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.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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