Why did Nvidia’s stocks plummet this week? Take our business and investing news quiz for the week ending April 18

d. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem. In an era dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s capricious moods, even experts are in the dark. Mr. Macklem was frank about the overwhelming lack of visibility as he announced the Bank of Canada’s decision to hold its policy rate steady at 2.75 per cent.

c. Honda Canada. Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported this week that Honda may move some production from Ontario to the U.S. as a way to protect the company’s supply chain from new U.S. auto tariffs. However, a Honda Canada spokesman said the company’s plant in Alliston, Ont., “will operate at full capacity for the foreseeable future.” Hmmm. Wonder how long “foreseeable” covers?

c. New U.S. government export rules. Nvidia said it would take the charge after finding that Washington would require it to get licenses before exporting its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China. U.S. officials are intent on keeping advanced computer chips away from the Asian country.

a. The U.S. dollar. Consider yourself warned: A net 61 per cent of respondents to the April survey expect the U.S. dollar to weaken over the next 12 months. Maybe the world’s safest asset isn’t so safe anymore.

b. TurboTax software. Several dual-income couples with young children say they recently discovered that they received hefty overpayments of Ontario’s child care tax benefit, sometimes over several years, after filing their taxes with TurboTax. The issue involves customers who relied on a desktop version of the software meant for advanced users, the company said. Some of the affected taxpayers report they will have to repay more than $10,000.

b. Step down as chief executive. Mr. Espey, who has run the gas station chain for 15 years, will step down on Dec. 31 or at the conclusion of a strategic review that began last month. The change in leadership was demanded by Simpson Oil Ltd., which owns 19.8 per cent of Parkland.

a. Harvard. The Trump administration said it was freezing US$2.2-billion in grants to Harvard after the university said it would not comply with the administration’s demands to limit activism on campus. The battle with the Ivy League icon demonstrates how Mr. Trump’s war with U.S. higher education is spreading.

d. Travel prices. If you’re looking for a silver lining to the trade war, consider travel prices. They are sliding as Canadians cut back on travel to the United States. Airfare prices, for instance, were 12 per cent lower in March than they were a year earlier.

c. Gildan Activewear. There must be a lot of money in T-shirts. Gildan paid nearly US$27-million last year to its past and present chief executive Glenn Chamandy, who had been ousted in a bitter battle for control of the T-shirt maker, but returned after winning the support of key stakeholders. Combined with a US$16-million severance package for Vincent Tyra, who served as chief executive for a little more than four months, as well as retention payments for other executives, the compensation costs for the Gildan leadership-transition-that-wasn’t topped US$45-million.

d. Quebec. S&P said many factors are responsible for its decision to downgrade Quebec’s credit rating, including slow population growth, rising pay for public servants and lower revenues. The downgrade is likely to raise the province’s borrowing costs.

a. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. It’s not typical for a president to lambaste a Fed chair in public, but Mr. Trump doesn’t care much for such niceties. He ratcheted up his criticism of Mr. Powell a day after the central bank chief delivered a stark warning about the harmful effects of the President’s tariffs on the U.S. economy. If Mr. Trump tries to push out Mr. Powell before his term as Fed chair ends in May, 2026, it will set up an epic battle between the President and the supposedly apolitical Fed.