CHINA
Tech proposal examined
Beijing is evaluating the potential effects from a US proposal to increase control over technology exports and is to take steps to uphold the legitimate interests of companies, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman said yesterday. On Monday, the US government proposed stepping up scrutiny over technology exports in 14 key high-tech areas, including artificial intelligence and microprocessor technology. A 30-day public consultation period on the proposal is under way and is to end on Dec. 19.
JAPAN
Inflation stays flat
Inflation stood at 1 percent last month, unchanged from the previous month, according to government data published yesterday, as the world’s third-largest economy continues its years-long struggle with deflation. The price rise was in line with market consensus, but still only halfway to the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent target. With fresh food and energy stripped out, prices rose by even less — just 0.4 percent year-on-year last month.
UNITED STATES
Factory orders fall
Orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell by the largest amount in 15 months, with a key category that tracks business investment showing weakness for the third consecutive month. The Department of Commerce on Wednesday said that orders for durable goods dropped 4.4 percent last month. The drop last month was led by a huge decline in the volatile areas of commercial and military aircraft.
FURNITURE
IKEA to cut jobs
Swedish furniture giant IKEA on Wednesday said it plans to cut 7,500 jobs worldwide by 2020, mainly office jobs, as it reorganizes to focus its business on e-commerce and smaller shops in city centers. The job cuts affect almost 5 percent of staff at Ingka Holding BV, IKEA’s parent group. IKEA is its biggest brand with 367 stores in 30 countries and 160,000 employees. The decision to cut jobs was “based on how to lead a more simple, effective and efficient” business, it said.
TRADE
WTO to hear complaints
The WTO on Wednesday agreed to hear complaints from a range of countries over new US steel and aluminium tariffs, as well as complaints from Washington over retaliatory duties. The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body agreed to establish panels to review US President Donald Trump’s decision to hit a long line of countries with tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium. The body is to create separate panels to hear the complaints, which have been laid by the EU, China, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia and Turkey.
SOUTH SUDAN
Oil investment sought
The nation is making its first big foreign investment pitch since declaring an end to civil war, but the oil-rich nation faces hesitation from some companies that want to make sure the fragile new peace deal holds. The country is eager to make up for US$4 billion in lost revenue caused by the five-year conflict. The minister of petroleum and mining said that more than 400 international and local companies are attending this week’s Africa Oil & Power Conference in the capital, Juba. That is up from 300 who attended the initial conference last year.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
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