US President Donald Trump has signed off on a plan to defer US tariffs on goods from countries with most-favored nation status for three months, to help ease the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, a source familiar with the decision said on Tuesday.
The plan would not apply to tariffs on Chinese and European goods subject to Section 301 tariffs or to steel and aluminum subject to Section 232 tariffs.
The source said it remained unclear when Trump would sign an executive order deferring the levies.
Once signed, it would give the US Department of the Treasury the authority to direct US Customs and Border Protection to delay collecting tariffs on those imports for 90 days.
About 400 chief executives of small, medium and large companies from across the country on Tuesday urged Trump in a letter to delay the collection of duties for a period of 90 to 180 days to give companies access to cash that would normally be paid to the US government, given coronavirus-related shutdowns.
“Delaying duties helps us preserve cash flow — critically important during a prolonged period of little to no revenue,” the CEOs wrote.
“At the same time, delaying duties does not undermine the effect of tariffs on trade flows, because the money is still due,” they wrote.
Trade ministers from the US and other G20 major economies on Monday agreed to keep their markets open and ensure the continued flow of vital medical supplies, equipment and other essential goods as the world battles the pandemic.
The deferral would apply to duties imposed on items from countries with most-favored nation status, such as footwear and apparel, giving US importers of such items a temporary reprieve.
White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro last week denied a report that the administration was considering a broader tariff relief measure that would have included goods from China.
The modified plan affects a smaller subset of imports.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”