Business
New survey finds nearly half of Canadians are only $200 from financial ruin

From LifeSiteNews
MNP Consumer Debt Index survey indicates that 46% of Canadians are close to financial devastation after years of Justin Trudeau’s policies led to high inflation.
Hot off the heels of a report that Canada’s poverty rate increased for the first time in years due to high inflation spurred by government spending, a new poll shows that nearly half of Canadians are only $200 from complete financial ruin.
According to the MNP Consumer Debt Index survey, which was conducted by Ipsos and released on July 22, 46 percent of Canadians are a few hundred dollars away from not being able to meet their financial obligations.
“Some individuals are living paycheque to paycheque, struggling to make ends meet and cover day-to-day necessities. Others are so deeply indebted that their financial challenges won’t be manageable, regardless of interest rates,” noted Grant Bazian, president of MNP LTD, in the press release.
“Canadians may have hoped for a more significant cut to interest rates or to experience a quicker impact from the reduction.”
Bazian noted that “With the prices of many daily necessities still high, many have not seen the meaningful decrease in their monthly expenses needed to ease their financial burdens.”
According to MNP, Canada’s Consumer Debt Index “has dropped to 85 points, down six points from the previous quarter.”
The survey showed that about one-in-three Canadians, or 29 percent, indicated they can’t cover bill payments, with people who are about $1 to $20 from insolvency increasing by 3 points.
The province with the highest rise in financial duress is Alberta, with about 47 percent of Albertans saying they are just $200 from complete financial ruin.
In June, LifeSiteNews reported that despite decades of progress in lowering the poverty rate in Canada has been wiped out in the last few years under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, one of his own federal departments has reported.
Despite the Bank of Canada cutting interest rates by half a point to 4.5 from 5 percent in the last few months, according to MNP, this won’t help much in terms of helping struggling families pay their basic bills.
Under Trudeau, due to excessive COVID money printing, inflation has skyrocketed.
LifeSiteNews reported that fast-rising food costs in Canada have led to many people feeling a sense of “hopelessness and desperation” with nowhere to turn for help, according to the Canadian government’s own National Advisory Council on Poverty.
In 2021, Canada’s Parliament raised the federal debt borrowing amount by a whopping 56 percent under the Borrowing Authority Act. The amount went from $1.168 trillion to $1.831 trillion.
Previously speaking to LifeSiteNews, Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) federal director Franco Terrazzano urged the Trudeau government to cut spending, balance the budget and “completely scrap” the “carbon tax.”
In January, the National Advisory Council on Poverty (NACP) observed to Parliament that fast-rising food costs have led to many people feeling a sense of “hopelessness and desperation.”
Business
China’s economy takes a hit as factories experience sharp decline in orders following Trump tariffs

