The United States and Canada closed their mutual border to “non-essential traffic” on Wednesday while President Donald Trump moved to speed up medical equipment production and said hospital ships would be deployed in the battle against the coronavirus. The new steps were announced as Wall Street resumed a four-week plummet as coronavirus fears deepened. The main U.S. indexes were down around 9% on Wednesday after a positive day on Tuesday, as growing signs of coronavirus damage to corporate America overshadowed optimism for sweeping official moves to protect the economy. Stocks were down about 30% from their peak a month ago as the pandemic threatened to bring U.S. economic activity to a virtual halt. In a struggle that Trump previously minimized but now likens to a war, the Republican president said he would invoke the Defense Production Act to let the U.S. government accelerate production of […]