AUTOMAKERS
Renault finalizes state loan
Renault SA yesterday finalized a 5 billion euro (US$5.6 billion) loan from the French government, strengthening its finances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged the auto industry. Renault said that the credit facility carried a guarantee from the French state — which owns a 15 percent stake in Renault — of up to 90 percent of the total amount borrowed. Banks BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Group, HSBC France, Natixis and SocGen were involved in the credit deal.
TAXES
US probing digital services
US President Donald Trump’s administration is starting investigations into digital services taxes considered by several trading partners that could lead to tariffs being imposed on the countries’ exports to the US. The probe, announced on Tuesday, encompasses digital taxes that have been either adopted or are under consideration in Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, the EU, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK, the US Trade Representative’s Office in Washington said. The investigation could take months before a decision is made on whether to impose tariffs.
SWITZERLAND
GDP shrinks 2.6% in Q1
The economy slumped the most in at least four decades as a result of the pandemic, with private consumption and investment plummeting. First-quarter GDP plunged 2.6 percent, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed. That was the biggest three-month contraction since the start of the time series in 1980. The government expects the economy to shrink 6.7 percent this year before staging a slow recovery next year.
INDIA
Services sector edges up
Services sector activity picked up slightly last month, signaling the reopening of Asia’s third-largest economy after a more than two-month lockdown to contain COVID-19. The nation’s main services index rose to 12.6 last month, data published by IHS Markit showed yesterday. That was up from 5.4 in April, the world’s lowest reading, but still below the 50 mark that indicates contraction in activity. A purchasing managers’ survey for the manufacturing sector earlier showed the index rose to 30.8 last month from 27.4 in April, still within contraction territory.
TRAVEL
Boeing to compensate TUI
TUI Group, Europe’s biggest travel company, yesterday said it had struck a deal with aircraft maker Boeing Co for compensation and slower delivery of the 737 MAX plane. The Germany-based company said that Boeing would provide it with compensation for a significant portion of the financial impact of the grounding of the plane. Boeing also agreed that TUI would get fewer 737 MAX aircraft over the next few years, with deliveries delayed by about two years. Details of the agreement were confidential, TUI said.
AUTOMAKERS
Polestar expanding in China
Polestar, the premium electric vehicle maker owned by China’s Geely Holding Group (吉利控股集團), plans to open 20 showrooms in China, as it prepares for delivery of its Polestar 2 electric sedans to compete with Tesla Inc’s locally made Model 3. Polestar, which has only one showroom in Beijing, plans to have 20 in 17 Chinese cities, it said yesterday. The Gothenburg, Sweden-based company is manufacturing cars in the Chinese city of Taizhou. It plans to export Polestar 2 sedans to Europe and the US.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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