Blog

 Sony Group Corp’s semiconductor division will likely see a limited impact from chip export curbs to China by the United States, Japan and the Netherlands, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Chief Executive Terushi Shimizu said on Thursday.

 

Sony is the world’s largest maker of image sensors widely used in smartphones and autos. Its competitors include South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

 

The United States announced sweeping curbs on semiconductor exports to China in October last year to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances. The Netherlands and Japan last month also agreed on chip-related export restrictions, although no details are available.

 

Shipments of Sony’s security camera-related products could be affected by the U.S. export curbs, Shimizu told Reuters, but “it will only be a tiny bit”.

 

The negative impact to its sales will likely exceed one billion yen ($7.47 million), but be below 10 billion yen, or less than 1% of the unit’s total revenue.

 

The chip division expects total sales to come to 1.42 trillion yen for the year ending March 31, 2023.

 

Shimizu said the company’s microchip operations will be little affected by the wider curbs, as the division does not generally handle cutting-edge chips.

 

The chip unit’s chief executive also said that smartphone demand will likely recover from the second half of 2023.

 

Global smartphone shipments hit 1.2 billion units in 2022, the lowest since 2013, according to research firm IDC.

 

 

 

China’s foreign ministry said that Beijing is ready to work with Belgium to develop their bilateral relations.

 

China hopes that Belgium will continue to provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies, the ministry said in a statement issued on Friday.

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said in a telephone call with Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib that he would like the two countries to expand cooperation in various fields and increase personnel exchanges, it added.

 

Qin was quoted as saying that the two countries should remain committed to a comprehensive strategic partnership and oppose politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues.

 

He also said they should work together to maintain global production and supply chains, promoting the long-term and stable growth of relations between China and Europe.

 

Source: U.S.News

Electric carmaker Tesla Inc is considering setting up an assembly plant near a new Mexico City airport, which would serve as an export hub for the firm, Mexican presidential spokesman Jesus Ramirez said.

 

Ramirez said that Tesla could put a plant at an industrial park in development about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA), a new hub opened by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador last year.

 

“Tesla is looking at investing in that area to take advantage of AIFA,” Ramirez told Reuters late on Monday, noting the site could serve as a base for the firm to export by air.

 

He gave no further details, but the remarks follow recent comments by Ramirez to newspaper El Heraldo de Mexico about the prospect of a Tesla investment there.

 

“Tesla will invest there … in an assembly plant, to export directly by air,” Ramirez told the newspaper.

 

Separately, a Mexican official told Reuters that Tesla had been shown the site, but had given no indication of its plans.

 

Chief Executive Elon Musk has been eyeing a potential investment in the northern state of Nuevo Leon bordering Texas, according to media reports and officials who spoke to Reuters.

 

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

 

Ramirez told El Heraldo de Mexico that Tesla was aiming to invest in the T-MexPark, a major industrial park being built close to the Felipe Angeles airport.

 

 

 

Source: U.S.News

Brazil and Argentina aim for greater economic integration, including the development of a common currency, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentine leader Alberto Fernandez said in a joint article they penned.

 

“We intend to overcome the barriers to our exchanges, simplify and modernize the rules and encourage the use of local currencies,” says the text published on the Argentine website Perfil.

 

“We also decided to advance discussions on a common South American currency that can be used for both financial and commercial flows, reducing costs operations and our external vulnerability,” the article said.

 

The idea of a common currency was raised originally in an article written last year by Fernando Haddad and Gabriel Galipolo, now Brazil’s finance minister and his executive secretary, respectively, and was mentioned by Lula during the campaign.

 

Lula chose Argentina for his inaugural international trip since taking office, keeping with the tradition of first visiting Brazil’s largest trading partner in the region. That follows four years of tense relations during the government of former Brazilian right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.

 

Lula’s trip to neighboring Argentina also marks the return of Brazil to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which Brazil left in 2019 under order from Bolsonaro, who refused to participate in the regional group due to the presence of Cuba and Venezuela.

 

Both presidents emphasized the need for a good relationship between Argentina and Brazil to strengthen regional integration, according to the article.

 

The leaders also emphasized strengthening the Mercosur trade bloc, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and which Brazilian Finance Minister Haddad recently lamented has been abandoned in recent years.

 

“Together with our partners, we want Mercosur to constitute a platform for our effective integration into the world, through the joint negotiation of balanced trade agreements that respond to our strategic development objectives,” both presidents said.

