INDIA
Date set for US goods tariffs
The government yesterday said that delayed higher tariffs against some goods imported from the US would go into force on Sept. 18. New Delhi, incensed by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new tariffs, in June decided to raise from Aug. 4 the import tax on some US products, including almonds, walnuts and apples, and later delayed the move. Officials from New Delhi and Washington, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, are scheduled to hold a series of meetings, including strategic talks, with their Indian counterparts next month.
CANADA
Trade deficit falls to C$626m
The nation’s trade deficit in June fell to C$626 million (US$481.3 million), according to official data released on Friday, as the nation searched for new trading partners and eased its reliance on the US. The figure was far less than the C$2.3 billion deficit forecast by economists following a C$2.7 billion deficit posted in May. In June, total exports rose 4.1 percent to C$50.7 billion, Statistics Canada said. It was the first time exports surpassed C$50 billion. Total imports edged down 0.2 percent to C$51.3 billion.
INVESTMENT
Moody’s trims German banks
Deutsche Bank AG had the credit rating of a class of debt cut to the lowest investment-grade level by Moody’s Investors Service after a change in German law last month paved the way for a more senior kind of borrowing. Moody’s downgraded the bank’s senior debt from “Baa2” to “Baa3” and reclassified the bonds as “junior senior” debt. The German government is now less likely to support what are currently senior notes, the ratings firm said in a statement on Friday. In a separate statement, Moody’s said that it downgraded the long-term senior unsecured debt of 14 German banks.
AIRLINES
Iran Air to receive airplanes
Iran Air yesterday said that it was set to take delivery of five new airplanes from French-Italian firm ATR just before renewed US sanctions go into effect. “Based on existing agreements, five new ATR aircraft will land at Mehrabad Airport at 9 am tomorrow,” the national carrier said on its Telegram channel. The new ATR 72-600 airplanes are part of a deal for 20 new aircraft that Iran Air agreed to buy in April last year, of which eight have been delivered. The deal was thrown into doubt by Washington’s decision to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers and reimpose sanctions, part of which are due to resume from Tuesday.
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
ICE to launch trade platform
The New York Stock Exchange’s parent company on Friday announced plans to launch a bitcoin trading platform and partner with Starbucks Corp on a digital currency payment app. The new exchange, dubbed Bakkt, aims to bring a measure of confidence to bitcoin transactions, Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) said in a statement. “We aim to build confidence in the asset class on a global scale,” ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said. Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler described the venture as an “on-ramp” for investors that provides “greater efficiency, security and utility.”
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