EUROPEAN UNION
Sanrio fined over curbs
Authorities on Tuesday fined Sanrio Co, the Japanese firm behind Hello Kitty, for restricting cross-border online sales of toys, mugs, bags and other products featuring the cartoon cat girl. Sanrio yesterday said the 6.2 million euros (US$7 million) fine would be recorded as an extraordinary loss in its fiscal first-quarter financial statement. “It was fined because it violated the bloc’s competition rules with licensing agreements that banned traders from selling merchandise in different countries in the bloc,” European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said. Sanrio said it had cooperated with the investigation.
CHINA
Factory prices unchanged
Factory prices were unchanged last month from a year earlier, data showed yesterday, reviving the prospect of deflation as a trade spat with the US hits the crucial manufacturing sector. The producer price index came in at zero, down from a 0.6 percent rise in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The reading is the weakest since August 2016 and fell short of the 0.3 percent forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. At the same time the consumer price index — a gauge of retail inflation — hit 2.7 percent, the same as last month, which was the highest since February last year.
UNITED KINGDOM
Automakers lift economy
The economy rebounded in May as vehicle factories resumed work following Brexit-related shutdowns. GDP rose 0.3 percent after a decline in the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said yesterday. In the three months through May, GDP rose 0.3 percent. Powering the recovery was the manufacturing sector, as vehicle output surged 24 percent on the month, following a drop of the same magnitude in April. Manufacturing as a whole increased 1.4 percent and provided the biggest contribution to the overall expansion.
AVIATION
Plane tickets to see new tax
France is to introduce a new charge on plane tickets from next year, with revenue used to fund environmentally friendly alternatives, French Minister of Transport Elisabeth Borne said on Tuesday. The “ecotax,” costing 1.50 euros to 18 euros, would apply to most flights departing in the country, Borne said. The only exceptions would be for domestic flights to Corsica and overseas territories, and connecting flights that pass through the country. It would not apply to flights arriving in the country. Shares in Air France-KLM and budget airlines EasyJet PLC and Ryanair Holdings PLC dropped following the announcement. Industry group International Air Transport Association called the ticket charge “misguided.”
TECHNOLOGY
Cisco buying Acacia
Cisco Systems Inc has agreed to buy Acacia Communications Inc for about US$2.6 billion, the technology giant’s latest acquisition as it seeks technologies to meet customer demand for more robust networks. The San Jose, California-based company is to pay US$70 a share, a 46 percent premium to Acacia’s closing price on Monday, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. Cisco’s latest acquisition makes chips and machines that help translate optical signals into electronic data. Acacia’s products are used to speed the flow of information around data centers and telecommunication networks. The deal is expected to close in the second half of Cisco’s fiscal 2020 year.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective