UNITED STATES
Trade talks work remains
“Significant work remains” in trade talks with China, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Friday, adding that officials from both nations would be in continuous contact to resolve outstanding issues. Sanders said topics the two parties discussed included the protection of intellectual property, non-tariff barriers to trade, agriculture and enforcement. She described the negotiations as “productive” and said the two sides made progress on “numerous key issues.” President Donald Trump on Friday said talks with Beijing were making progress.
ECONOMY
Argentina review approved
The executive board of the IMF on Friday approved its third review of a US$56 billion IMF-supported program for Argentina, giving the country access to an additional US$11 billion. That brings the total amount approved from the IMF since June last year to US$39 billion. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the program is generating results and there are signs of a gradual recovery because the recession has bottomed. The IMF in January predicted that the Argentine economy would contract 1.7 percent this year.
ICELAND
Deal eases rates constraints
The central bank now has more scope to cut interest rates as a result of this week’s agreement between workers and employers, despite an “unfortunate” clause in the deal that ties planned pay hikes to monetary policy, bank Governor Mar Gudmundsson said. “The break-even inflation rate in the market has now slumped, the exchange rate has been strengthening and our leeway to lower interest rates has greatly increased,” Gudmundsson said by phone in Reykjavik on Friday. The island nation in the North Atlantic is reeling from the collapse of Wow Air and is facing a potential contraction in GDP after years of fast-paced growth.
ENERGY
Petroleo sells pipeline
Petroleo Brasileiro SA agreed to sell its 90 percent stake in its natural gas pipeline unit to France’s Engie SA and Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec for US$8.6 billion. Engie and Caisse prevailed after multiple rounds of bidding for the unit, known as TAG, beating out Macquarie Group Ltd, and a joint bid from EIG Global Energy Partners and Mubadala Development Co. It is the biggest-ever single asset sale for Petrobras, whose new chief executive officer has sought to speed divestitures that began years ago, when the state-run energy giant briefly became the world’s most indebted oil company.
MINING
BHP job cuts expected
BHP Group Ltd will cut jobs in a continuing effort to reduce bureaucracy under a previously foreshadowed streamlining strategy, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday. It was unclear how many jobs would be lost or when the reductions will begin, the person said. The changes come less than six weeks after the mining giant announced a major shake-up of its senior management, with the promotion of three women to key positions on its executive leadership board and the appointment of a chief transformation officer.
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