UNITED STATES
Li Ning goods intercepted
Goods made by Chinese sportswear giant Li Ning Co (李寧) have been held at US ports after a probe found North Korean labor in the company’s supply chain, Customs and Border Protection said. Li Ning was required to provide evidence within 30 days that its merchandise was not produced with convict labor, forced labor or indentured labor, or it “may be subject to seizure and forfeiture,” the agency said on its Web site. It said the company’s products had been held at ports since March 14. Li Ning did not respond immediately to an inquiry for comment yesterday.
PHILIPPINES
Tax break offer rejected
The country’s economic managers rejected calls to suspend excise taxes on petroleum products. The government is expecting to collect 131.4 billion pesos (US$2.5 billion) this year from excise taxes on fuel, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said in a Tuesday briefing televised yesterday. Yielding to some lawmakers and transport groups’ call to suspend the levy would cut this year’s revenue by 0.5 percent of GDP, he said. Instead, Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning Karl Chua (蔡榮富) pitched for more direct aid to affected sectors. He also proposed a four-day work week to reduce costs for businesses and workers, a move done in past oil shocks.
ENTERTAINMENT
EU approves MGM sale
The EU on Tuesday approved the purchase by Amazon.com Inc of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios, but the deal, which would boost the tech giant’s streaming ambitions, still needs to clear regulatory hurdles in the US. The US$8.4 billion buyout would bolster Amazon Prime Video with about 4,000 films and 17,000 television shows as it faces off with the likes of Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co in a fast-evolving market. The European Commission said in a statement that the proposed transaction would raise “no competition concerns” and “cleared the case unconditionally.”
AUTOMOTIVE
BYD hikes prices again
Chinese automaker BYD Co (比亞迪) is raising the prices of its new-energy vehicles for a second time in less than two months, citing surging raw material costs. The Shenzhen-based auto manufacturer that is backed by Warren Buffett is increasing prices on its Dynasty and Ocean series of vehicles by 3,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan (US$473 to US$945), the company said on Sina Weibo (微博) late on Tuesday. Tesla Inc also hiked prices in China and the US twice in less than a week, with CEO Elon Musk warning the company is facing “significant” inflationary pressures around raw materials and logistics.
COMMODITIES
Glencore issues warning
Global commodity markets will need to adapt to a lack of supply from Russia and Ukraine, global miner and commodities trader Glencore PLC said in its annual report yesterday. “Over time, global commodity trade flows will need to adapt to some or all of Russian/Ukrainian supply being unavailable, whether due to infrastructure damage, sanctions or ethical concerns,” Glencore said. Russia is a key supplier of oil, natural gas, coal, aluminum and nickel, while Ukraine is a major grain producer and exporter. Volatility in all these commodities has spiked, Glencore said. Uncertainty over the supply of commodities might disrupt trade flows, and push commodity prices and input costs up, it said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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