Good morning. Teck Resources, born in Ontario’s goldfields and rooted in B.C.’s smelters, is set to become a foreign-listed miner even as its leaders insist Vancouver will remain its centre of gravity. That’s in focus today, along with a look at a widening gender split on Canadian campuses.

Telecoms: MDA’s chief executive made $35.7-million on company stock options before shares fell.

Tariffs: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide the legality of Trump’s tariffs in a test of executive power.

Manufacturing: Stellantis and GM shift announcements are being called a ‘sign of life’ for the auto sector.

On our radar

• The U.S. reports its producer price index later today. Last month, a surprisingly high increase owing in part to tariffs prompted economists to warn that companies could soon pass the costs along to consumers. The U.S. consumer price index is released tomorrow.
• Earnings include Adobe Systems Inc. In her weekly column in Globe Investor, Amber Kanwar writes that shares of the Photoshop maker have underperformed the tech sector, falling more than 20 per cent this year as investors believe it is a “have-not” in the AI revolution.

One way or another, the multibillion-dollar tie-up announced between Anglo and Teck sets up a cliffhanger for the storied Canadian miner’s next pages.

If the deal goes through, Teck, founded in 1913, will carry its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. The leadership of the combined company says Vancouver will remain its headquarters, its mines the source of employment, and its role in stewarding copper for a global energy transition unchanged.

But the deal will be subjected to a review under the federal government’s Investment Canada Act, which could take up to 18 months. With Teck potentially falling into foreign control, Canada’s influence and power in the global critical-minerals industry could fade as politicians trumpet the need to build up its homegrown industries.

And as The Globe’s Eric Reguly writes, a lot can happen in that amount of time: “Anglo and Teck have both attracted suitors in the last two years – BHP Group went after Anglo and Glencore after Teck – suggesting the lure of putting Collahuasi and QB together may present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for rivals to bulk up in the metal.”

• Opinion: Teck makes the best of a bad situation with the Anglo American deal. But it may never happen.

Why the kerfuffle over copper?

Gold gets all the attention, but copper is a critical mineral used in everything from electronics to energy storage systems. A renewable-energy revolution can’t happen without it – and it couldn’t be televised without it either. Demand is surging worldwide, including in the U.S., which has slapped a punishing tariff on imports even though it consumes more copper than it produces.

The road Teck took

The announcement follows two years of turmoil at the company. In 2023, Glencore launched a US$23-billion hostile bid, which long-time patriarch Norman Keevil blocked, saying Canada’s last diversified miner should not be sold to a Swiss rival. Teck tried instead to split its coal and base-metals units, but the plan collapsed on the eve of a shareholder vote. Glencore later acquired Teck’s coal business outright, cutting jobs in B.C. as it consolidated operations.

But Teck’s future as a critical-minerals player was faltering. Its US$8.7-billion Quebrada Blanca copper expansion in Chile went 85-per-cent over budget, opened nearly two years late and produced weaker results than expected. Known as QB2, the project was supposed to vault Teck into the ranks of global copper leaders; instead, it left the company weakened and its shares underperforming. Anglo, which owns a nearby Chilean mine, offered scale and savings of US$800-million a year by combining the two operations.

• Behind the agreement between the two miners

What it means for its Canadian employees

Union leaders at Teck’s Highland Valley Copper mine and Trail smelter say they are “cautiously optimistic” about job stability. Together, the operations employ about 2,700 unionized workers earning an average of $130,000 a year plus pensions and benefits. A recently approved extension of Highland Valley’s mine life to 2046 is expected to create nearly 3,000 construction jobs, a project that Anglo’s stronger balance sheet could help sustain.

• Teck union leaders hopeful of job stability at B.C. operations

What it means for investors

The all-stock merger includes a structure that allows Canadian shareholders to defer paying billions of dollars in capital gains taxes for up to 15 years.

• Exchangeable shares mean Canadian investors could defer capital gains tax

What it means for interlopers

They’re on watch. Analysts at both Jefferies and TD Cowen raised the possibility of their emergence yesterday: