INDIA
Cadbury hit with tax charge
Government tax authorities have accused the local unit of chocolate giant Cadbury PLC of evading US$46 million in taxes by pretending to produce sweets at a factory that did not exist, a report said yesterday. Cadbury India manipulated invoices and other documents to get a tax exemption for companies that began production in new plants in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh by March 31, 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence, which conducted the investigation, concluded that the plant could not have existed by 2010 as the company had not received the necessary government approvals, the Wall Street Journal said. Cadbury India, controlled by international snacks maker Mondelez International, said it was “reviewing” the notice from the tax authorities and would respond within the 30-day period granted to it.
UNITED STATES
Services growth accelerates
Service companies grew last month at the fastest pace in a year, buoyed by higher sales, more new orders and solid job growth. The gain suggests higher taxes have yet to slow consumer spending on services. The US Institute for Supply Management said on Tuesday that its index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 56 from 55.2 in January. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The report measures growth in industries that cover 90 percent of the workforce, including retail, construction, healthcare and financial services. Service firms also kept adding jobs last month. A measure of service-sector hiring fell only slightly after reaching a nearly seven-year high in January.
RETAIL
Stewart testifies on contract
Home decor and food guru Martha Stewart testified in court on Tuesday that she did nothing wrong when she signed an agreement to open shops within most of J.C. Penney’s stores across the US. Stewart testified in New York State Supreme Court as part of a legal battle over whether her company breached its contract to sell cookware, bedding and other items exclusively at Macy’s when she inked the deal with Penney in 2011. Stewart said it was Macy’s that did not uphold its end of the agreement to try to maximize the potential of her business. She said her brand had become “static” at the department store chain. The testimony comes as her company just finished its fifth straight year of losses. The company has also seen steep sales declines.
TECHNOLOGY
Facebook users ‘confused’
Facebook Inc’s users began sharing more private data after the social network giant revamped its policies and interface, according to a study released on Tuesday. The seven-year study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers said users had been moving toward greater privacy settings from 2005 to 2009, but that the trend reversed with the Facebook changes in 2009 and 2010. The study, appearing in The Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality, profiles data from a panel of 5,076 Facebook users. It is the first study to use data from Facebook’s early days in 2005. Researcher Ralph Gross said Facebook’s public efforts to increase user options “may increase members’ feeling of control,” but that apparent confusion among some led to “increases in disclosures of sensitive information to strangers.” However, Facebook cautioned against reading too much from a single study.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective