “It’s crazy — if it has Trump on it, everybody wants it,” says Arthur Koch, a Trump merchandise enthusiast.

(Adapted from “Guitars, Cologne And Sneakers: Inside Trump’s Merchandise Empire,” by David Uberti, published on January 19, 2025, by the Wall Street Journal)

Trump’s chaotic aid freeze

Foreign aid is easy to decry. Money is often wasted or stolen. Its benefits are hard to see. And giving money to foreigners means less for voters at home. That makes it an ideal target for Donald Trump. But when so much assistance to so many of the world’s needy disappears overnight, as it did when the State Department ordered almost all aid to be cut, the harm was visible everywhere. Clinics closed their doors; antiretroviral drugs to treat those infected with HIV dried up; work on controlling other viruses ceased; the clearing of land mines stopped; support for refugees evaporated. Why would an American president, even one so careless as Mr Trump, so wantonly damage his country’s interests? Donald Trump’s chaotic aid freeze makes America weaker — and is a gift for China.

(Adapted from “By Cutting Off Assistance To Foreigners, America Hurts Itself,” by The Economist, published on January 30, 2025)

DeepSeek Drama

The market reaction, when it came, was brutal. On January 27, as investors realised just how good DeepSeek’s “v3” and “R1” models were, they wiped around a trillion dollars off the market capitalisation of America’s listed tech firms. Nvidia, a chipmaker and the chief shovel-seller of the artificial intelligence gold rush, saw its value fall by $600bn. Yet even if the Chinese model-maker’s new releases rattled investors in a handful of firms, they should be cause for optimism for the world at large. The quality of DeepSeek’s models shows how competition and innovation will make AI cheaper and, therefore, more useful. That is good news. Even Nvidia may not suffer too much in the long run and there will be far more winners than losers from the events of this week.

(Adapted from “The Real Meaning Of The DeepSeek Drama,” by The Economist, published on January 29, 2025, by The Economist)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 3rd, 2025