 

 

 

 

 

Source: U.S.News

India will seek an easing of European Union steel import quotas and tarrifs in talks for a new trade deal as Indian steelmakers struggle to sell the alloy in one of world’s big markets, a senior government official said.

 

Last year, India and the EU relaunched negotiations for a free trade agreement with the aim of completing talks by the end of 2023. The two sides previously launched talks in 2007, but they were frozen in 2013 due to a lack of progress.

 

“India is likely to take up the issue of EU’s steel import quota and their high tariffs during the free trade negotiations,” said the official with direct knowledge of the matter. The official declined to be named as India’s plan to take up the issue with the EU is confidential.

 

India’s steel and trade ministries did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

 

The EU uses a system of quotas and tariffs to protect its steelmakers. Other than India, the main exporters of steel to the EU are China, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Ukraine.

 

“Secondary steel manufacturers have raised the issue of EU’s export quota and tariffs coming in the way of India’s steel exports to the EU,” the official said.

 

In its negotiations with the EU, India is also expected to express New Delhi’s concerns over EU countries’ proposed carbon dioxide emissions tariff on imports of polluting goods such as steel and cement.

 

“All these countries in order to protect their industries, force their standards,” the official said.

 

Separately, India has launched four investigations against Chinese stainless steel imports to probe potential “dumping”, the official said.

 

New Delhi last month slapped anti-dumping import duties on stainless steel seamless tubes and pipe imports from China.

 

The official also said India was working on a proposal to introduce 23 new quality control orders to check low-quality imports.

 

As Indian steel mills struggle with raw material supply disruptions triggered by the war in Ukraine, the official said New Delhi was looking at securing the supply of coking coal from new markets such as Mongolia.

 

The Ministry of Steel has also requested The Ministry of Finance to axe coking coal import duty, the official said.

 

Source: U.S.News

 China’s central bank will step up support for private firms as part of steps to shore up the economy, while easing a crackdown on tech companies, Guo Shuqing, Communist party chief of the People’s Bank of China, was quoted by state media as saying.

 

Monetary policy in 2023 will focus on expanding demand, especially personal consumption, Guo told state-owned CCTV on Sunday, reaffirming earlier official remarks.

 

Chinese leaders have pledged to increase support for the world’s second-largest economy, which was hit hard by COVID-19 lockdowns last year as well as slowing global demand. After tough virus curbs were reversed in December, the country is now battling a surge of infections.

 

Financial policy should be coordinated with fiscal and social policies to increase income for low- and middle-income groups as well as COVID-hit groups, Guo, who is also the chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said in a CCTV interview.

 

“Prudent monetary policy will be precise and forceful. That requires focus on expanding effective demand and deepening the supply-side structural reforms,” Guo said.

 

Chinese financial institutions should treat all types of enterprises fairly, he said, pledging the monetary policy will strengthen support to private enterprises, maintain credit growth and lower financing costs for businesses.

Authorities aim to widen financing channels for private firms, supporting their stock and bond issuance, Guo said.

 

China will also promote sound development of online platform companies, Guo said , adding rectification of financial businesses of 14 platform companies have been “basically completed” while a few remaining issues need to be resolved. Guo did not name the companies.

 

Since late 2020, Beijing stepped up control of the country’s sprawling fintech giants, requiring them to return to basics after years of breakneck growth.

 

Authorities will adopt “normalized regulation” afterwards and encourage platform companies to operate in a compliant manner, CCTV said.

 

 

Source: U.S.News

U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp is suing the European Union in a bid to force it to scrap the bloc’s new windfall tax on oil groups, arguing Brussels exceeded its legal authority by imposing the levy.

 

Record profits this year by oil companies benefiting from high energy prices have boosted inflation around the world and led to fresh calls to further tax the sector.

 

The windfall profits tax is “counter-productive,” discourages investments and undermines investor confidence, Exxon spokesperson Casey Norton said on Wednesday. Exxon will factor in the tax as it considers future multibillion-euro investments in Europe’s energy supply and transition, he said.

 

“Whether we invest here primarily depends on how attractive and globally competitive Europe will be,” Norton said.

 

The European Commission said it took note of the lawsuit.

 

“It will be now up to the General Court to rule on this case. The Commission maintains that the measures in question are fully compliant with EU law,” Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said in a statement on Thursday.

