Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Canada Set To Counter Tariffs

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Trudeau says Canada ready with counter-tariffs if Trump starts trade war. (00:24) Europe’s largest pension fund sells Tesla (TSLA) stake over Musk’s pay package: report. (01:42) White House delays order for Nippon Steel to end takeover bid for US Steel (X). (02:42)

This is an abridged transcript.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will respond with counter-tariffs if the President-elect follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on all Canadian imports.

In an interview on MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, the outgoing leader said that even though his government didn’t want a trade fight with the incoming Trump administration, it will have to retaliate if the tariffs materialize.

Trudeau confirmed that Trump floated the idea of making Canada the 51st U.S. state during their meeting at Mar-a-Lago, labelling it a distraction from more pressing issues.

Trump, who is preparing to assume office for a second time, has said that he would slap a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until the countries crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

According to a Congressional report, the U.S. and Canada have one of the largest bilateral commercial relationships in the world, including a highly integrated energy and automotive market.

U.S. Commerce Department export data shows that Canada buys more U.S.-made goods than any other country, with America exporting goods worth about $322 billion to its northern neighbor in the first 11 months of last year.

Dutch civil service pension fund ABP sold its entire stake in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) over dissatisfaction with the CEO’s pay package.

According to a Dutch newspaper, Het Financieele Dagblad, Europe’s largest pension fund divested its 2.8 million shares in Tesla because it was unhappy with Elon Musk’s $56 billion remuneration package and poor working conditions at the company.

The report added that ABP emphasized that the decision was not politically motivated. Musk is set to head the planned Department of Government Efficiency under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Last month, a Delaware judge rejected the multi-billion dollar pay package for a second time. Musk’s attorneys attempted to reverse the original decision after shareholders approved the figure in June 2024.

Judge Kathaleen McCormick declined to restore Musk’s $56 billion compensation. In her decision, McCormick said the approval process lacked transparency, and that the Tesla (TSLA) board was “beholden” to Musk.

The Biden administration has delayed its order for Nippon Steel (OTCPK:NPSCY)(OTCPK:NISTF) to drop its $14.9B takeover deal of United States Steel (NYSE:X) until mid-June, the companies said in a joint statement late Saturday.

President Joe Biden on January 3 blocked the proposed transaction on national security grounds after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States failed to reach a consensus on the combination.

“We are pleased that CFIUS has granted an extension to June 18, 2025 of the requirement in President Biden’s Executive Order that the parties permanently abandon the transaction,” the companies said. “We look forward to completing the transaction, which secures the best future for the American steel industry and all our stakeholders.”

Neither the White House nor the United Steelworkers union, which opposed the deal, immediately responded to requests for comment by Seeking Alpha.

Both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump said they opposed the deal.

The companies filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the order last week, alleging that Biden’s opposition to the deal denied them a fair review.

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Now let’s take a look at the markets ahead of the opening bell. Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 1.8% at $78/barrel. Bitcoin is down 2.4% at $91,000.

In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.3% and the DAX is down 0.8%. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

The biggest movers for the day premarket: Intra-Cellular Therapies (NASDAQ:ITCI) shares surged as much as 21% on reports that Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is in talks to acquire the biotech company, which has a market cap of approximately $10B.

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