FASHION
Fakes cost EU US$28bn
Counterfeits are worth nearly 10 percent of the clothes, shoes and accessories sold in the EU, taking away more than 26 billion euros (US$28 billion) in business, according to a study released on Tuesday. The report estimated the direct impact on Italy to be the highest in Europe at 4.5 billion euros per year and nearly 50,000 jobs. The study by the EU’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market put direct annual losses to the industry from counterfeit clothing, footwear and accessories at approximately 26.3 billion euros, or 9.7 percent of the sector’s sales. If knock-on effects on other industries and lost government revenue are included, the economic impact rises to 43.3 billion euros per year.
MACROECONOMICS
Inflation rose 0.7% in Q2
Australian consumer prices rose 0.7 percent in the April-to-June period, as gasoline prices increased, official data showed yesterday, but annual inflation was soft, giving the central bank leeway to lower interest rates. The consumer price index increase in the second-quarter followed a 0.2 percent lift in the first three months of the year and took headline inflation to 1.5 percent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported.
ENERGY
UAE scraps oil subsidies
Leading oil producer the United Arab Emirates is to scrap subsidies on gasoline and diesel from next month to cut spending as low crude prices hit revenues, the Ministry of Energy said yesterday. Pump prices for the two fuels are now to be set on the basis of world prices and adjusted each month, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official WAM news agency. The move is expected to save billions of US dollars a year.
TRANSPORTATION
Eurotunnel seeks damages
Eurotunnel, the company that runs the cross-Channel rail tunnel, yesterday said it was seeking 9.7 million euros from the British and French governments in compensation for disruption caused by illegal migrants. The firm said it was seeking the amount from London and Paris after it incurred a security bill of 13 million euros in the first half of the year trying to stop migrants crossing to England from France. The amount was equivalent to its entire costs in the sector for all of last year.
AIRLINES
AirAsia to fly to Japan
AirAsia Bhd yesterday said it would start domestic and international flights from Japan early next year, after a high-profile exit from the market following the collapse of its joint venture with All Nippon Airways (ANA) in 2013. The Malaysia-based company said it has applied to Japan’s transport ministry to operate commercial flights, becoming the latest budget carrier aiming to crack a market long-controlled by ANA and Japan Airlines.
CAMERAS
GoPro beats profit forecasts
Action camera maker GoPro Inc on Tuesday reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, helped by strong sales in markets outside North America. GoPro, whose helmet and body-mounted cameras are popular with surfers, skydivers and other adventure sports enthusiasts, said its net income rose to US$35 million, or US$0.24 per share, for the second quarter from a loss of US$19.8 million, or US$0.24 per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned US$0.35 per share. Revenue rose 71.7 percent to US$419.9 million.
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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