CRYPTOCURRENCIES
France urges EU rules
The EU should create a common set of rules for virtual currencies to counter risks posed by Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra, French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire said yesterday. The bloc does not have specific regulations on cryptocurrencies, which have so far been considered a marginal issue by most decisionmakers because only a tiny fraction of bitcoins or other digital coins are converted into euros. However, plans unveiled in June by Facebook to launch its own digital currency for payments among its hundreds of millions of users in Europe and around the world have triggered a rethink. Libra could cause risks to consumers, financial stability and even “the sovereignty of European states,” Le Maire told reporters at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Helsinki. He repeated his pleas for blocking Libra in Europe and called for the creation of “a common framework” on digital currencies at EU level.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Groups oppose merger
About a dozen advocacy groups and unions, including Public Citizen and the American Federation of Teachers, on Thursday wrote the US Federal Trade Commission urging it to consider blocking drugmaker AbbVie Inc’s planned US$63 billion purchase of Botox maker Allergan PLC. The combination of two of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms, which was announced in June, would feature a portfolio that includes the world’s top-selling medicine — AbbVie’s rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira — as well as its cancer drugs and Allergan’s blockbuster wrinkle treatment, Botox, and big-selling dry eye drug Restasis. The groups said the deal would create the fourth-largest pharmaceutical firm with strong markets for many drugs at a time when rising prices of many medicines have become a hot political issue.
DEFENSE
List of Chinese firms wanted
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Thursday asked the Pentagon to name companies owned by the Chinese military operating in the US, as they seek to curb what they called Beijing’s effort to “steal” technology for military purposes. Companies owned by the Chinese government “acquire American firms to transfer proprietary information,” among other tactics, according to the letter to US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. A Pentagon report last year said China dominates the global supply of rare earth minerals critical to US military operations, as well as supplies of electronics and chemicals. “China represents a significant and growing risk to the supply of materials and technologies deemed strategic and critical to US national security,” the report said.
ENERGY
EU mulls higher taxes
The EU is considering new energy taxes to meet its climate targets, top officials said yesterday, with Germany calling for “drastic steps” to reduce carbon emissions. EU nations have in the past decade led the global shift toward renewable energy and set up the world’s largest emissions trading system to price carbon and reduce reliance on more polluting fuels. However, EU rules on energy taxation have not changed for more than 15 years. They are “outdated and poorly adapted to climate change challenges and developments in energy policy at EU level,” according to a document that EU finance ministers were to discuss yesterday and today. Possible measures in a document prepared by the Finnish presidency of the EU included higher minimum tax rates on energy, fossil fuel levies, and the end of waivers for the air and sea transport sectors.
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
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
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