Honda Motor Co. is considering shifting a significant portion of its vehicle production from Mexico and Canada to the United States, amid escalating trade tensions triggered by a new 25% tariff on imported automobiles announced by US President Donald Trump, Nikkei reported on Tuesday.

The Japanese automaker aims to have 90% of cars sold in the US built locally, according to the report.

The company is reportedly looking to increase its US production capacity by as much as 30% over the next two to three years.

The move would help shield the company from the hefty import levy, which could otherwise cost Honda an estimated $4.57 billion annually.

Honda declined to comment on the report, saying the details had not been announced by the company.

New strategy includes Civic hybrid production in Indiana

Even before the tariff was made official, Honda had taken steps to mitigate the risk of higher import costs.

Reuters earlier reported that the next-generation Civic hybrid will be manufactured in Indiana, rather than in Mexico, where production had been originally planned.

The United States remains Honda’s largest market, accounting for nearly 40% of its global vehicle sales.

Last year, Honda sold approximately 1.4 million cars in the US, with about 1 million already built domestically.

Despite the provisions of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which allows for tariff-free trade under certain conditions, the 25% tariff applies even to vehicles that meet USMCA origin requirements.

While increasing US-made content can reduce some of the tariff impact, it cannot fully eliminate it, the Nikkei report said.

To ramp up production in the US, Honda is said to be weighing operational changes including adding a third work shift, expanding weekend production, and hiring additional workers.

However, the reconfiguration is expected to take at least two years due to the complex nature of realigning supply chains and factory capacities.

Automaker shares rise as Trump signals possible exemptions

Shares of automakers worldwide rose following remarks from President Trump suggesting the administration might consider temporary exemptions from the tariffs.

“I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies,” Trump said in Washington, adding that firms “need a little bit of time” to restructure their manufacturing operations.

The prospect of relief buoyed stocks across the sector.

Toyota and Honda gained 3.7% and 3.6% respectively, while Tata Motors rose 4.7% and Hyundai climbed 4.3%.

European carmakers, including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW, also posted gains of over 2%.

Industry rethinks strategy as others respond to tariffs

Automakers have begun reevaluating their production strategies in response to the trade policy shift.

Stellantis has announced temporary shutdowns at its Windsor and Toluca plants. Ford is leaning on domestic inventory, launching a customer-wide “From America for America” pricing initiative.

General Motors is boosting output at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant to meet expected demand for light-duty trucks.

The industry now faces a period of strategic recalibration as it adapts to the new economic landscape shaped by Washington’s evolving trade agenda.

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In a recent escalation of the ongoing dispute between the Malian government and Canadian mining company Barrick Gold over mining revenues, authorities in Mali have taken the drastic step of shutting down Barrick Gold’s office in the capital city, Bamako.

The closure was due to alleged non-payment of taxes by Barrick Gold, Reuters quoted two sources as saying in a report. 

This move highlights the Malian government’s increasingly assertive stance in ensuring that mining companies operating within its borders fulfil their tax obligations and contribute their fair share to the country’s revenue.

The closure of Barrick Gold‘s office is likely to have significant implications for the company’s operations in Mali and could potentially lead to further disruptions in the mining sector. 

Ongoing dispute since 2023

The dispute between the Toronto-based mining company and the government of Mali has been ongoing since 2023. 

The disagreement centers around the implementation of Mali’s recently revised mining code. 

This new code grants the Malian government a larger share of the profits generated from the gold mine, a move that has been met with resistance from the Canadian mining company.

While governments seek to maximise their share of natural resource wealth, mining companies aim to protect their investments and ensure profitable operations.

Loulo-Gounkoto mine

The closure did not impact Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in western Mali, which has been closed since mid-January.

However, staff in Bamako are unable to access the office building, according to one source.

On February 19 that Barrick had signed an agreement to end the dispute, which is awaiting approval from the Malian government, according to the report.

The two sides had been negotiating to resolve the dispute. The dispute is expected to be resolved as early as next week.

The operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto complex had been temporarily halted due to a governmental seizure of approximately three metric tons of gold stock in January. 

The government’s justification for this seizure was the company’s alleged failure to meet its tax obligations. 

It is important to note that this specific tax dispute is distinct from the one that resulted in the recent office closure, as indicated by one of the sources in the report.

Temporary transfers

The Malian government, which assumed control following a series of coups in 2020 and 2021, had implemented a blockade on Barrick’s gold exports starting from early November. 

