Ata mārie and welcome to your Monday summary of global business and political news from over the weekend.
First up, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz demanded that US President Donald Trump remove “untrained” ICE agents from the state after a federal agent shot and killed a demonstrator in Minneapolis, Al Jazeera reported.
“Minnesota believes in law and order. We believe in peace. And we believe that Trump needs to pull his 3000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another American in the street,” Walz said.
US citizen Alex Pretti, 37, was an intensive care unit nurse who protested against Trump’s immigration crackdown. Videos showed Pretti holding a mobile phone in his hand, not a handgun, as he tried to help other protesters.
The Department of Homeland Security said federal officers were conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a pistol approached them.
In developing news, a huge winter storm sweeping across the US triggered major air travel disruption across the country, Bloomberg reported.
So far, more than 16,000 US flights have been cancelled from Saturday through to Monday local time. The cancellations were the highest daily number since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Elsewhere, Trump threatened to introduce a 100% tariff on Canadian goods if the country secures a trade deal with China.
"If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the USA," Trump said on Truth Social.
Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Carney announced a "strategic partnership" with China and agreed to reduce tariffs. At the time, Trump called the move "a good thing". But tensions between the US and Canada had grown in recent days, after Carney said in a speech that the US-led world order had been ruptured, the BBC reported.
Trade Minister Todd McClay.
Meanwhile, hot on the heels of New Zealand’s trade agreement with India, European Council President Antonio Luis Santos da Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be guests at India's Republic Day celebrations.
The two leaders planned to advance important free trade talks with Asia's third largest economy, the BBC reported.
In December, New Zealand secured a landmark Free Trade Agreement with India. Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay said it offered New Zealanders unprecedented access to 1.4 billion consumers and was a “good deal”.
The agreement eliminates and reduces tariffs on 95% of New Zealand’s exports – among the highest of any free trade deals with India. Almost 57% will be duty-free from day one, increasing to 82% when fully implemented.
The Indian economy is forecast to grow to $12 trillion by 2030. The previous National-led Government initiated free trade talks with India in 2010.
Looking at trade from a business perspective, Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury said trade tensions had caused significant damage and the manufacturer was ready to adapt to unsettling new geopolitical risks, CNBC reported.
“The beginning of 2026 is marked by an unprecedented number of crises and by unsettling geopolitical developments. We should proceed in a spirit of solidarity and self-reliance,” Faury said in an internal letter, seen by Reuters.
“The industrial landscape in which we operate is sown with difficulties, exacerbated by the confrontation between the US and China.”
Airbus declined comment on the internal communications. Faury did not identify geopolitical developments in the memo, which was circulated last week, CNBC said.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen won’t proceed with a planned Audi factory in the US unless automotive tariffs get cut back. Chief executive Oliver Blume told German publication Handelsblatt that Audi had been mulling US manufacturing since 2023.
“Given an unchanged tariff burden, large additional investment cannot be funded,” Blume said. “Reduction of costs in the short-term and reliable business conditions in the long-term are what we need.”
Blume also outlined a “forward strategy” for VW’s US business and said growth opportunities remain, Bloomberg reported.
To Asia, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her government would take steps against speculative market moves.
Japanese government bonds and the yen had been sold off in recent weeks amid concerns of Takaichi’s expansionary fiscal policy and the slow pace of interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan could lead to additional debt and high inflation, CNBC reported.
“The government will take necessary steps against speculative or very abnormal market moves,” she said.
Takaichi had been under pressure to deal with the bond market, which forced her decision to call a snap election on February 8 to secure a mandate for her fiscal policies.
Over the Ditch, space engineer and astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg has been named Australian of the Year for 2026. Dementia prevention researcher Professor Henry Brodaty is the Senior Australian of the Year, while athlete Nedd Brockmann was named Young Australian of the Year for his work fighting homelessness. Frank Mitchell was also named Local Hero of 2026 for his work helping indigenous people access employment, the ABC reported.
