CHINA
New tariff cuts announced
The government has announced another round of tariff cuts, lowering import taxes on more than 700 goods from Tuesday next week as part of its efforts to open up the economy and lower costs for domestic consumers. There would also be cuts to some export tariffs and temporary import tariff rates would be as low as zero for some goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The “temporary” rates can be changed ad hoc and can be lower than the current Most-Favored Nations standard, although they are also available to all WTO members.
ITALY
EU-compliant budget passed
After a raucous session, the Senate has approved a national budget law that was tweaked in a bid to satisfy EU concerns. Much of the government’s planned spending for next year, which won passage in parliament’s upper chamber at about 3am on Sunday, satisfies the expensive campaign promises by the country’s populist coalition. Those included rolling back pension changes and guaranteeing income for the jobless or underemployed. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government is rushing to win final approval of the budget in the lower Chamber of Deputies later this week.
EQUITIES
Euronext eyeing Oslo Bors
Euronext NV is making a 625 million euros (US$712 million) cash tender offer for Oslo Bors VPS, the Norwegian Stock Exchange and national CSD operator, as consolidation among trading exchanges accelerates. Euronext has already secured support for the offer from Oslo Bors shareholders representing 49.6 percent of all outstanding shares and is offering 145 Norwegian kroner a share, according to a statement released yesterday.
AUTOMAKERS
Musk sees ‘tight’ schedule
Tesla Inc production should have all mid-range Model 3 orders delivered by the end of the year, although “it will be tight,” Tesla chief executive Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday. The company has released all cars for sale where original customers cannot take the delivery before this month, Musk said. If someone’s order does not make it in time, Tesla would cover the tax credit difference if the company committed delivery and the customer made “good faith” efforts to receive it before the end of the year, Musk said.
SAUDI ARABIA
Banks reach tax settlements
Major banks in the kingdom reached settlements worth a combined 16.7 billion riyals (US$4.5 billion) with the tax authority over a religious levy that the lenders had been kicking against. The deals come as the kingdom predicted a budget shortfall of 131 billion riyals, or 4.2 percent of GDP, for next year. The tax authority had extended the 2.5 percent religious levy, known as zakat, by including items that were previously exempt, while eliminating some deductions. Al Rajhi Bank was hit with the highest payment, agreeing to pay 5.41 billion riyals.
TURKEY
Banks take over telecom
A group of major banks took control of Turk Telekom AS, the nation’s largest telecom, setting it up for a likely sale after previous owner Otas defaulted on a multibillion-dollar loan. Akbank TAS is to hold 35.6 percent of the special purpose vehicle set up to take on Otas’ 55 percent controlling stake. Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS is to have 22.1 percent of that entity and Turkiye Is Bankasi AS’ share is to be 11.6 percent, according to filings on Saturday.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”