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US President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out meeting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, citing a controversial advertisement he called “dishonest” and threatening to derail trade negotiations between the two countries.Speaking to reporters at the White House ahead of his trip to Asia, Trump criticised the Ontario provincial government for the timing of a television ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan. The ad, which criticised tariffs, ran during the first two games of the World Series.“They could have pulled it tonight,” Trump said. “Well, that’s dirty play. But I can play dirtier than they can, you know.”Trump had referenced the ad on Thursday night when announcing his decision to terminate trade negotiations with Canada. He accused the ad of being “fake” and said it was designed to influence US courts.Also Read: Trump wants China’s hand in solving his Russia problem“What they did is really dishonest. And I heard they were pulling the ad. I didn’t know they were putting it on a little bit more. They could have pulled it tonight,” he told reporters.On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump added, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts. TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT.”When asked if he planned to meet Carney in Asia, Trump replied bluntly, “No, I don’t have any plan to.”Also Read: Trump likely gets his friend PM Modi a new union with CanadaOntario Premier Doug Ford responded on Friday, saying he would pause the ad on Monday to allow trade talks to resume. “I’ve directed my team to keep putting our message in front of Americans over the weekend so that we can air our commercial during the first two World Series games,” Ford said.The ads, reportedly funded by the Ontario government, have been running on major US networks and are estimated to have cost $75 million. Trump’s reaction underscores rising tensions over trade and tariffs with Canada, the United States’ second-largest trading partner.

The U.S. dollar was almost flat on Friday after dipping following fresh inflation data that showed U.S. consumer prices increased less than expected in September, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates again next week. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% last month and 3.0% in the 12 months through September. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI increasing by 0.4% for the month and rising 3.1% year-on-year. The U.S. dollar index was last down 0.021% at 98.934, after earlier falling as much as 0.2%, still on track for a modest weekly gain. "The headline was a bit softer than expected," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Capital Markets. "The dollar was sold on the news, even though the market had nearly 100% confidence before the report that the Fed would cut rates, not only next week, but in December." The CPI report was published despite an economic data blackout because of the government shutdown. The figure, used by the Social Security Administration to calculate its cost-of-living adjustment for millions of retirees and other benefits recipients, was initially due on October 15. The euro rose and was last up 0.06% at $1.163. Business activity in the euro zone grew at a faster pace than expected in October, led by the bloc's services industry, a survey showed on Friday. ALL EYES ON TRADE Trade war worries were back on the agenda after U.S. President Donald Trump said all trade talks with Canada were terminated over an advertisement by the province of Ontario which featured a recording of former President Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs. The Canadian dollar was last slightly weaker at 1.40 per U.S. dollar, but market reaction overall was fairly subdued. Investors' focus remained on the looming meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week. The proposed Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea has spurred some expectations of a resolution to the on-again-off-again trade war between the world's top two economies. "I think expectations are quite high for the Trump-Xi meeting, with the upside risk of a significant de-escalation following the face-to-face meeting," said Ben Bennett, head of investment strategy for Asia at L&G Asset Management. New U.S. sanctions on Russian suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil over Russia's war in Ukraine pushed up oil prices. That weighed on currencies tied to oil imports, including the yen. The yen's performance is also linked to the policies of Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, widely viewed as a fiscal and monetary dove. The yen weakened to a two-week low and last fetched 152.85 per U.S. dollar. Data earlier on Friday showed Japan's core consumer prices stayed above the central bank's 2% target, keeping alive expectations of a near-term rate hike. Takaichi is preparing an economic stimulus package that is likely to exceed last year's $92 billion to help households tackle inflation, government sources familiar with the plan told Reuters on Wednesday. Sterling was down 0.15% at $1.33, after stronger-than-expected retail sales that were boosted by demand for gold from online jewellers. It was down about 1% this week after soft inflation data had investors adding to expectations for a rate cut from the Bank of England this year.

Oil prices fell on Friday as skepticism crept into the market about the Trump administration's commitment to sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies over the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures settled 5 cents, or 0.1%, lower at $65.94 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures finished at $61.50 a barrel, down 29 cents, or 0.5%. Both benchmarks had risen earlier in the session, extending gains of more than 5% made on Thursday after the sanctions were announced, but retreated in the last two hours of trading. They still ended the week over 7% higher, the biggest weekly rise since mid-June. "There is renewed skepticism these sanctions will be as harsh as they are said to be," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital LLC. U.S. President Donald Trump hit Russia's Rosneft and Lukoil with sanctions to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war. The two companies together account for more than 5% of global oil output, and Russia was the world's second-biggest crude oil producer in 2024 after the U.S. The sanctions prompted Chinese state oil majors to suspend Russian oil purchases in the short term, trade sources told Reuters. Refiners in India, the largest buyer of seaborne Russian oil, were set to sharply cut Russian crude imports, industry sources said. "Flows to India are at risk in particular," Janiv Shah, a vice president of oil markets analysis at Rystad Energy, said in a client note. "Challenges to Chinese refiners would be more muted, considering the diversification of crude sources and stock availability." Kuwait's oil minister said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would be ready to offset any shortage in the market by raising production. The U.S. said it was prepared to take further action, while Putin derided the sanctions as an unfriendly act, saying they would not significantly affect the Russian economy and talking up Russia's importance to the global market. Britain imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil last week and the European Union approved a 19th package of sanctions against Russia that includes a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas. The EU also added two Chinese refiners with a combined capacity of 600,000 barrels per day, as well as Chinaoil Hong Kong, a trading arm of PetroChina, to its Russian sanctions list, its official journal showed on Thursday. Looking ahead, investors were also focusing on a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week as the pair work to defuse long-standing trade tensions and end a spate of tit-for-tat retaliatory measures.