U.S. President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One as it departs Bismarck Municipal Airport in Bismarck, North Dakota, July 1, 2026.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
Hello, my name is Hui Jie from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
The United States has chosen not to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as USMCA. In a deal that President Donald Trump once hailed as “the best deal we’ve ever had,” the U.S. government is now suggesting that even its own trade deals are open to revision.
In the market, tech stocks have unsurprisingly been the standout winners of the first half of the year. But the biggest gains didn’t come from Silicon Valley.
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What you need to know today
The United States will not renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), opening the door to new negotiations with Canada and Mexico over what President Trump once called “the best deal we’ve ever had.”
Instead, the U.S. government has chosen to conduct an annual review of the trade agreement, and administration officials said President Trump “chose not to rubber-stamp the USMCA renewal without addressing existing issues.”
The official said the main issue for Trump is the two countries’ trade deficits with their trading partners.
In June, the U.S. president said, “We don’t need anything Canada has. We don’t need anything Mexico has, but they need everything we have. And they have to treat us better.”
President Trump is scheduled to appear in an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen that will air Thursday at 5 p.m. US time.
For markets and America’s trading partners, the message is clear. Under the Trump administration, even deals that seem finalized may not be over yet.
Another example is South Korea. South Korea could also come under additional scrutiny after a House Judiciary Committee report found that the country engaged in discriminatory behavior toward certain U.S. companies, including U.S.-based online retailers. Coupang.
The commission argued that South Korea’s actions against Coupang violated provisions of the trade agreement, which will be renegotiated in 2025 as part of President Trump’s broader global tariff policy.
Elsewhere, the path of monetary policy remains uncertain. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh acknowledged that inflation remains too high, but declined to provide guidance on what action the central bank might take when it meets later this month.
New economic indicators also point to a cooling of the labor market. U.S. private payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 98,000 jobs in June, below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 110,000, according to payroll firm ADP. This increase also slowed from the 122,000 increase in May before the revision.
Meanwhile, the market is entering the second half with familiar winners, but with unexpected geographic developments.
Technology drove much of the stock’s rise in the first half, but the biggest gains didn’t come from Silicon Valley. Instead, emerging markets led by South Korea Kospigrabbed attention.
U.S. markets fell on Wednesday as investors exited positions in tech stocks, but meta The outlier jumped nearly 9% on news that the company is building a new cloud business that could help it recoup some of the billions it has spent on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
— Lim Huijie
And finally…
Employers who fired employees over AI are already starting to regret it
As investors worry about the longevity of the AI boom in financial markets, companies are rapidly changing the idea that artificial intelligence can do everything by rehiring employees and powering their businesses.
Automaker Ford is one company that recently reversed course. The company is reportedly rehiring hundreds of experienced human engineers to address quality issues that automated systems weren’t able to address.
Other companies that have pulled back on hiring plans to focus on human capital include Commonwealth Bank of Australia and software giant IBM.
— Justina Lee
