TRADE
Malaysia threatens jet deal
Malaysia, the world’s No.2 producer of palm oil, yesterday said the EU’s decision to curb imports of the commodity could impact France’s hopes of winning one of Asia’s biggest fighter jet deals. The French Dassault Rafale aircraft had, until recently, been seen as the frontrunner in Kuala Lumpur’s plan to buy up to 18 new fighter jets in a deal potentially worth more than US$2 billion, but negotiations hit a snag after European lawmakers pushed to stop using palm oil in motor fuels. Malaysia said earlier this week that it would not shy away from a trade war.
JAPAN
GDP growth rate unexpected
The economy is growing at a faster clip than initially estimated, the government said yesterday. GDP expanded 0.4 percent in the October to December period last year, the Cabinet Office said, a spectacular upwards revision from its initial estimate of 0.1 percent growth. The figures also confirmed the eighth consecutive quarter of expansion, the longest run since the 1980s when the nation’s economy was the envy of the world. For the calendar year 2017, the economy grew 1.7 percent after a 0.9 percent in 2016.
UNITED STATES
Wages on the rise
A tight labor market was helping lift wages across most of the country through late last month and contributing to “moderate inflation” in most areas, a Federal Reserve survey showed. The Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions report said, based on anecdotal information collected by the 12 regional Fed banks through Feb. 26, that the nation’s “modest to moderate” expansion was spreading the benefits of higher pay more widely. The survey, released in Washington on Wednesday, also contained evidence that a pick up in inflation was more broadly based.
TAXATION
EU plans to tax profits
The European Commission told top digital firms on Wednesday that its favorite choice to reform online taxation would be a new method to tax profits rather than revenues, a move the industry welcomed. The EU is working on a tax overhaul aimed at increasing the bill of large companies like Amazon.com Inc, Google and Facebook Inc. The big EU states say such firms pay too little by re-routing their EU profits to low-tax countries such as Luxembourg and Ireland.
BANKING
HSBC Qianhai seeks expansion
HSBC Qianhai Securities Ltd (匯豐前海證券), the first foreign majority-owned securities joint venture in China, expects to more than double the size of its team in the next four years as it sees economic growth continuing to attract investments to the country. The firm, launched last year to help institutional clients access Chinese capital markets, expects to have 300 staff, up from the current 120, chief executive officer Irene Ho (何善文) said in an interview in New York on Monday. “I just need to see the money coming in,” she said.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple touts improvements
Apple Inc touted major improvements in labor and environmental practices across its vast global supply chain last year. The iPhone maker’s audit of 756 facilities produced a 35 percent increase in suppliers classified as high-performing for their adherence to its code of conduct, according to Apple’s progress report. More than 3 million workers were trained on their rights last year.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last