■ EUROZONE
Industrial production drops
Official data shows industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro unexpectedly fell in June, raising fears that economic growth in the eurozone may not be as strong as anticipated. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said yesterday that industrial output slid 0.1 percent in June from the previous month. That sharply contrasts with the 1.1 percent gain recorded in May and confounded market expectations for a 0.6 percent rise.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Interest rate unchanged
The central bank left its key interest rate unchanged yesterday as the outlook for the global economy dims — a month after raising it from a record low. The Bank of Korea’s decision to leave the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate at 2.25 percent was widely expected. Government debt problems in some European countries have eased, but risks still loom, it said.
■ TECHNOLOGY
India mulls BlackBerry ban
High-level government talks in India yesterday to discuss a possible suspension of BlackBerry services over worries about national security ended “inconclusively,” an official said, adding that the talks between the home ministry and intelligence agencies did not come to a decision on whether to halt BlackBerry’s services if the smartphone maker failed to address security concerns.
■ BEVERAGES
World Cup boosts sales
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s largest brewer, said yesterday that the soccer World Cup helped push up sales in the second quarter, boosting net profit by 7.5 percent to US$1.15 billion. The producer of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s said results this year beat its own expectations and those of market analysts and growth will continue through this year. Revenue rose 4.1 percent to US$9.2 billion in the second quarter.
■ TELECOMS
Telstra profits drop
Australian telecoms giant Telstra yesterday said annual profits dropped 4.7 percent to US$3.49 billion and would keep falling as fixed-line revenues decline and mobile competition heats up. The former state monopoly said net profits of A$3.88 billion (US$3.49 billion) would slide by a “high single-digit percentage” in the coming financial year on “flattish” sales revenue. “[Financial year] 2010 was undoubtedly a challenging year as we managed intense competition and an accelerating shift of voice and data to our mobile networks,” a company statement said.
■ FOOD
Barilla sells bakery chain
Italian pasta maker Barilla has agreed to sell German bakery chain Kamps to a private equity fund and the company’s management for an undisclosed sum. Kamps said late on Wednesday that the new majority owner will be a fund administered by ECM Equity Capital Management GmbH, based in Frankfurt. It said Kamps’ management would hold a “significant” stake, but didn’t elaborate.
■CHINA
Tariffs imposed on chemical
China yesterday slapped anti-dumping duties of up to 20.1 percent on a chemical imported from South Korea and Thailand that is used to make clothes and plastic. The Ministry of Commerce said it would impose tariffs for five years on pure terephthalic acid from the two countries after finding the domestic industry had suffered “substantial damage.”
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
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