JAPAN
Wages drop for fifth month
The nation’s wages dropped for a fifth month, adding to concerns over the resilience of consumer spending as a sales tax increase approaches in October. Labor cash earnings fell 0.2 percent in May to extend the longest monthly falling streak since 2013, according to a report by the Ministry of Labor yesterday. Real wages, adjusted for inflation, dropped 1 percent, compared with analysts’ estimate of a 1.5 percent decline. Scheduled working hours dropped 4.6 percent, the most on record for data going back to 1991, the ministry said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Brexit to hit migrant workers
More than half of businesses with non-British staff have said they would be harmed by post-Brexit immigration plans, according to the Chambers of Commerce and the global job site Indeed. The immigration system proposed in December last year for after Brexit would limit lower-skilled migrants to working in the country for a year. These workers would then have to leave the country for at least 12 months once their visa had ended. The healthcare and construction sectors would be hit particularly hard by the proposals, the BCC said yesterday.
MEXICO
US reimposes steel tariffs
The US Department of Commerce on Monday announced that it has decided to once again apply tariffs on fabricated steel imports from the Latin American country. In a statement, the agency said the decision came after an investigation into government subsidies assisting companies that export fabricated structural steel from the country, as well as China and Canada. It determined that Canadian exports do not warrant the tariff, the agency said. The determination is preliminary, but the tariff goes into effect immediately, it said.
MALAYSIA
Benchmark rate unchanged
The central bank yesterday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged following a reduction in May, taking a cautious approach to policy easing amid an uncertain global economy. The central bank held its overnight rate at 3 percent, as predicted by 25 of the 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The rest had expected a 25 basis-point cut. At the current policy rate, “the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative and supportive of economic activity,” the central bank said.
MALAYSIA
Airline proposals reviewed
The government is studying proposals it received for Malaysia Airlines Bhd, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday. The four proposals were mostly from local companies, who offered to either buy a stake in the flag carrier or to manage it, he told reporters near Kuala Lumpur. He did not name the companies that sent in the proposals. “We must find somebody with experience,” Mahathir said.
WEST AFRICA
Inequality rampant: report
The region suffers the most inequalities in Africa, but many governments prefer to ignore problems, despite economic growth, a report by Oxfam and Development Finance International said yesterday. The report said six of the 10 fastest-growing economies in Africa were in the region, with Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal among the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies. The report said the vast majority of West Africans were “denied the most essential elements of a dignified life, such as quality education, healthcare and decent jobs.”
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
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
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