This action severely impacted the company’s operations and financial stability, as it was unable to generate revenue from its gold mining activities. 

The blockade also strained the relationship between the company and the Malian government, potentially leading to further complications and disruptions in the future.

Around 40 Malian employees from the Loulo-Gounkoto complex are being transferred, at least temporarily, to Barrick’s Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

This is only the first wave of transfers; a total of 100 Malian staff have been identified for relocation, which suggests that operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto complex are unlikely to restart in the near future.

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While US President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff campaign has rattled markets and tested corporate nerves, Wall Street banks are reaping the rewards.

Major US lenders have reported robust earnings for the first quarter, buoyed by a resurgence in equities trading as investors scrambled to reposition portfolios amid mounting geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainty.

Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Citi have all exceeded analysts’ expectations, citing increased client activity and market swings as key drivers behind the revenue surge.

Bank of America, Citi, and Goldman Sachs all beat forecasts

Bank of America reported on Tuesday that its equities trading revenue rose 17% to $2.2 billion, marginally ahead of estimates.

Fixed income trading brought in $3.5 billion, also exceeding expectations.

Overall, the bank’s quarterly profit rose 11% to $7.4 billion, or 90 cents a share, while revenue climbed nearly 6% to $27.51 billion.

Citigroup also posted a sharp increase in equity trading revenue—up 23% to $1.5 billion—thanks to “increased market volatility” and heightened client activity.

This helped the bank beat revenue forecasts despite broader economic uncertainty.

Goldman Sachs, which reported its earnings a day earlier, saw equities trading revenue jump 27% to $4.19 billion—roughly $540 million above estimates.

Overall revenue rose 10% to $10.71 billion, supported by gains in both trading and investment banking.

The bank said that rising trading revenue in the quarter offset a slight decline in asset and wealth management revenue compared with a year earlier.

JPMorgan Chase delivered an 8% rise in revenue to $46.01 billion. Trading revenue alone surged 48% to $3.8 billion, again beating Wall Street expectations.

Morgan Stanley, too, posted a strong quarter, with equity trading revenue up 45% to $4.13 billion.

The bank’s total earnings rose 26% to $4.32 billion, or $2.60 per share.

Volatility led to muted activity in investment banking

Despite the strong financial performance, bank chiefs sounded a note of caution on the outlook.

“The economy is facing considerable turbulence, with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and trade wars,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said.

“As always, we hope for the best but prepare the firm for a wide range of scenarios.”

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon similarly warned that the business environment had changed dramatically since the beginning of the year.

“Our clients, including corporate CEOs and institutional investors, are concerned by the significant near-term and longer-term uncertainty that has constrained their ability to make important decisions,” Solomon said.

Solomon echoed the concerns raised by his peers at JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, noting that heightened market volatility had prompted corporate clients to delay or reconsider their deal-making plans.

“In investment banking, the volatile backdrop led to more muted activity relative to the levels we had expected coming into the year,” he told analysts on Monday.

A familiar pattern in times of turmoil

The current trading windfall is not without precedent.

In past episodes of geopolitical and economic stress, banks with strong capital markets operations have often seen a boost in trading revenue.

During the 2018 US-China trade war, Goldman Sachs recorded a 17% year-over-year rise in equity trading revenue, while JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley also benefited from a surge in market activity.

Similar patterns were seen during the Brexit referendum in 2016 and the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when trading desks capitalised on extreme market swings.

In Q2 2020, JPMorgan’s markets and securities services revenue soared 77%, while Citigroup’s equity trading revenue rose 41% year-over-year.

That period was marked by record trading volumes as investors rapidly adjusted to the economic shock triggered by the pandemic.

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Canada’s annual inflation rate decreased to 2.3% in March, down significantly from the previous month.

A softer-than-expected inflation reading modestly raised the probability of a rate cut at Wednesday’s policy decision, though market consensus continues to lean toward a pause.

Lower costs drive the decline in inflation

According to Statistics Canada data, the surprise decline in inflation was driven mostly by lower gasoline and travel tour prices.

On a monthly basis, the inflation rate increased by only 0.3%.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted the inflation rate to remain at 2.6% and on a monthly basis to rise by 0.6%.

The drop in gasoline prices was especially notable, falling 1.6% as a result of lowering crude oil prices caused by global economic downturn concerns and the impact of tariffs imposed by the US government.

A mix of economic indicators

While the overall inflation rate is showing signs of slowing, core inflation metrics monitored closely by the Bank of Canada remain high.

Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, emphasised the bank’s difficulty in deciphering these conflicting signals.

Porter was quoted in the report, stating:

Does (the bank) look in the rear view mirror at still relatively sticky core inflation, or does it look forward knowing that the consumer and business sentiment has crumbled and the economy is likely to weaken in this quarter? That’s a tough call”

Furthermore, rises in food and beverage costs, which increased by 3.2% and 2.4% on an annual basis, indicate that certain sectors continue to face price pressures.

These increases were somewhat obscured by a sales tax exemption that was in effect from mid-December to mid-February, emphasising the difficulty of determining genuine inflationary trends.

Possible changes in monetary policy

As the Bank of Canada prepares to deliver its monetary policy decision, financial markets are on edge.

The odds of a rate cut have risen slightly, but overall sentiment is still skewed toward the interest rate cycle to remain on hold.

After the release of the data, currency markets pared back their expectations for a pause in the interest rate cutting cycle, with odds slipping to roughly 52% from 60% prior to the release.

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods have also created uncertainty in the economy.

These factors are impacting both consumer prices and economic development, making it challenging for central banks to make decisions.

Navigating the complex economic terrain

As Canada grapples with current economic dynamics, the drop in inflation provides a ray of hope for consumers while raising serious concerns about future monetary policy.

The Bank of Canada faces the difficult task of balancing these factors: navigating between persistent core inflation and a weaker economy.

With global demand uncertain and aggravated by trade tensions, authorities must tread carefully to ensure that any interest rate increases promote economic stability while avoiding inflationary pressures.

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Elliott Investment Management has quietly built a stake worth more than $1.5 billion in HewlettPackard Enterprise Co. (HPE), becoming one of the networking and software company’s top five shareholders, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.

The activist hedge fund, known for its aggressive shareholder campaigns in the tech sector, is expected to push for changes to enhance shareholder value at HPE, although its exact demands are not yet known, the report said.

Both Elliott and HPE declined to comment on the development.

The move sent HPE shares surging by as much as 8.8% in early Tuesday trading before paring gains. At the time of writing, it was up by about 4.6%.

Despite the boost, the stock remains down by more than 30% year-to-date, reflecting ongoing investor concerns about the company’s direction and profitability.

AI boom leaves HPE lagging behind

Although the artificial intelligence wave has driven strong demand for servers and networking hardware, HPE has struggled to capitalize on the momentum compared to peers like Dell Technologies.

In March, the company warned of significantly lower profits for the year, citing tariff impacts, thin server margins, and internal operational issues.

At the time, it also announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs.

Analysts have been critical. Woo Jin Ho of Bloomberg Intelligence said the company’s guidance pointed to “meaningful inefficiencies,” while Deutsche Bank called HPE’s first-quarter performance “disappointing.”

Despite operating under the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which eases some tariff burdens, the company continues to face profitability headwinds.

Elliott’s track record of achieving turnarounds

Elliott has an established reputation in the tech industry, having successfully agitated for change at firms like Salesforce, SAP, and Citrix.

Notably, Citrix was taken private in a $13 billion deal led by Elliott and Vista Equity Partners in 2022.

At Salesforce, the hedge fund pushed through growth plans that helped the company avoid a proxy battle. SAP replaced its CEO within six months of Elliott’s involvement becoming public.

The firm also had a long-standing stake in Dell, which has since outperformed HPE dramatically.

Dell shares have soared nearly 300% since returning to public markets in 2018.

Focus shifts to Juniper deal and leadership

HPE, which was spun off from HP Inc. in 2015, is currently helmed by Antonio Neri.

Under his leadership, the company has been an active acquirer. Key purchases include Nimble Storage in 2017 and Cray Inc. in 2019.

Its largest deal to date—a $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks announced earlier this year—has hit regulatory roadblocks.

The US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to block the merger on antitrust grounds, casting uncertainty over the transaction’s future.

A trial has been scheduled for July. The deal holds strategic importance as it would significantly bolster HPE’s networking business amid increasing AI-related infrastructure demand.

With Elliott’s involvement, speculation is mounting that major operational or leadership changes could be on the horizon.

The fund has previously succeeded in reshaping company boards and even forcing out top executives, as seen at Crown Castle and Johnson Controls.

For now, investors appear optimistic about Elliott’s entry, hoping it could reignite growth and discipline at the underperforming enterprise giant.

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