Risking a political backlash, US President George W. Bush planned to announce yesterday that he is lifting most tariffs on steel imports to avert retaliation from Europe and Asia, administration and congressional sources said.
To cushion the blow to US steel makers, Bush is expected to expand an import licensing and monitoring system to help head off surges in shipments. The White House could also provide federal help covering pension and health care costs.
Bush's widely expected decision would come less than a month after the WTO's highest court ruled that the duties violated global trade laws.
The major policy reversal could spark a backlash against Bush in the battleground steel-producing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
But White House advisors concluded the tariffs were causing more harm than good and lifting them would boost Bush's standing among some manufacturers who buy steel, another important constituency.
The EU has threatened to sanction US$2.2 billion in US goods.
Eliminating the tariffs could also help allay market concerns that Bush, a Republican who ran as a champion of free trade, was relying on protectionism to shore up the US job market as he seeks re-election in next year.
Attempting to placate steel makers, the White House would pledge to vigorously enforce US anti-dumping laws and may change how duties are assessed to allow stiffer penalties, administration officials said.
Bush could also appoint to the International Trade Commission, which approves anti-dumping cases, a more steel-friendly commissioner when Democrat Marcia Miller's term expires on Dec. 16, trade lawyers said.
US Steel Corp chairman Thomas Usher, a sponsor of a Pittsburgh fundraiser that raised US$850,000 for Bush two days before the expected tariff announcement, sought to play down the short-term effect and urged that a strong monitoring system be put in place.
Steel industry sources said Bush could still suspend the tariffs, not terminate them, and then try to find another way to comply with the WTO.
Even before the final WTO ruling, members of Bush's economic and political team had urged him to lift the tariffs, saying they had served their purpose by giving the industry time to become more competitive after several bankruptcies.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six