Trump threatens 35% tariffs, Quebec braces for copper levies and a generic Ozempic is coming to Canada: Business and investing stories for the week of July 13

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Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here's your weekly digest of The Globe's most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he would impose 35-per-cent tariffs on Canadian imports starting Aug. 1. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on Truth Social, Mr. Trump justified the levies – which don't apply to goods that comply with continental free trade agreement rules – as an effort to force Canada to do more to address U.S complaints about fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration (A recent Globe and Mail investigation found that the Trump administration is using misleading fentanyl figures to justify tariffs against Canada.) Mr. Carney defended Canada's record in a social media post, saying the country has 'made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl' in North America. He added that Canada is looking after its interests too by reducing internal barriers to trade and planning big economic projects, and is working towards a revised deadline of Aug. 1 in reaching a new trade deal with the U.S.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Trump said he would also impose a 50-per-cent tariff on copper and 200 per cent on pharmaceuticals – potentially piling even more pressure on a Canadian economy reeling from levies on aluminum, steel and autos.
U.S. telehealth platform Hims & Hers Health Inc. plans to enter the Canadian market in the new year by selling generic forms of the blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. It is among the first companies to publicize efforts to take advantage of the Canadian patents on those drugs expiring in January, 2026. As Chris Hannay reports, Ozempic, which is by far the best-selling drug in Canada, contains the active ingredient semaglutide and generic versions of that ingredient will sell at a fraction of the cost of the brand-name version.
Hims & Hers said it will work with another company that is producing the drug, while also providing '24/7″ patient access to licensed providers through its digital health platforms. The company did not name the manufacturer, but four have so far applied to Health Canada for approval to make generic semaglutide, including Apotex Inc. and Sandoz Canada Inc. When the patent for Ozempic expires on Jan. 4, 2026, Canada will be the first major market in the world for generic versions of the drug.
Donald Trump's proposed 50-per-cent tariff on all copper entering the U.S. will disproportionately hit Canada. The U.S. is a major market for Canadian copper exports, accounting for $4.8-billion, or 52 per cent, of all the country's exports of the metal in 2023, according to Natural Resources Canada. Canada is America's second-largest source of imported copper after Chile. Copper is widely used in everything from construction to automobiles to appliances.
The levy, which is set to kick in on Aug. 1, will fall heaviest on Central Canada – in particular, Quebec. Quebec accounts for most of Canada's U.S. copper shipments though The impact of the tariff on jobs in Quebec, home to Canada's sole copper smelting facility and a major copper refinery, is still unclear. Jason Kirby takes a closer look at the numbers in this week's Decoder series.
Canadian downtowns still haven't recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data. New data from the Toronto-based analytics company Environics Analytics shows foot traffic in the downtown cores across Canada is still approximately half of what it was before the pandemic. As of April, foot traffic in downtown Toronto is about 43 per cent less than what it was in January, 2020, while that number hovers at approximately 50 per cent for both Montreal and Vancouver.
Despite the slow rebound, major employers are now pushing to bring their white-collar work force into the office more frequently. Three of Canada's biggest banks – Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia – recently announced new rules that ramp up in-office days. But whether these more demanding return-to-office mandates point to a full rebound for Canada's downtowns remains to be seen, Vanmala Subramaniam reports.
Expensive housing is pushing a growing number of Canadians into buying their first home later in life – into their 40s and beyond, a time traditionally used to save for retirement. The average age of a first-time homebuyer in Canada is now just under 35, and homeownership among the 25- to 34-year-old set has been steadily declining. And while the under-35 group still makes up the largest share of first-time buyers today, the over-35 demographic keeps creeping higher, rising at a faster rate across the country.
So what are they doing in the meantime? They're building stable careers, prioritizing travel, saving for down payments and in some cases, starting families. Zahra Khozema spoke to various Canadians who bought in their 40s and 50s about the decisions to buy their first homes later in life.
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