{"text":[[{"start":11.13,"text":"Canada’s economy shrank more than expected in the second quarter, as President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the country hit exports to the US, its biggest trading partner."}],[{"start":22.23,"text":"On an annualised basis, the economy shrank 1.6 per cent, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had expected a 0.6 per cent contraction."}],[{"start":35.71,"text":"The figure followed a 2 per cent contraction in the first three months of the year."}],[{"start":41.56,"text":"Nathan Janzen, assistant chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, said headline GDP growth numbers were “obviously weaker than expected”, adding that a “huge” drop in exports and a large fall in US imports had contributed to the sluggish growth."}],[{"start":60.34,"text":"“Trade-exposed sectors have weakened and business investment fell, largely as expected,” he said, though he added that “consumer spending was significantly firmer than expected”."}],[{"start":72.88,"text":"He also cautioned that “these numbers will continue to be revised multiple times this year, and revisions can be substantial”."}],[{"start":83.22,"text":"Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has scrapped retaliatory measures in a bid to ease tensions with the US after months of negotiations trying to lift steep tariffs on its auto, steel and aluminium sectors."}],[{"start":97.25,"text":"One of Carney’s central pledges during April’s election was to make Canada “the strongest economy in the G7” with a push to diversify the economy away from an over-reliance on the US."}],[{"start":111.15,"text":"Canadian exports fell 7.5 per cent in the second quarter as a result of US tariffs, Statistics Canada said, compared with increases during the first three months of the year."}],[{"start":124.89,"text":"International shipments of passenger cars and light trucks declined almost 25 per cent."}],[{"start":131.03,"text":"Markets are pricing in a 55 per cent chance of a rate cut by the Bank of Canada on September 17, “although one taking place by year’s end is fully priced in”, said TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi on Friday."}],[{"start":146.91,"text":"Robert Asselin, chief executive of U15, an association of 15 leading research universities in Canada, described the GDP figure as “short-term pain”."}],[{"start":159.79,"text":"“Canada must focus on building sovereign capabilities and do much better on the industrial policy front. We have strength in advanced research but it is not aligned with industry.”"}],[{"start":180.45,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1756684752_7236.mp3"}