Canada’s looming rail shutdown could disrupt billions in North American trade

Talks off track… Canada’s freight railroad could hit the brakes. Over the weekend, labor negotiations deadlocked between the Teamsters union and Canada’s two largest railroads, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City. The groups have been negotiating over wages, scheduling, and rail safety since November. Now the union said its 3K+ Canadian rail workers would strike on Thursday barring a last-minute agreement. The freight companies said they’d lock out union workers.

• Full steam: Industry groups have asked Canada’s government to prevent the stoppage, saying it could affect millions of jobs and lead to billions in economic losses. The country’s labor minister refused to intervene.

• Big deal, eh? Canada’s rail network moves $277B worth of goods each year, and Canada is the US’s biggest trade partner after Mexico.

Stuck at a crossroads… The rail halt could disrupt business in the US, Canada’s largest trade buddy. One example: Morgan Stanley estimated the disruption could cost US mining heavyweight Glencore at least $100M/week (Canada’s a big coal exporter). Canadian freight companies are already pumping the brakes: last week Canadian National reportedly blocked container imports from US partner railroads. Canadian Pacific said that starting today it would halt all shipments leaving Canada and ones entering from the US. The rail giant said that while it’s trying to prevent a stoppage, it’s preparing itself to interrupt service next week.