JAPAN
Exports in eight-month slide
Exports last month fell for the eighth straight month as worries continued about US President Donald Trump’s trade policies denting Asian economic growth. Ministry of Finance data released yesterday showed that exports fell 1.6 percent from a year earlier, while imports slid 1.2 percent, resulting in a trade deficit of ¥249.6 billion (US$2.34 billion), a 9.8 percent increase year-on-year. The country’s exports to China last month fell 9.3 percent, while its imports from China gained 2.8 percent. Its exports to the US grew 8.4 percent, while imports from the US rose 3.5 percent.
THAILAND
Growth hits five-year low
The economy in the second quarter grew at the slowest pace in almost five years as exports and tourism deteriorated, buffeted by US-China trade tensions and a strong local currency. The country’s GDP rose 2.3 percent from a year ago, the National Economic and Social Development Council said yesterday. That is the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2014. The council cut its full-year growth forecast to between 2.7 and 3.2 percent — down from an earlier estimate of 3.3 to 3.8 percent.
ISRAEL
Quarterly slide disappoints
The economy stumbled more than forecast in the second quarter, hampered by slowing trade, investment and private consumption. GDP rose 1 percent from the previous three months on an annualized basis, according to an initial estimate from the Central Bureau of Statistics published on Sunday. Private consumption expenditure has been a key driver of growth, but it decreased 1.3 percent in the second quarter. Imports and exports both slowed due to global trade conflicts.
INVESTMENTS
Insider’s share sale probed
A Novartis AG manager sold 925,400 Swiss francs (US$946,105) of shares weeks before a scandal over data for its Zolgensma gene therapy became public. The July 19 sale was made by an executive member of the board of directors or a member of the executive committee, according to a Swiss stock exchange filing. That was after Novartis had informed the US Food and Drug Administration about problematic data for Zolgensma, but before the public became aware, newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.
UNITED STATES
Keep student debt: survey
Canceling student debt, as prescribed by Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic presidential candidates, would have an adverse effect on the economy, a survey of business economists showed yesterday. Sixty-four percent of respondents believe forgiving most or all of student debt in the country would be a net negative for the economy, according to the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). The survey included responses from 226 NABE members and took place from July 14 to Aug. 1.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla to rent rooftop solar
Tesla Inc is trying to spark its solar-panel business by letting consumers rent rooftop systems rather than buy them. Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday announced the offering in a series of tweets. The company would allow residents of six states to rent solar-power systems starting at US$50 a month — or US$65 a month in California — for a small set-up. Besides California, rentals are to be offered in Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico.
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