Business
Carney: Canada is ready to pick up trade talks when US is ready
Osmond Chia,Business reporter, and
Maia Davies
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country is prepared to resume trade talks with the US “when the Americans are ready.”
His remarks come after US President Donald Trump announced an immediate end to all trade negotiations with Canada over an advert critical of the tariffs he has imposed on the nation.
The advert, sponsored by the Canadian province of Ontario, quotes former US President Ronald Reagan, a Republican and icon of US conservatism, saying tariffs “hurt every American”.
Trump wrote on social media that the advert was “FAKE” and “egregious”, adding that trade talks were “HEREBY TERMINATED”.
Getty ImagesThe Trump administration has imposed a 35% levy on many Canadian imports, as well as individual tariffs targeting particular industries like car and steel manufacturing. Ontario has been particularly hard-hit by these.
Trump has allowed exemptions for goods that fall under a free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, negotiated during his first term.
But since his election earlier this year, Canada’s Carney has attempted to strike a deal that would ease the tariffs. Three-quarters of Canadian exports are sold to the US, making its economy particularly vulnerable.
This effort has been complicated by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who is one of the most vocal critics of the taxes levied on US firms buying Canadian products.
In the minute-long advert published last week, Reagan’s voice can be heard narrating over images that include the New York Stock Exchange and cranes adorned with both US and Canadian flags.
The video excerpts from a 1987 national radio address by Reagan that focuses on foreign trade.
“When someone says, ‘let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports’, it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes, for a short while, it works – but only for a short time,” Reagan says in the advert.
“Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer.
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars… Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs.”
The Ronald Reagan Foundation – which is charged with preserving his legacy – released a statement on Thursday saying the advert had used “selective” audio and video of the former president’s remarks.
It said the advert “misrepresents” the former president’s address, without specifying why, and accused the Ontario government of not seeking permission to use and edit the remarks.
The foundation said it was “reviewing its legal options”.
Trump referenced this statement, and said the video was designed to “interfere with” the US Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in November on whether Washington’s sweeping tariffs on many nations’ products are legal.
The court’s decision represents the biggest test of Trump’s presidential authority and signature economic policy, potentially forcing the US to refund billions collected in tariffs.
Prime Minister Carney did not address the advertisement in his remarks early on Friday. He said that Canada has made “a lot of progress” in trade talks with the US, but is also focused on “developing new partnerships” with other countries, including Asia.
He spoke as he was departing Canada for the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur. Trump is also expected to attend.
Ford, meanwhile, posted the full Reagan speech on X and wrote: “Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together.”
While it only includes excerpts from the original, five-minute-long address, it does not alter Reagan’s words.
The order in which he makes the comments has been changed. The advert’s penultimate sentence is taken from near the beginning of his speech, and a phrase that features about halfway through the advert is likewise taken from an earlier point in the address.
The original address – titled Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade – is regarding a specific set of tariffs the Reagan administration had at the time imposed on some Japanese goods.
Reagan seeks to use the speech to explain why he introduced the tariffs in this “special case” despite his belief that “imposing such tariffs or trade barriers and restrictions of any kind are steps that I am loath to take”.
He makes clear that he wants to lift them as soon as possible “to promote the prosperity and economic development that only free trade can bring” – a position he stresses throughout the speech.
Trump later doubled down on his criticism of the advert, writing that “Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY”.
Speaking to White House reporters on Friday morning, US National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said that “frustration has built up over time” with Canada.
“The Canadians have been very difficult,” he said.
A few minutes earlier, he told Fox Business that “sometimes when you’re frustrated, a time-out is the right call.”
“It’s probably a good time to take a break.”
Getty ImagesThe advert was run as part of a campaign worth $75m Canadian dollars (£40m; $54m) on mainstream TV channels in the US.
In a post accompanying the advert last week, Ford wrote that “we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada”.
China’s embassy in Washington also used a similar Reagan clip in a post on X to cast doubt on Trump’s global tariffs earlier this year.
Ontario is Canada’s most populous province and its largest regional economy, and has suffered the most as a result of the US tariffs.
