Business News at a Glance

Trump Reaches Revised Trade Deal With Mexico, Threatening to Leave Out Canada

President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States and Mexico had reached an accord to revise portions of the North American Free Trade Agreement and would finalize it within days, suggesting he was ready to jettison Canada from the trilateral trade pact if the country did not get on board. In Washington, Trump threatened to hit Canada with auto tariffs if it did not “negotiate fairly.” The agreement updates provisions surrounding the digital economy, automobiles, agriculture and labor unions. The core of the trade pact, which allows U.S. companies to operate in Mexico and Canada without tariffs, remains intact.

Volkswagen’s Effort to Stop Scandals Needs More Work, Report Says

Nearly three years after Volkswagen admitted to a vast emissions cheating scheme, the company has only just begun to take steps necessary to prevent future scandals. That was the main takeaway from a report issued Monday by a prominent American lawyer appointed to monitor the company’s behavior. Among other things, Volkswagen has work to do to create an adequate whistleblower program, the lawyer, Larry D. Thompson, wrote in the report. In interviews, Thompson said it was intended not as a criticism of the company but rather as recommendations for future action. "My mandate is a forward-looking one,” he said.

Tax Cuts Were Going to Tank Housing Prices. They Didn’t.

It was not supposed to take long for the Trump tax cuts to hobble housing prices, particularly in the high-tax, high-cost metro areas where the new law was poised to rip federal incentives to buy new homes. Nearly nine months later, those fears have not materialized. While the nation’s housing market is showing signs of weakness on several fronts — particularly in new-home construction — prices across the country are continuing to climb. That is true even in the million-dollar-plus markets of California and Washington, D.C., which appeared most at risk for a hit when the bill was pending.

Musk’s Whirlwind Blows Over, but Clouds Still Loom for Tesla

So Tesla is no longer seeking to go private. Now what? On Monday, the electric carmaker began to take stock of the residual damage from its August whirlwind, including the prospect of harsher scrutiny of its chief executive, Elon Musk. In the past, analysts, investors and admirers of the company were sometimes willing to overlook quarterly losses and missed targets because of the persuasiveness of Musk’s long-term vision. But his erratic course over the past few weeks and his reversal on the buyout plan, announced Friday, may prompt them to take a more skeptical look at the company’s bottom line.

Student Loan Watchdog Quits, Saying Trump Administration Is Harming Students

A top federal official in charge of handling complaints about student loans stepped down Monday, blasting the Trump administration for protecting predatory lenders at the expense of borrowers. Seth Frotman, the student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in his resignation letter that millions of borrowers had been harmed by “sweeping changes” at the bureau under Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s budget director. A copy of the letter was obtained by The New York Times. "You have used the bureau to serve the wishes of the most powerful financial companies in America,” Frotman wrote to Mulvaney.

In a Shift in Driverless Strategy, Uber Deepens Its Partnership With Toyota

Since Uber started a self-driving car program in 2015, it has insisted on developing its own driverless technology and operating its own fleet of autonomous vehicles. Now the ride-hailing company is starting to shift away from that own-it-all strategy. Uber is receiving a new $500 million investment from Toyota, which would value the company at $72 billion, according to a person briefed on the deal. With that investment, Uber plans to provide its self-driving technology to a fleet of Toyota minivans, which may be operated by the Japanese automaker or a third party, the companies said in a joint announcement.

FCC Investigation Clears Chairman in Sinclair Inquiry

The internal investigator for the Federal Communications Commission has found that the agency’s chairman, Ajit Pai, did not give preferential treatment to Sinclair Broadcast Group in the company’s effort to merge with Tribune Media. The inspector general’s office said in a report that after examining emails, phone records and visitor logs and interviewing Pai and his chief of staff, Matthew Berry, it found no evidence of “impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, favoritism towards Sinclair, or lack of impartiality.” The inspector general had been looking into whether Pai’s decisions to relax regulations on media ownership were intended to benefit Sinclair in the merger.

3-D Printed Gun Plans Must Stay Off Internet for Now, Judge Rules

Cody Wilson, the self-described crypto-anarchist who has tried for years to post blueprints for 3-D printed guns online, will have to keep waiting, a federal judge ruled Monday. The judge ruled in favor of attorneys general from 19 states and Washington, D.C., who contend that 3-D printed guns are difficult to detect and trace, and constitute a threat to national safety. The ruling extends a temporary restraining order issued July 31, and means Wilson cannot publish the blueprints unless the lawsuit is resolved. The case has sparked a debate about free speech, gun regulation, states’ rights and trade rules.