EUROPEAN UNION
Solar panel tariffs mulled
The EU executive yesterday proposed heavy anti-dumping tariffs of about 47 percent on imports of Chinese solar panels, a EU source said. The source said “the consultation process has been launched” to see whether EU nations are in agreement with the proposal. A decision is expected to be announced on June 5. The EU ProSun industry association has been pressing the EU to take action against Chinese imports, which it says are sold below cost and given unfair subsidies.
NEW ZEALAND
Housing boom a threat
A housing boom in the country’s largest cities threatens to destabilize the country’s financial system, the central bank warned yesterday. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said low interest rates and improving sentiment in global financial markets had resulted in a rise in household credit over the past six months, fueling the property market. It said the problem was worst in New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, where house prices are near record levels.
PORTUGAL
Ten-year bonds sold
The country sold 10-year bonds on Tuesday for the first time since it needed a bailout in 2011, raising 3 billion euros (US$3.9 billion) on international markets. The Treasury said the bonds were sold at a rate of 5.669 percent on Tuesday. Foreign investors bought 86 percent of the bonds, and demand was so strong that Portugal could have sold 10 billion euros’ worth, Treasury Secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque said.
AUTOMAKERS
GM China factory approved
General Motors (GM) says its Chinese joint venture has received government approval to build a Cadillac factory as the company tries to boost sales of its luxury brand. GM said yesterday that plans call for the factory in Shanghai to begin production in 2015 with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The company said total investment should be at least 8 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion).
FINANCE
Changes to JPMorgan urged
A leading shareholder advisory group on Tuesday urged JPMorgan Chase investors to end chief executive Jamie Dimon’s tenure as chairman and fire a majority of the company’s board after a US$6.2 billion trading loss. Glass Lewis became the second major proxy adviser in recent days to endorse splitting the chairman and chief executive roles at JPMorgan in the wake of the bank’s “London whale” derivatives debacle.
FINANCE
ING Groep NV earnings up
Dutch financial company ING Groep NV reported yesterday that its first-quarter earnings rose as it sold businesses and improved profit margins at its banking arm. Its insurance arm reported a loss. Net profit was 1.80 billion euros, compared with 728 million euros in the same period a year ago. This quarter’s figure includes 940 million euros in net gains on divestments, mostly from the sale of its life insurance business in Asia.
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney income up 32%
Revenue gains at Disney’s parks and movie studio led to a 32 percent increase in net income during the January-March quarter. The results, which topped analyst expectations on Tuesday, showed that the company’s record-setting investments in a new cruise ship and multiple theme park upgrades last year are starting to pay off. Net income grew to US$1.51 billion, or US$0.83 per share. Revenue grew 10 percent to US$10.55 billion.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last