UNITED STATES
Post office loses US$1.9bn
The Postal Service ended its second quarter with a net loss of US$1.9 billion as first-class mail volume continued to tumble and legislators remained at odds over providing any financial relief, the agency said on Friday. The Postal Service’s net loss for the fiscal second quarter ended March 31 surpassed the first quarter’s loss of US$354 million, but it remained flat from the previous year. It was the 20th of the last 22 quarters that the agency has posted a loss, it said. The volume of first-class mail, the agency’s most profitable product, fell 4.1 percent in the second quarter as more residents chose to communicate and pay bills via the Internet. In the meantime, its shipping and packaging business remained a bright spot, with volume increasing 7.3 percent as e-commerce grows.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford recalls 692,000 SUVs
Ford is recalling more than 692,000 Escape small SUVs and C-Max gas-electric hybrids in North America to fix two safety problems. The recalls cover vehicles from the 2013 and 2014 model years. Most of the Escapes have both problems. The first case covers 692,500 Escape and C-Max vehicles. A software glitch can stop the side curtain air bags from inflating in certain types of rollover crashes. The company says it has no reports of crashes or injuries. Dealers will reprogram the air-bag control computer for free. About 65,000 of the recalled vehicles are C-Max models, and the rest are Escapes. About 591,000 are in the US, with 3,500 more in US territories. The affected Escapes were built from Oct. 5, 2011 through Feb. 14 this year. The C-Max vehicles were built from Jan. 19, 2012, through Feb. 24 this year. The second case covers about 692,700 Escapes. Exterior door handles can bind and stop the door from latching properly. This could allow doors to open while the SUVs are in motion.
BANKING
Swisspartners settles with US
Swiss asset management firm, Swisspartners Group, agreed to pay US$4.4 million to the US to settle a probe over whether it helped US taxpayers evade their federal income taxes, the US Department of Justice said on Friday. From about 2001 to about 2011, Swisspartners helped its US clients open and maintain undeclared foreign bank accounts, which allowed them to avoid paying taxes in full, a US Department of Justice statement said. US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara — whose office negotiated the settlement — said Swisspartners avoided criminal charges “as a direct result of its decision to self-report misconduct.”
ENERGY
Obama reveals solar plans
US President Barack Obama unveiled new solar energy plans on Friday, hailing the measures as a vital job-creating tool in the fight against climate change. Obama, wrapping up a three-day fundraising tour of California, announced commitments to develop solar power and energy efficiency by more than 300 private and public sector groups. Separate energy-efficiency investments will lower utility bills for more than 93 million m2 of buildings, the White House said. Obama also unveiled executive actions set to provide for an extra US$2 billion in energy-efficiency investments, improved buildings and smarter appliances.
‘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
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
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
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