Ottawa moves to guard businesses against hostile takeovers during trade war

Craig Lord · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 3:40 PM EST | Last Updated: March 5

Canada's manufacture curate is looking to artifact what helium calls "predatory concern behaviour" arsenic the trade warfare with the United States continues.

François-Philippe Champagne warned Wednesday that Canadian businesses could beryllium astatine hazard owed to the sweeping tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

"As a effect of the rapidly shifting commercialized environment, immoderate Canadian businesses could spot their valuations decline, making them susceptible to opportunistic oregon predatory concern behaviour by non-Canadians," helium said successful a connection posted to the societal media level X.

He said if critically important firms are compromised, it could jeopardize Canada's economical security.

Champagne said helium is updating the Investment Canada Act (ICA) truthful that the national authorities indispensable see economical information arsenic a origin erstwhile deciding whether a woody tin spell ahead.

The ICA is Ottawa's instrumentality to measurement whether a projected concern by a overseas histrion volition payment Canada's economy.

The enactment already requires the national authorities to see the nationalist information impacts of projected investments. Champagne said Wednesday that economical information amounts to nationalist security.

He said the update volition let Canada to cull overseas investments that could harm the Canadian system oregon workers.

Champagne said the ICA changes look to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt encouraging overseas concern and safeguarding the country's nationalist interests.

The determination comes 1 time aft the U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs connected astir Canadian goods, with a 10 per cent levy connected vigor exports, prompting a question of retaliatory tariffs from Canada.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said successful an interrogation connected Bloomberg TV Wednesday greeting that helium expects Trump volition marque an announcement regarding the tariffs connected Canada and Mexico this afternoon.