Here are five things you need to know this morning
As the tariffs turn: Confusion remains over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement set for April 2. Yesterday Trump said he will announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals and automobile imports in the coming days and indicated that nations may receive breaks from next week’s “reciprocal” tariffs. He also announced a 25 per cent tariff on other nations purchasing Venezuelan oil starting on April 2, as the U.S. attempts to use its economic clout as leverage to achieve its foreign and domestic policy goals.
Seven & i takes issue with Couche: The Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven says Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is understating the antitrust risk related to its takeover offer for the company. In a pair of documents, Seven & i Holdings says the proposal is a transformational cross-border acquisition involving significant regulatory hurdles unlike other deals done by the Quebec-based convenience store operator. The Japanese company says it will not enter into a transaction with no clear path to closing that could leave the company in a “value destructive limbo” for multiple years. As well, Seven & i says Couche-Tard has twice refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement with protections including a standstill provision in order to move talks forward.
Quebec budget: It’s budget day in Quebec. The province’s finance minister is set to table a budget with a focus on helping businesses and workers as U.S. tariff threats continue to cause economic turmoil. Eric Girard has confirmed the budget for the coming fiscal year will include a projected deficit of more than $11 billion, surpassing the record set last year. He told reporters Monday that the province is in a difficult economic position due to Trump’s threat of across-the-board tariffs. However, he said Quebec’s finances remain “under control,” and that the province can still avoid a recession. Premier François Legault has said the budget will include funding for the province’s investment arm — Investissement Québec — as well as newly announced loan programs for businesses threatened by U.S. tariffs.
LNG push: Liquified natural gas is in the spotlight today. British oil major Shell has announced plans to double down on its LNG push. Shell — the world’s largest liquified natural gas trader — says it will increase LNG sales by four to five per cent per year through 2030. ″We want to become the world’s leading integrated gas and LNG business and the most customer-focused energy marketer and trader,” CEO Wael Sawan said in a statement Tuesday. Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting a tanker is expected to arrive in Canada on April 1 to start cooling down LNG Canada’s plant in Kitimat, British Columbia, considered the final step before the plant begins production of the super-chilled gas. “The delivery is expected in early April and is critical to our safe start-up and commissioning process now underway, and to achieving our first cargo by the middle of 2025,” LNG Canada said. The company is Canada’s first liquefied natural gas export facility and when complete is expected to export 14 million metric tonnes per year.
Boeing trying to withdraw guilty plea: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Boeing is seeking to withdraw an earlier agreement to plead guilty in a criminal case that blamed the company for deceiving regulators before two deadly crashes of its 737 MAX jets. The report says the aerospace giant is seeking more lenient treatment from the U.S. Justice Department, which under the Trump administration is reviewing numerous pending criminal cases that haven’t yet gone to trial or been approved by courts. Last July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to defrauding the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, but a federal judge in Texas rejected the proposed deal in December.
