Setting the stakes for Carney, Trump meeting tomorrow
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Toronto Star
24 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Trump wants to play global peacemaker. Derailed Gaza ceasefire shows how daunting that ambition is
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States cutting short Gaza ceasefire talks this week plunges one of President Donald Trump's pushes to solve global conflicts into new uncertainty. The derailing of talks to solve the 21-month Israel-Hamas war is the latest blow to Trump as several of his efforts to broker agreements for fraught conflicts and complex global threats have stalled.
Global News
24 minutes ago
- Global News
Is now the time to buy or sell a used car? As new sales dip, what to know
Canadians are buying fewer new cars as the economic pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs mounts. It may leave consumers wondering: should they try their luck on the used car market? Consumers in Canada spent less money in May, with retail sales in Canada falling 1.1 per cent in May to $69.2 billion, Statistics Canada said. Canada's auto industry seems to have taken the brunt of falling retail sales, with motor vehicles and parts dealers recording a drop of 3.6 per cent in retail sales in May. The integrated nature of the North American auto supply chain means tariffs also hit car prices. 'We heard stories about people going running out to the dealer to buy a car or a part for their car before those tariffs started to kick in. We really started to see that in April. So we did expect a pullback (in auto sales) as those tariffs actually came into play starting in May,' BMO economist Shelly Kaushik said. Story continues below advertisement Specifically, new car dealerships saw sales fall by 4.6 per cent. This was the first time since February that Canada saw sales at new car dealerships decline, Statistics Canada said. But as new car sales plummeted, some used car platforms and dealerships say they saw sales go up. 'We saw a massive spike in May. We saw — I think this was true for both of ourselves and for dealerships — significant demand for (used) cars in May,' said Dan Park, CEO of used car e-commerce platform Clutch. 'We were about 10 per cent up month over month, which was pretty substantial,' he said. Park said his platform expects sales to go up in the months ahead, with July on track to be a 'record' month. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy This comes as economists expect new car sales to continue falling as trade war pressures continue. Park expects demand for new cars to go down with higher prices. 'That demand will likely shift over into used cars. But as demand increases for used cars, you'll see prices go up because there's more demand for used cars with a fixed amount of supply,' he said. Many Canadians have been thinking about moving to used vehicles for the last four months, said Baris Akyurek, vice-president at Story continues below advertisement 2:01 Some small auto businesses suffering under U.S. Tariff threats In February, Autotrader conducted a survey of its customers, asking them if Trump's trade war would affect how they buy their next car. '(Forty-seven) per cent of them said that yes, it would, and within that 47 per cent, 38 per cent of them said that instead of buying a new vehicle, I would buy a used vehicle,' he said. However, used car dealers are finding that they simply don't have enough cars to satisfy customer demand. 'Since the middle of last year, the overall used car inventory has been slowly going down,' Akyurek said. Some of these production issues go back all the way to the supply chain disruptions the industry faced during the start of the pandemic, Park said. Story continues below advertisement 'From the spring of 2020 to early 2021, there was a massive production shortage. About 10 million cars in North America didn't get produced. Roll forward a couple years, there's just fewer used cars on the road and available for sale,' he said. However, one segment where prices seem to be coming down is battery electric vehicles. 'EV prices are actually doing pretty well for consumers. They have been coming down both for new and used,' Akyurek said, adding that the average price for a used battery-powered EV is just over $44,000 in the current market. There is particularly low demand for Tesla's EVs, Park said. 'Given some of the Tesla political backlash, you can find really great Tesla prices right now. If you're looking for an EV like a Tesla, now is a pretty good time to buy a (used) Tesla,' he said. 0:47 Carney meets with auto sector CEOs as concerns mount over tariff impacts While buyers of cars, both used and new, could face affordability challenges, this is a really good time for anyone looking to sell their car, Akyurek said, given the low inventory. Story continues below advertisement 'The market is hot,' he said. For a two-car household, offloading that extra car might be a good way to make a few extra bucks, Park said. 'It's a better time (to sell your car) than it was this time last year, with prices going up right now. It means that the value of your car hasn't gone down as much. So it's not a terrible time to come to sell your car,' he said.
Toronto Star
24 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Education Department says it will release billions in remaining withheld grant money for schools
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is releasing billions of dollars in grants to schools for adult literacy, English language instruction and other programs, the Education Department said Friday. President Donald Trump's administration had withheld $6 billion in funding on July 1 as part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House's priorities. Officials later said the department would release $1.3 billion of the money for after-school programs, days after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states.