Ford hit back at Trump’s earlier tariff threat against Canada by saying he was willing to cut off power supply to the US.
He had also described Washington’s trade policies against Canada as having pulled a knife and “yanked it into us“, and called on US lawmakers to put pressure on Trump.
Trump’s sector-specific levies on Canadian goods include a 50% levy on metals and 25% on automobiles.
The White House’s global tariffs – particularly on steel, aluminium and cars – have hit Canada hard, forcing job losses and putting pressure on businesses.
It is the second time Trump has said he was ceasing trade talks with Canada, after Ottawa announced it would impose a digital services tax on US technology firms earlier this year.
When Canada rescinded the tax, the White House said Carney had “caved” to pressure from Trump.
The former One Direction member-turned-solo artist appears on the Sunday Times list for the first time.
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Budget 2026: FM Nirmala Sitharaman gives a strong push to manufacturing, infrastructure and job creation, while proposing a simpler tax and customs system.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget 2026-27.
Budget 2026 Takeaways: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented the Union Budget 2026-27, giving a strong push to manufacturing, infrastructure and job creation, proposing a simpler tax and customs regime, and hailing the government’s modernisation drive as a “reforms express”.
The Budget 2026 is anchored around three ‘kartavyas’ — driving growth by enhancing productivity and competitiveness, building people’s capacity, and ensuring inclusive development under the vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas.
In her ninth consecutive Budget in Parliament, Sitharaman laid out a multi-pronged strategy to sustain growth amid global uncertainty, including expanding domestic electronics and semiconductor capabilities, de-risking infrastructure projects, skilling India’s youth for emerging technologies, and easing compliance for taxpayers and importers.
Here are the key takeaways from Budget 2026 across manufacturing, infrastructure, skills, AI, taxation and customs duty.
Manufacturing Gets A Boost
Budget 2026 put a special emphasis on the manufacturing landscape in India. The outlay for electronics components manufacturing was raised sharply to Rs 40,000 crore, while new schemes for rare earth magnets, chemical parks, container manufacturing and capital goods seek to reduce import dependency, and strengthen domestic supply chains. Textiles got an integrated, employment-oriented package covering fibres, clusters, skilling and sustainability.
Infrastructure-Led Growth
Infrastructure got a boost with a higher capex allocation and initiatives like a risk guarantee fund to de-risk projects for private developers, new dedicated freight corridors and national waterways, dedicated REITs (real estate investment trusts) for recycling of significant real estate assets of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), and a seaplane VGF (viability gap funding) scheme.
The Centre’s capital expenditure (capex) target has been increased to Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY27, up from Rs 11.2 lakh crore earmarked for the current financial year. Moreover, maintaining the fiscal discipline, Sitharaman said the government expects the fiscal deficit to be at 4.3 per cent of the GDP in 2026-27, lower than 4.4 per cent projected for the current financial year.
Tier-II and Tier-III cities were placed at the centre of urban growth via City Economic Regions, backed by reform-linked funding.
“We shall continue to focus on developing infrastructure in cities with over 5 lakh population (Tier II and Tier III), which have expanded to become growth centres,” Sitharaman said in her Budget Speech.
Greater Emphasis On Skilling
The Budget placed renewed emphasis on the services economy as a jobs engine. A high-powered Education-to-Employment and Enterprise Committee will realign skilling with market needs, including the impact of emerging technologies.
Content creation and creative industries get a boost through AVGC labs in schools and colleges, support for animation, gaming and comics, and new institutional capacity for design and hospitality. Tourism-linked skilling, from guides to digital heritage documentation, signals a clear intent to convert culture and content into employment and exports.
“I propose to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai in setting up AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges,” FM Sitharaman said. AVGC stands for animation, visual effects, gaming and comics.
AI & Semiconductors Push
Artificial intelligence (AI) was positioned as a cross-sector force multiplier rather than a standalone theme. The Budget provided a push to artificial intelligence (AI) by promoting adoption with governance, agriculture, education and skilling, including proposals for AI-enabled advisory tools for farmers and AI integration in education curricula.
