Canadian Stocks Decline As New US Tariffs Kick In August 7

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks slumped on Friday as investors began to gauge the effect of new tariffs imposed by the US President on Canada, which are set to take effect in a week.

After opening lower than yesterday's close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index fell immediately. Failing to rebound, it travelled in negative territory before finally closing at 27,020.43, down by 239.35 points (or 0.88%).

As the pause on "reciprocal tariffs" suspension period expires today, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing new tariffs on 69 countries with the levies ranging anywhere from 10% to 41%.

The tariffs are set to take effect from August 7. The week-long gap is intended to give the customs department time to brace up for collections.

Despite Canadian officials engaging in trade talks with the US for more than a month, last Friday, Trump expressed his disenchantment with the progress of talks and stated that Canada would face the tariffs instead of negotiations. The Canadian team is still in Washington working on a deal.

As it stands, Canada is likely to suffer a 35% levy on its exports to the US. However, most goods could bypass the tariff thanks to USCMA, an existing free trade treaty.

Nevertheless, concerns are rising as this treaty is coming up for re-negotiation in 2026, when Trump may have the calling cards.

In addition, Canada's consideration for recognizing Palestine as a sovereign nation if certain conditions are met has irritated Trump who indicated that making a deal with Canada would be very hard.

When assuring the nation would break the deadlock, PM Mark Carney also hinted that a trade deal would need to digest some of the US tariffs. Canadian business houses have started looking for marketplaces outside the US to balance their earnings.

S&P Global data released today revealed that the Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 46.1 in July from 45.6 of June but continued to reflect a contraction in the Canadian private-sector factory activity.

Economists are optimistic that being a dealmaker, Trump keeps the door open for negotiations and that Canada may get a deal done, sooner or later.

Sector-wise all the major sectors today traded in the negative territory, posting losses.

Materials, Consumer Discretionary, Utilities, Real Estate, Communication Services, Industrials, and Financials, all the sectors lost anywhere from 0.01% to 0.94% in today's trading session.

Major sectors that lost in today's trading were Healthcare (1.07%), Consumer Staples (1.15%), Energy (1.86%), and IT (2.37%).

Among the individual stocks, Bausch Health Companies Inc (3.43%), Vermillion Energy Inc (3.43%), Bitfarms Ltd (7.43%), and Coveo Solutions Inc (7.21%) were the notable losers.

Mda Ltd (18.38%), Dundee Precious Metals Inc (7.05%), and Capstone Mining Corp (5.15%) were among the prime market-moving stocks today.