SOUTH KOREA
Mitsubishi to pay ex-slaves
A court ruled yesterday that Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries should pay compensation to former wartime slave workers. The district court in the southern city of Gwangju ruled Mitsubishi Heavy Industries should pay 120 million won (US$106,700) in compensation to Kim Young-ok, 85, and 3.25 million won to a relative of the late Choe Jeong-rye, activists said. It is the second such ruling in four years. The victims, both in their teens, worked without pay at a Mitsubishi aircraft manufacturing plant in Nagoya in 1944.
GERMANY
Trade surplus grows
The nation’s trade surplus grew in June, official figures showed yesterday, while saber-rattling continues in Washington and Brussels over possible US protectionist moves. Europe’s largest economy exported 21.2 billion euros (US$25 billion) worth of goods more than it imported in June, the federal statistics authority, Destatis, calculated in figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects. In absolute terms, the amount of goods sold abroad amounted to 104.9 billion euros in June, a drop of 2.8 percent from the figure for May, while the total amount of goods bought from abroad totaled 83.7 billion euros, down 4.5 percent on the month. Germany increased both its imports and its exports to the EU in June, but while its imports to the rest of the world grew strongly, exports shrank slightly.
JAPAN
Current account in surplus
The nation recorded a 36th consecutive current account surplus in June, supported by returns on overseas investments and a trade balance that returned to positive territory. The current account surplus was ￥934.6 billion (US$8.44 billion), versus an estimate of ￥860.5 billion. The primary income surplus was ￥507.2 billion. The surplus in goods trade was ￥518.5 billion, compared with an estimate of ￥571.5 billion. The return of a trade surplus after a deficit in May supported the current account. The benefits from Japan’s overseas investments, shown as the primary income surplus, anchored the account, but Japanese companies paying dividends overseas in June did somewhat reduce the primary income surplus during the month. Yesterday’s data add to evidence that Japan’s economy is in a good position as the recovery continues, JPMorgan Chase & Co senior economist senior economist Masamichi Adachi said.
AUTOMAKERS
China vehicle sales rise
China’s passenger-vehicle sales rose for a third consecutive month last month, with General Motors Co and Nissan Motor Co selling more automobiles as the impact of higher sales tax waned. Retail sales of cars, SUVs and multipurpose vehicles climbed 5.5 percent to 1.7 million units last month, the China Passenger Car Association said in a statement yesterday. Deliveries rose 0.6 percent to 12.5 million units in the first seven months this year, according to the association. Chinese consumers brought forward car purchases after the government announced it would raise the levy on small-engine cars to 7.5 percent from 5 percent from the start of this year, rolling back a tax cut instituted in 2015. That weighed on demand in the first half, when auto sales dropped for the first time in at least 13 years. The impact started to fade out and is partly offset by discounts automakers and car dealers are offering.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
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