UNITED STATES
Tariff hearing length doubled
The US Trade Representative’s office on Friday said it doubled the length of tariff hearings on the next US$200 billion of Chinese goods to six days — from tomorrow to Friday — from the previously planned three due to overwhelming demand from companies to testify. The agency released a list of 359 people who would present testimony, representing a wide swath of US companies producing goods ranging from home building supplies to technology products, bicycles and apparel. Most have registered complaints about the higher costs they say that they would face due to the tariffs.
INTERNET
Qutoutiao files for US IPO
Qutoutiao Inc (趣頭條), a Chinese news and video aggregation app backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), filed for a US initial public offering (IPO), saying it had an almost sevenfold increase in revenue for the first half of the year, as losses also grew. The Shanghai-based company on Friday listed its offering size as US$300 million in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The amount might be a placeholder and could change. Qutoutiao, whose name means “fun headlines,” has about 17.1 million daily active users who spend about 56 minutes on the app daily, the filing said. Monthly active users total about 48.8 million.
STEEL
Firm aims for US$100m IPO
Steel pipe and tube manufacturing giant Zekelman Industries Inc filed for an initial public offering in what could be one of the highest-profile industrial listings in the US this year. The company on Friday listed an offering size of US$100 million in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The initial number is typically a placeholder amount that later changes. Including debt, Chicago-based Zekelman is aiming for a valuation of about US$5 billion, people familiar with the matter said last month. The company is aiming to list as soon as this year, the people said.
INTERNET
Hooker-ad agent pleads
The sales and marketing director of Backpage.com on Friday pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate prostitution, acknowledging that he participated in a scheme to give free ads to prostitutes in a bid to draw them away from competitors and win over their future business. Dan Hyer is the second Backpage.com employee to plead guilty in cases in Arizona in which the site has been accused of ignoring warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some of which involved children. The site has brought in US$500 million in prostitution-related revenue since its inception in 2004, authorities said.
UNITED STATES
Six-month reports mulled
US President Donald Trump is calling on federal regulators to consider scrapping the requirement for public companies to report quarterly results, after business executives told him that twice-yearly reports would make better economic sense. In a tweet early on Friday, Trump said that after speaking with several top business leaders, he is asking the US Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether shifting to a six-month reporting requirement would help companies grow faster and create more jobs. “That would allow greater flexibility & save money” for companies, he tweeted.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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