Canadian manufacturers began 2019 with their strongest sales gain in seven months, bringing an end to a string of bad reports.

Canadian manufacturers and wholesalers recorded sharply lower sales in November, adding to evidence the nation’s economy entered a soft patch at the end of last year.

President Donald Trump put neighboring Canada and Mexico on notice: he’s determined to wring out more favorable terms from Nafta. Now comes the hard part of reworking a trade deal that’s framed relations for more than two decades.