MACROECONOMICS
Puerto Rico misses deadline
Puerto Rico failed to submit audited financial statements for fiscal 2014 by its self-imposed Saturday deadline, according to a US Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board filing. The commonwealth’s annual report for the fiscal year ended June 30 last year was 181 days late, the longest that Puerto Rico has been overdue on its yearly audited statements since at least 2000, according to Daniel Hanson, an analyst at Height Securities, a broker dealer based in Washington. The commonwealth is tardy because certain agencies have yet to submit reports and an independent auditor is conducting additional procedures given Puerto Rico’s liquidity risk, according to the filing posted late on Friday on the board’s Web site. The commonwealth’s economy has struggled to grow since 2006. It’s seeking to reduce its US$73 billion debt load by negotiating with investors.
UNITED STATES
BP halts appeals process
BP has decided to end its effort to recoup money it paid in economic damage claims to businesses and individuals under a settlement arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill stemming from a well blowout and the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. BP on Friday filed a motion to withdraw an appeal over what it said were overpayments worth hundreds of millions of dollars and involving more than 790 businesses. The appeal was before the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. After a 2012 settlement with businesses and individuals was approved, BP said that the claims administrator had not been correctly matching business’ revenues and expenses, resulting in overpayments. A court eventually ordered a new calculation method, but refused to order restitution of payments already made. Geoff Morrell, a BP spokesman, said the firm decided to withdraw its appeal to help “wind down” the claims program.
AUTOMAKERS
Honda recalls some SUVs
American Honda Motor Co is recalling some 2016 CR-V SUVs to replace Takata air bags that could rupture in a crash and send metal fragments flying. The recall affects just 515 of the small sport utility vehicles, and Honda said only 30 were sold before dealers were told to stop sales. US officials last month said that eight people have died and 98 others have been injured by air bag inflators that explode with too much force, sending shrapnel into car occupants. Recalls have covered about 19 million cars made by 12 different car and truck manufacturers. The company late on Friday said that the defect covered by the new recall appears to be different from previous defects, but that it could still result in metal fragments hitting the driver or passengers.
ROMANIA
Oldest coal mine closes
The oldest coal mine in Romania and until now the deepest in Europe, with shafts going down as far as 940m, closed on Friday, ending production at what was once a proud symbol of the country’s coal industry. The Petrila mine opened in 1859 when the country was still part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It hit peak production in 1983 when workers extracted 1.2 million tonnes of coal — falling to just 110,000 tonnes last year. Romania committed itself four years ago to ending state subsidies for coal production and turning instead to greener energy sources. Petrila pit’s equipment, including a giant Siemens motor that has been running since 1945, is scheduled be sold for scrap metal next year and most of its buildings demolished.
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
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
SENSOR BUSINESS: The Taiwanese company said that a public tender offer would begin on May 7 through its wholly owned subsidiary Yageo Electronics Japan Yageo Corp (國巨), one of the world’s top three suppliers of passive components, yesterday said it is to launch a tender offer to fully acquire Japan’s Shibaura Electronics Co for up to ￥65.57 billion (US$429.37 million), with an aim to expand its sensor business. The tender offer would be a crucial step for the company to expand its sensor business, Yageo said. Shibaura Electronics is the world’s largest supplier of thermistors, with a market share of 13 percent, research conducted in 2022 by the Japanese firm showed. If a deal goes ahead, it would be the second acquisition of a sensor business since
RSS