The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada and its allies are weighing taking trade action against China and Indonesia in the nickel market. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that Indonesia has gone from supplying 7 per cent of the global output of nickel to 55 per cent in the past decade, with much of that new production controlled by mining companies with ties to the authoritarian Beijing government. The glut of new global supply has caused the price of nickel to plummet by more than 80 per cent from a peak of $100,000 (U.S.) a tonne to around $19,100 (U.S.) a tonne. Ms. Freeland says a flood of cheap nickel is making the operations of Western mining companies uneconomical and the conduct of the countries in control appears to be market manipulation. The crash in the nickel price is putting tremendous pressure on large Western producers. First Quantum Minerals, Glencore and Wyloo Metals in the past few months have closed nickel mines, idled production and issued bleak forecasts. BHP Group estimates that about half of all nickel production globally is money-losing, as the company incurred a $2.5-billion (U.S.) impairment charge in its nickel business.