■ AUTOMOBILES
GM's former CEO dies
Roger Smith, who led General Motors Corp (GM) in the 1980s and was the subject of Michael Moore's searing documentary Roger & Me, has died, the automaker said on Friday. He was 82. Smith died on Thursday in the Detroit area after a brief illness that GM did not identify. He was appointed chairman and CEO on Jan. 1, 1981, and led the world's largest automaker until his retirement on July 31, 1990. With Japanese automakers gaining momentum in the US as Smith's tenure began, he responded with GM's first front-wheel-drive midsize cars and formed a controversial joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp to manufacture cars in California. "[Smith] was a leader who knew that we have to accept change, understand change and learn to make it work for us," current GM CEO Rick Wagoner said in a statement.
■ AEROSPACE
Le Gall warns on dumping
The head of the European satellite launch group Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall, warned the US on Friday against Chinese "dumping" in the market and suggested Washington should improve its ovesight. "Today, we see China has re-entered the market for commercial launches, using so-called `ITAR-Free' satellites designed and built without US technology," Le Gall told a space industry luncheon in Washington. "Coupled with cut-rate launch prices, China is working to flood the market with such satellites and I really think Europe and the US must rise together to address these issues which are very, very important," he said.
■ CHINA
Manufacturing expands
Manufacturing expanded at a faster pace last month, a government survey of purchasing managers released yesterday showed. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 55.4 from 53.2 in October, the statistics bureau said in an e-mailed statement. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Of 20 industries surveyed, 19 of them, including clothing producers, transportation equipment manufacturers and energy processors, recorded a PMI of more than 50,the report said. The accelerating PMI reflected "China's rising investment in recent months," a researcher at the State Council Development and Research Center in Beijing said.
■ PHARMACEUTICAL
FDA clears antidepressant
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved long-term use of the antidepressant Cymbalta to help patients avoid a relapse into depression, Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday. Cymbalta, one of Lilly's biggest-selling drugs, was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004 to treat serious depression. The new FDA approval supports its use for "maintenance treatment" in adults. Lilly reported that Cymbalta had sales of US$1.3 billion last year, making it the company's fastest-growing drug.
■ COMPUTERS
Investors dump Dell stock
Shares of Dell Inc fell nearly 13 percent on Friday as investors took a pessimistic view on plans to re-ignite the computer maker's fortunes with a strategy that could lower profits in the short term. In Dell's first earnings conference call in more than a year, chief financial officer Don Carty told analysts that restructuring costs would cut into profits as the company seeks more acquisitions and layoffs and that a slower decline in component costs could also have an impact on its bottom line.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
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
‘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
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