Sputtering US automakers were offered a US$25 billion shot in the arm by Washington on Wednesday, when legislators agreed to cover the cost of insuring a massive loan from the US Energy Department.
While the loans are restricted to funding “advance technology vehicles” and can be offered to any automotive suppliers or manufacturers, they are considered critical for shoring up the fragile finances of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
The “Big Three” US automakers have been bleeding money in the face of a steady loss of market share to Asian competitors.
They have undergone massive restructuring programs and revamped their product lines in recent years but continue to post staggering losses amid a weakening economy and a shift away from their gasoline guzzling truck and sport utility vehicles.
With their credit ratings now deep into junk status and the financial crisis limiting access to loans from the private sector, analysts have speculated that at least one of the Big Three could end up running out of money in the coming months.
GM has lost about US$70 billion since 2005 while Ford’s losses have approached US$24 billion since 2006. Chrysler, which is now privately owned after being sold by Daimler last year, has lost US$400 million so far this year, after losing 1.9 billion last year.
The Big Three automakers have stressed that loans are not a bailout and will be used to pay for more fuel efficient engines, development of lighter-weight vehicles and new high-tech batteries for electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
Foreign ministers of leading Western democracies sought to show a united front in Canada yesterday after seven weeks of rising tensions between US allies and US President Donald Trump over his upending of foreign policy on Ukraine and imposing of tariffs. The G7 ministers from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, along with the EU, convened in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills, for two days of meetings that in the past have broadly been consensual on the issues they face. Top of the agenda for Washington’s partners would be getting a
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