■ ULVAC eyes Tainan plant
Japanese liquid-crystal-display (LCD) giant ULVAC Kyushu Corp announced yesterday that it will set up plants in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) to produce new-generation LCD panels. Once the investment is approved, ULVAC will become the 15th Japanese company with operations in the science park. Toshiaki Fujioka, president of ULVAC, made the announcement in the administration office of the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. According to ULVAC's Taiwan branch, the Japanese company's initial investment will exceed NT$1 billion (US$31.34 million). Chen Tsung-hsing, chief executive officer of ULVAC Taiwan, said that if the first-stage investment results are lucrative, a second and third stage will follow. Most of Taiwan's flat-panel manufacturers are clients of ULVAC, including Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), an ULVAC official said.
■ Most honey not pure
It seems that most honey consumed in Taiwan is not pure, with only two of 37 honey brands passing a recent purity test, a Consumers' Foundation (消基會) official said yesterday. Among the 37 samples chosen randomly from supermarkets, traditional markets, shopping malls and organic product shops, the Consumers' Foundation found that only two samples could be considered to be first or second-grade. The analysis included amylase and cane-sugar tests. Of the 37 samples tested, two were from the US -- both failed -- and one was from France, which passed. The official said that some bee farmers add fructose to disguise the mixture as pure honey in order to reap great profits.
■ Amex appoints regional head
American Express Co, the fourth-biggest US credit-card issuer, promoted Anthony Lee to head its units in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, to help the company expand in the region. Lee, born in Singapore, joined American Express in 1977, the company said in an e-mailed release. He has been the chief executive of American Express Hong Kong since 2003. Lee, who starts immediately, will lead the company's card business in Greater China, based in Hong Kong, American Express spokeswoman Susanna Hui said. American Express has teamed up with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender, to sell credit cards in the world's most populous nation
■ Asustek gets Sony contract
With lower costs than rivals such as Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), Taiwan's fifth-largest notebook maker, secured a contract from Sony Corp for notebook computers, according to a Chinese-language report yesterday, without citing sources. Shipments of the high-end laptop computers for Sony will be started in the second quarter next year with a capacity of 10,000 units to 20,000 units per month, the report said. Asustek declined to comment on the report. Asustek was also reportedly to gain notebook-computer orders from Hewlett-Packard Co. The company plans to ship 3.8 million notebook computers this year with OEM orders accounting for 2.3 million units, according to the report. ■ NT dollar falls back
The New Taiwan dollar declined against the US dollar in Taipei yesterday, losing NT$0.129 to close at NT$31.949 on speculation that the US Federal Reserve may hike its benchmark interest rates this week. A total of US$1.03 billion changed hands yesterday.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
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