Quick Hit:
President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports are delivering a direct blow to China’s economy, with new data showing factory activity dropping sharply in April. The fallout signals growing pressure on Beijing as it struggles to prop up a slowing economy amid a bruising trade standoff.
Key Details:
- China’s manufacturing index plunged to 49.0 in April — the steepest monthly decline in over a year.
- Orders for Chinese exports hit their lowest point since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to official data.
- U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have reached 145%, with China retaliating at 125%, intensifying the standoff.
Diving Deeper:
Three weeks into a high-stakes trade war, President Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy is showing early signs of success — at least when it comes to putting economic pressure on America’s chief global rival. A new report from China’s National Bureau of Statistics shows the country’s manufacturing sector suffered its sharpest monthly slowdown in over a year. The cause? A dramatic drop in new export orders from the United States, where tariffs on Chinese-made goods have soared to 145%.
The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.0 in April — a contraction level that underlines just how deeply U.S. tariffs are biting. It’s the first clear sign from China’s own official data that the trade measures imposed by President Trump are starting to weaken the export-reliant Chinese economy. A sub-index measuring new export orders reached its lowest point since the Covid-19 pandemic, and factory employment fell to levels not seen since early 2024.
Despite retaliatory tariffs of 125% on U.S. goods, Beijing appears to be scrambling to shore up its economy. China’s government has unveiled a series of internal stimulus measures to boost consumer spending and stabilize employment. These include pension increases, subsidies, and a new law promising more protection for private businesses — a clear sign that confidence among Chinese entrepreneurs is eroding under Xi Jinping’s increasing centralization of economic power.
President Trump, on the other hand, remains defiant. “China was ripping us off like nobody’s ever ripped us off,” he said Tuesday in an interview, dismissing concerns that his policies would harm American consumers. He predicted Beijing would “eat those tariffs,” a statement that appears more prescient as China’s economic woes grow more apparent.
Still, the impact is not one-sided. Major U.S. companies like UPS and General Motors have warned of job cuts and revised earnings projections, respectively. Consumer confidence has also dipped. Yet the broader strategy from the Trump administration appears to be focused on playing the long game — applying sustained pressure on China to level the playing field for American workers and businesses.
Economists are warning of potential global fallout if the trade dispute lingers. However, Beijing may have more to lose. Analysts at Capital Economics now predict China’s growth will fall well short of its 5% target for the year, citing the strain on exports and weak domestic consumption. Meanwhile, Nomura Securities estimates up to 15.8 million Chinese jobs could be at risk if U.S. exports continue to decline.
Business
Scott Bessent says U.S., Ukraine “ready to sign” rare earths deal

MxM News
Quick Hit:
During Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is prepared to move forward with a minerals agreement with Ukraine. President Trump has framed the deal as a way to recover U.S. aid and establish an American presence to deter Russian threats.
Key Details:
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Bessent confirmed during a Cabinet meeting that the U.S. is “ready to sign this afternoon,” even as Ukrainian officials introduced last-minute changes to the agreement. “We’re sure that they will reconsider that,” he added during the Cabinet discussion.
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Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was reportedly in Washington on Wednesday to iron out remaining details with American officials.
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The deal is expected to outline a rare earth mineral partnership between Washington and Kyiv, with Ukrainian Armed Forces Lt. Denis Yaroslavsky calling it a potential turning point: “The minerals deal is the first step. Ukraine should sign it on an equal basis. Russia is afraid of this deal.”
Diving Deeper:
The United States is poised to sign a long-anticipated rare earth minerals agreement with Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. According to Bessent, Ukrainians introduced “last minute changes” late Tuesday night, complicating the final phase of negotiations. Still, he emphasized the U.S. remains prepared to move forward: “We’re sure that they will reconsider that, and we are ready to sign this afternoon.”
As first reported by Ukrainian media and confirmed by multiple Ukrainian officials, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko is in Washington this week for the final stages of negotiations. “We are finalizing the last details with our American colleagues,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Telemarathon.
The deal follows months of complex talks that nearly collapsed earlier this year. In February, President Trump dispatched top officials, including Bessent, to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine to hammer out terms. According to officials familiar with the matter, Trump grew frustrated when Kyiv initially refused U.S. conditions. Still, the two sides ultimately reached what Bessent described as an “improved” version of the deal by late February.
The effort nearly fell apart again during Zelensky’s February 28th visit to the White House, where a heated Oval Office exchange between the Ukrainian president, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance led to Zelensky being removed from the building and the deal left unsigned.
Despite those setbacks, the deal appears to be back on track. While no public text of the agreement has been released, the framework is expected to center on U.S.-Ukraine cooperation in extracting rare earth minerals—resources vital to modern manufacturing, electronics, and defense technologies.
President Trump has publicly defended the arrangement as a strategic and financial win for the United States. “We want something for our efforts beyond what you would think would be acceptable, and we said, ‘rare earth, they’re very good,’” he said during the Cabinet meeting. “It’s also good for them, because you’ll have an American presence at the site and the American presence will keep a lot of bad actors out of the country—or certainly out of the area where we’re doing the digging.”
Trump has emphasized that the deal would serve as a form of “security guarantee” for Ukraine, providing a stabilizing American footprint amid ongoing Russian aggression. He framed it as a tangible return on the billions in U.S. aid sent to Kyiv since the start of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
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