Morning Headlines

The Trump administration declined to renew the USMCA trade pact with Canada and Mexico before the July 1 review deadline — a stark reversal for Trump, who signed it in 2018 and called it 'the best trade deal ever.' The three countries must now renegotiate annually for a decade, injecting deep uncertainty into more than $1.6 trillion in trilateral commerce.

Qatar's prime minister met US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Doha as indirect negotiations seek to convert a fragile 60-day ceasefire into a lasting deal, with key disputes still open on the Strait of Hormuz, frozen Iranian assets, and Tehran's nuclear program. Iran publicly denies it is negotiating directly with Washington, complicating the path to a final agreement.

In a 6–3 ruling in Trump v. Barbara, Chief Justice John Roberts held that Trump's order barring citizenship for US-born children of undocumented parents is irreconcilable with the 14th Amendment, reaffirming a principle in place since 1898. Trump called the decision 'too bad for our country' and signaled he may seek congressional action to narrow birthright citizenship.

South African police arrested more than 900 people as anti-immigrant groups staged 120 marches on July 1 — a self-declared 'deadline' for undocumented migrants to leave the country — with 12 locations erupting in looting and violence. Hundreds of Nigerian and other foreign nationals have already fled or been voluntarily repatriated, in what observers describe as the country's worst migration-related unrest since 2008.

US equities pulled back in early Wednesday trading after ADP reported private employers added only 98,000 jobs in June, below forecasts, while investors await official June payrolls and a policy speech from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Futures markets now price roughly a 66% chance of a Fed rate hike in September, a sharp reversal from earlier expectations for cuts.