■TOURISM
Ministry to push local shops
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will push to expand the distribution network for products specific to localities in the latter half of the year, a ministry official said yesterday. Michelle Lin (林美雪), deputy director general of the ministry’s Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, said that by adopting the local marketing concept of “One Town One Product” from Japan, the association started from 1989 to help stimulate distinctive local industry by integrating local resources and specialties. However, the display and distribution network for these types of products is still limited to places such as the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Chiayi Station, Nantou’s scenic Sun Moon Lake resort and the Dream Mall in Kaohsiung. Lin said that 70 percent of the products are agricultural or area specialities, with the local governments deciding on the display and distribution network.
■FINANCE
China to allow managed float
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said the country would gradually adopt a floating exchange rate system, but it must be controllable and initiated by China itself. Hu’s comments to a summit of China, India, Brazil and Russia were made on Thursday, but posted on Friday on the Web site of China’s Foreign Ministry. The comments are in line with what Chinese officials have been saying on the country’s currency in response to pressure from the US and other countries that want the yuan to be allowed to rise in value.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Companies misled patients
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Novartis AG and Astellas Pharma Inc used misleading promotions for cancer, pain and bladder drugs, US regulators said in letters released on Friday. A medical journal advertisement by Glaxo “omits important information” about the safety and effectiveness of cancer drug Arzerra, the Food and Drug Administration said in a letter to the British drugmaker. In a separate letter, the administration said a promotional Web page had overstated the effectiveness of Glaxo’s and Astellas Pharma’s overactive-bladder drug Vesicare.
■CONGLOMERATE
GE earnings fall 32 percent
General Electric Co (GE) said on Friday that its first-quarter earnings fell 32 percent, but the industrial and financial bellwether said it saw signs of improvement in its own results and the broader economy. The results from GE, one of the world’s largest companies that operates in most major segments of the economy, signals that some sectors may be in recovery from the deep recession. GE said there were positive indications in commercial aviation, freight rail and advertising. The company earned US$1.87 billion, or US$0.17 per share, after deducting preferred dividends in the January-March period, down from US$2.75 billion, or US$0.26 per share, a year ago — a 32 percent drop. Revenue fell 5 percent to US$36.6 billion from US$38.4 billion a year ago.
■BANKING
Bank of America in black
Bank of America returned to profit in the first quarter of this year, the firm said on Friday, reporting better than expected profit of US$3.2 billion. After a boardroom shake-up and losses of more than US$2 billion last year, the largest US bank returned to the black, providing a glimmer of hope that its crisis-inflicted wounds could be on the mend.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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