INDIA
Modi sends aid to farmers
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 180 billion rupees (US$2.5 billion) as part of a program for smallholders, even as tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from the northern states of Haryana and Punjab, continued their month-long protest on the outskirts of New Delhi against new farm laws. Under the initiative, the government has announced to deposit a total of 6,000 rupees in a year directly to the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers in three equal installments. More than 90 million farmers would get the money in their accounts, Modi told farmers via video conferencing yesterday. The government has so far transferred 1.1 trillion rupees to growers under the program, he added.
JAPAN
Virus aid spat spurs reform
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry yesterday unveiled a raft of public procurement reforms following an outcry over a deal to disburse COVID-19 pandemic relief to struggling businesses that involved powerful advertising agency Dentsu Inc. The ministry said that the new rules aimed for greater transparency in its dealings with bidding entities and their audit. The changes, proposed by a panel of auditors and following months of deliberations, would apply the ministry’s spending, starting with its portion of a US$200 billion extra budget passed this month that includes new COVID-19-related subsidies. The ministry launched the probe after lawmakers and experts questioned how taxpayers’ money was spent under the pandemic relief scheme and whether a small nonprofit entity that won the contract to disburse the funds was a front that would shield Dentsu from public scrutiny.
ENERGY
Japan’s Orix to buy Elawan
Orix Corp agreed to buy Spain’s Elawan Energy SL, the Japanese financial conglomerate’s first deal to acquire a majority stake in an overseas renewable power company, people with knowledge of the matter said. Tokyo-based Orix is purchasing an 80 percent stake in Elawan from its management and Spanish industrial firm Acek Energias Renovables SL, said the people, who asked not to be identified before an announcement. With an additional capital injection later, the deal is worth about ￥100 billion (US$965 million), the people said. The acquisition would expand Orix’s global renewable energy operations as it broadens a business portfolio that ranges from leasing to banking and real estate. Acek, which also owns car parts maker Gestamp Automocion SA, has been selling stakes in renewable assets. Elawan, set up in 2007, develops and operates wind and solar power projects in Europe and the Americas.
REAL ESTATE
Late pop star’s ranch sold
The Michael Jackson’s famed Neverland Ranch in California has finally sold, more than 10 years after the death of the pop star who abandoned the property following his trial on charges of molesting a young boy there. Billionaire investor Ron Burkle, a former family friend of Jackson, bought the sprawling 1,100 hectare estate, his spokesman said on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal reported that the estate, which was renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch several years ago, sold for US$22 million. In 2015, the asking price was US$100 million and in 2017 it was relisted for US$67 million. Burkle’s spokesman said that the businessman spotted the estate from the air and contacted Tom Barrack, the founder of real-estate investment company Colony Capital LLC, to seal the sale. The ranch was off the market at the time.
CHIP WAR: Tariffs on Taiwanese chips would prompt companies to move their factories, but not necessarily to the US, unleashing a ‘global cross-sector tariff war’ US President Donald Trump would “shoot himself in the foot” if he follows through on his recent pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese and other foreign semiconductors entering the US, analysts said. Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on chips manufactured in Taiwan to as high as 100 percent would backfire, macroeconomist Henry Wu (吳嘉隆) said. He would “shoot himself in the foot,” Wu said on Saturday, as such economic measures would lead Taiwanese chip suppliers to pass on additional costs to their US clients and consumers, and ultimately cause another wave of inflation. Trump has claimed that Taiwan took up to
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
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