■ Labor
Seoul orders end to strike
Using rarely invoked powers, the South Korean government yesterday ordered an end to a 25-day strike by unionized pilots at Asiana Airlines, the country's second-biggest carrier, the Labor Ministry said. The government's intervention forces the pilots to stop the strike for 30 days. The government action came after hopes were raised for a last-minute resolution, with the union and management suddenly resuming broken off negotiations earlier in the day. Those talks failed to reach a breakthrough, the ministry said. Asiana has been forced to cancel over 2,000 domestic and more than 130 international flights since the strike began July 17. About 90 percent of its cargo flights have been suspended. The strike has been costly for the airline and companies it works closely with such as travel agencies, importers and exporters, resulting in estimated losses of 353 billion won (US$348 million) through Sunday.
■ Computers
Lenovo reports rising profit
In its first earnings report since buying IBM Corp's PC business, Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) said yesterday that its net profit rose 6 percent in the April-June quarter to HK$357 million (US$45.8 million). The figure compared to HK$337 million in the first quarter last year. Lenovo said its overall PC business remained profitable despite taking on IBM's money-losing unit, with global sales totalling HK$18.3 billion. Lenovo chief executive Steve Ward said the PC operations acquired from IBM in April are performing better than they did under IBM. Overall revenue more than tripled in the fiscal first quarter to HK$19.6 billion from HK$5.88 billion. Hong Kong-listed Lenovo had earlier predicted the IBM deal would quadruple its sales. Lenovo said in a statement it was "generating faster-than-expected benefits from the synergies anticipated from the acquisition."
■ Aerospace
EU backs merger plan
The European Commission has given its green light to plans by US aerospace and defense firms Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co to merge their rocket launch services. The firms will form a joint venture known as United Launch Alliance, to combine the testing and launching operations of Lockheed Martin's Atlas and Boeing's Delta rockets. The EU head office said late on Tuesday that the deal posed no competition concerns in the European market. The two firms will maintain separate engineering and design programs and will still produce their two rockets separately. The merger comes after a downturn in the rocket business. Each firm will control 50 percent of the venture, which is expected to generate between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion in annual revenue.
■ Acquisitions
Ripplewood ups Maytag bid
In a last-ditch effort to outbid Maytag's much larger Whirlpool, a consortium of investors led by the private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings indicated on Tuesday night that it might be willing to raise its offer to about US$15.65 a share, or US$1.3 billion, according to executives close to the negotiations. Ripplewood made the indication to Maytag's board a day after Whirlpool submitted a bid of US$20 a share, or US$1.62 billion in cash and stock. Maytag's board had until 2pm yesterday to decide which bid to accept if neither suitor formally adjusts its offer.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
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