On hardware, the semiconductor strategy expanded decisively under ISM 2.0 (India Semiconductor Mission 2.0), with focus on domestic equipment manufacturing, materials, research centres and workforce development, signalling a long-term commitment to building a resilient chip ecosystem in India.
Taxation, ITR, TDS, TCS
A major structural reform comes with the Income Tax Act, 2025, effective April 1, 2026, containing simpler rules and redesigned forms.
Budget 2026 provided compliance relief for individuals, including extended timelines for revising returns to March 31 from December 31 earlier, staggered ITR due dates, and easier filing of Form 15G/15H through depositories.
Individuals with ITR-1 and ITR-2 returns will continue to file till July 31, and non-audit business cases or trusts are proposed to be allowed time till August 31, according to the Budget Speech 2026-27.
“I propose to extend time available for revising returns from 31st December to up to 31st March with the payment of a nominal fee. I also propose to stagger the timeline for filing of tax returns. Individuals with ITR 1 and ITR 2 returns will continue to file till 31st July and non-audit business cases or trusts are proposed to be allowed time till 31st August,” Sitharaman said.
TDS (Tax deducted at source) rules were clarified for manpower services, while a rule-based system for lower or nil TDS certificates is proposed. TCS rates were cut to 2% for overseas tour packages, education and medical expenses under liberalised remittance scheme (LRS). Litigation is targeted through integrated assessment and penalty orders, lower pre-deposit requirements, and wider immunity provisions.
TDS on the sale of immovable property by a non-resident will be deducted and deposited through resident buyer’s PAN (Permanent Account Number)-based challan instead of requiring TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number), Sitharaman said.
Customs Duty Tweaks
Customs duty rationalisation continued with a clear focus on domestic manufacturing, energy transition and ease of living. Exemptions have been extended or introduced for capital goods used in lithium-ion batteries, critical minerals processing, nuclear power projects and aircraft manufacturing.
Personal imports will become cheaper with a reduction in duty on goods for personal use from 20% to 10%. Seventeen cancer drugs and additional rare-disease treatments were exempted from customs duty. Process reforms aimed at trust-based, tech-driven clearances, faster cargo movement and lower compliance costs, especially for exporters and MSMEs (micro, small, medium and enterprises).
STT On F&O Hiked
The Budget increased securities transaction tax (STT) on futures trading from 0.02% to 0.05% and on options trading from 0.10% to 0.15%, a move that upset the capital markets with the BSE Sensex crashing more than 2,300 points from the day’s high and the NSE Nifty dropping to 24,571.75.
Securities Transaction Tax (STT) is a direct tax imposed on the buying and selling of securities in India.
Commenting on the Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The Union Budget reflects the aspirations of 140 crore Indians. It strengthens the reform journey and charts a clear roadmap for Viksit Bharat.”
February 01, 2026, 14:43 IST
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Shanghai (China): The Consulate General of India in Shanghai welcomed the resumption of Air India’s direct flight services between Shanghai and New Delhi, marking a major step forward in restoring people-to-people, business and institutional connectivity between India and China.
According to an official release, the inaugural Shanghai-New Delhi flight departed today from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, carrying over 230 passengers on board the Boeing 787 aircraft. The relaunch comes after a gap of nearly six years and represents a significant milestone in normalising bilateral air connectivity following the suspension of services in early 2020.
Speaking on the occasion, Consul General Pratik Mathur said, “The resumption of direct flights between Shanghai and New Delhi is a tangible expression of the renewed momentum in India-China engagement. Enhanced air connectivity is essential for facilitating trade, tourism, academic exchanges and people-to-people contacts, particularly between India and East China. We are pleased to see Air India restoring this important link.”
As per a release, Air India will operate the route four times a week using its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, featuring modernised cabins and enhanced onboard services. The restored service reflects the growing demand for travel between the two countries and the steady recovery of cross-border mobility. It will also support commercial, educational and cultural exchanges between India and the Yangtze River Delta region, one of China’s most economically dynamic clusters.
The Consulate General of India in Shanghai remains committed to supporting initiatives that strengthen connectivity and deepen cooperation across trade, investment, tourism, education and cultural exchange, the release stated.
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