Tourists from Chattanooga check into beach resorts in Cancun. Canadian auto parts feed factories in the American Midwest – and vice versa. Happy Hour revelers raise glasses of Mexican tequila and mezcal at bars in Seattle.

It adds up. The United States trades $1.9 trillion a year -- $5 billion a day – worth of goods and services with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico. They have supplanted China as America's top two trading partners.

Global shares were mixed on Wednesday as uncertainty persisted over conflict in the Middle East and access to the crucial Strait of Hormuz despite an initial deal to end the U.S.-Iran war.

France's CAC 40 declined 0.3% in early trading to 8,379.92, while the German DAX added 0.3% to 25,069.53. Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.1% to 10,484.53.

The lines are growing at Russian gas stations -- and so is the frustration and uncertainty as several months of Ukrainian attacks have set oil refineries ablaze and choked supplies for motorists across the vast country.

Fuel rationing has been introduced in many regions, with hourslong queues of cars snaking beside roads. Social media videos show drivers aghast at the lines or swearing at empty gas pumps and rising prices. The mayor of the Siberian city of Irkutsk even ordered portable toilets brought in to accommodate those in line.

The head of the European Central Bank defended its June 11 rate hike as justified to ward off real inflationary pressures and said it wasn't just a mere "insurance hike."

ECB head Christine Lagarde said Monday that without the quarter percentage-point increase, inflation could have lingered above the bank's 2% target into 2028.

Iran's president said Monday that $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets would be released by Qatar as negotiations with the United States were challenged by attacks across the Persian Gulf this weekend.

Masoud Pezeshkian's mention of the funds appear aimed at selling the Iranian public on the interim deal, particularly as its grip on the Strait of Hormuz has been challenged by efforts to open Oman's territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf. Iran's attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving though the strait, in which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed in peacetime, creating a global energy crisis.

U.S. gasoline prices decreased an average of 49 cents a gallon in the last month as expectations rose for an end to the war with Iran. But they're not falling fast enough for President Donald Trump.

Trump, who wants to stave off the economic fallout of the war ahead of midterm elections, is now pointing at oil companies as the culprit. The president said on social media early Wednesday that he had tasked the Justice Department with investigating whether "customers are being 'gouged."

Donald Trump said he ordered an investigation into major oil companies over high gasoline prices as the U.S. leader faces criticism over the impact of the Mideast war.

Oman and Iran will study the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz and the costs to be charged for services provided, they said in a joint statement Tuesday, insisting on sovereignty over the vital waterway.

The two countries emphasized "their sovereignty and sovereign rights over their territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz" and "agreed to maintain their dialogue on this issue through a joint working group between the two foreign ministries in order to reach agreement on the future administration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the services that will be provided in this regard and the costs associated with them in accordance with international standards".

Global shares mostly declined on Tuesday as recent enthusiasm cooled and markets faced uncertainty about efforts to end the war in Iran.

France's CAC 40 dipped 1.0% in early trading to 8,313.86, while the German DAX fell 1.6% to 24,746.63. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.6% to 10,379.26. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.7% at 51,774.00. S&P 500 futures fell 1.5% to 7,429.25.

Ship traffic has picked up in the Strait of Hormuz since Iran and the U.S. signed an interim deal to end a war that constricted global oil supplies and fueled inflation, but questions surrounding control of the vital waterway and whether vessels will be charged tolls to cross it could interfere with negotiations to forge a lasting peace.

Tehran and Washington clashed over the Strait of Hormuz again this past weekend. Citing Israel's latest attacks on Lebanon, Iran declared that it reclosed the strait. The U.S. was quick to contest that. Maritime tracking data showed that dozens of ships passed through on Saturday and Sunday, though far fewer than the daily average before the war.