Canada

As reported yesterday, Mexico is not at all looking forward to starting the process of renegotiating NAFTA with Donald Trump, explicitly warning the US that "there are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start." What these lines are will be explained by Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray who are both meeting with US officials in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, setting the stage with next week's visit from Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Under relentless pressure from President Donald Trump, Mexico is said to be ready to discuss changes to trade rules about a product's country of origin to try to avoid a disruptive fight with the United States over commerce.

In the latest unexpected and ad hoc announcement on North American trade arrangements, the Globe and Mail reports that Trump's Commerce Secretary pick, Wilbur Ross, has informed Canadian officials that he plans to reopen NAFTA talks within days of his inauguration, and that rules of origin and independent dispute tribunals will be central in negotiations of North American Free Trade Agreement. Ross has indicated new administration will send a formal letter notifying Canada and Mexico of plans to renegotiate Nafta within days of Trump’s inauguration.

The heavy exodus of the Chinese renminbi from mainland China put pressure on the country’s economy. In an effort to stymie the outflow, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) enacted new rules that are meant to help it exert more control over its currency…and that could spell trouble for the Canadian real estate market!

A CANADIAN REAL ESTATE “BUBBLE”

As MacLean's Jason Kirby points out, the Bank has taken to YouTube to warn Canadians about the dangers of too much debt and unrealistic house price expectations. He wonders, however, whether anyone will listen as one after another real estate bubble form in Canada, a nation whose household debt ratio has never been higher.

As BMO pointed out, when the latest household debt ratio data was released, the upward trend in household debt goes back for the 26 years for which it has records and is showing no signs of slowing down.