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.
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
RSS