AUTOMAKERS
Japanese report sharp drops
Toyota Motor Corp and other Japanese automakers yesterday reported steep drops in output last month as the COVID-19 outbreak accelerated worldwide. Toyota reported that its global production fell 13.8 percent from a year earlier. Worldwide production for the Toyota Group, which includes Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, declined 12.2 percent to 762,802 units, it said. Nissan Motor Co’s production fell 29 percent to 270,073 units. Honda Motor Co’s global production dropped 26 percent to 289,255 units, the seventh straight month of declining output.
AUTOMAKERS
Renault halting production
French carmaker Renault SA yesterday said production at all its plants across the world had been halted due to the impact of the pandemic, apart from those in China and South Korea. “The group plans to restart production activities in the countries concerned as soon as conditions permit and will implement appropriate measures to respond effectively to commercial demand,” it said.
GREECE
Aid measures announced
The government yesterday announced new tax breaks and economic assistance to thousands of businesses and workers to buffer its economy from a national lockdown. The economy is expected to contract by 3 percent this year due to the spread of coronavirus, government estimates showed. The support measures include a one-off benefit for 1.7 million, or 81 percent of private-sector workers whose jobs are temporarily suspended and payment of their social security contributions for 45 days.
AUSTRALIA
Deep recession forecast
The nation’s economy is poised for its deepest recession in 90 years as restrictions designed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus push firms and households to the brink, Bloomberg Economic said yesterday. GDP would decline by about 10 percent in the first quarter before a gradual recovery in the final three months, James McIntyre, Australia economist at Bloomberg Economics, wrote in a report yesterday. He does not expect a return to pre-coronavirus level of activity for three years.
NORWAY
More bond issuances set
The central bank yesterday said it has increased its planned issuance of government bonds this year to between 70 billion and 85 billion Norwegian kroner (US$6.68 billion to US$8.11 billion) from an original plan of 55 billion kroner. The unusual revision follows Oslo’s decision to offer loans worth tens of billions of kroner in emergency funding to firms hurt by the coronavirus outbreak. In total, Norges Bank now aims to conduct 19 bond auctions this year, up from its planned 15. The number of Treasury bill auctions would be raised to 20 to 23.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Finablr loses auditor
UK-based Finablr yesterday said that Ernst & Young LLP has resigned as its auditor after it could not accommodate some of the requested adjustments on time that included changes to the composition of its board. Finablr, which owns Travelex, had said earlier this month that it was preparing for potential insolvency, while operations of its unit in the United Arab Emirates were seized by that nation’s central bank. Its problems started when US shortseller Muddy Waters took aim at NMC Health, which shares the same founder as Finablr — BR Shetty.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
PROBE CONTINUES: Those accused falsely represented that the chips would not be transferred to a person other than the authorized end users, court papers said Singapore charged three men with fraud in a case local media have linked to the movement of Nvidia’s advanced chips from the city-state to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek (深度求索). The US is investigating if DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model’s performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using US chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China, Reuters reported earlier. The Singapore case is part of a broader police investigation of 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation, amid concerns that organized AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of nations such
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