 

Windfall profit taxes imposed by Europe could cost at least $2 billion through the end of 2023, Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells said in a call to analysts on Dec. 8.

 

Exxon said it invested $3 billion in the past decade in refinery projects in Europe. The projects are helping it deliver more energy products at a time when Europe struggles to reduce its imports from Russia, the company said.

 

“We will continue to work with EU leaders to address these issues. Thoughtful policy is critical,” the company said.

 

Chevron Corp had also warned that taxing oil production would serve only to reduce energy supply by discouraging company investments.

 

“That goes against the intent of increasing suppliers and making energy more affordable,” Chevron’s chief financial officer, Pierre Breber, told Reuters in October.

 

In September, EU countries approved emergency levies on energy firms’ windfall profits which include a levy on fossil fuel companies’ surplus profits made in 2022 or 2023 and another levy on excess revenues that low-cost power producers make from soaring electricity costs.

 

The EU expects the “temporary solidarity contribution” could generate around 25 billion euros in public revenues that would be redistributed by EU governments.

 

“It will ensure that the whole energy sector pays its fair share in these difficult times for many to address the extraordinary energy crisis resulting from the weaponisation of the energy supply by Russia,” the Commission’s Podesta said.

 

Source: U.S.News

German companies want to boost their activities in Africa next year, especially in areas such as green hydrogen and liquefied natural gas, with 43% planning to increase investment in the continent, a survey seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed.

 

The poll of members of the German-African Business Association also showed that a further 39% of Association’s members aim to keep their spending levels in Africa stable.

 

“The majority of companies want to expand their activities in the coming year,” Association head Christoph Kannegiesser told Reuters. “It makes sense, because the continent is still on a growth trajectory.”

 

German companies invested about 1.6 billion euros in Africa in 2021, of which about 1.1 billion euros went to the sub-Sahara region, according to economy ministry data.

 

As Europe’s biggest economy has been seeking to reduce its reliance on Russia for gas since the invasion of Ukraine, Kannegiesser said he sees big opportunities in the energy sector in Africa.

 

“The field of green hydrogen and liquefied gas will give a new impetus in many countries,” he said, highlighting Senegal, Nigeria and Mauritania as countries with investment potential.

 

Namibia could also profit massively from green hydrogen production, said Kannegiesser.

 

The survey showed that 56% of the companies viewed their business activities in Africa in 2022 positively and a further 7% rated them “very good”.

 

The Association, which says it represents around 85% of German businesses active in Africa, wants the government to give greater support through improved conditions for export credit insurance and investment guarantees from the German government to ensure African business is not left to the United States and China.

 

The Association has criticised a law taking effect on Jan. 1 which obliges big companies to act against human rights and climate violations, saying it is counter-productive as it creates a new layer of bureaucracy.

 

 

Source: U.S. News

Indonesia’s 2022 trade surplus will likely be its biggest on record, but next year the gap is expected to narrow to about $38.3 billion to $38.5 billion, a trade ministry official said on Tuesday.

 

 

The ministry’s head of trade policy department, Kasan, did not provide an estimate for this year’s surplus in merchandise trade, but said it was likely to be a historic high.

 

“Next year likely we will still see a surplus. But the growth will depend on future situations including in countries that are our export destinations,” Kasan, who goes by one name, told reporters at a trade seminar.

 

 

Resource-rich Indonesia has seen an export boom this year, riding on high global commodity prices. It booked a $50.6 billion trade surplus in the January-November period, already bigger than the last record annual trade surplus in 2006.

 

 

“We need to focus our strategy on non-traditional markets next year … to compensate for weakening or crises in traditional markets,” he said.

 

 

Authorities have also said exports would reach a new record high this year, potentially topping $290 billion. In January to November, exports were worth $268.2 billion, up 28.2% from the same period last year.

 

 

Indonesia’s biggest buyers include China, the United States and Japan. The trade ministry has been trying to diversify by increasing shipments to Latin America and Africa.

 

 

Kasan predicted exports, excluding oil and gas shipments, to grow between 3.9% to 4.7% next year.

 

 

Such exports rose 29% on a yearly basis in January to November.

 

 

Analysts have said Indonesia’s export growth would likely weaken next year due to slowing global economic growth and easing commodity prices.

 

 

 

Source:U.S.News

Germany wants a joint European response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act that would involve simplifying rules on state support and expanding funding opportunities, according to a German economy ministry document seen by Reuters on Friday.

 

The European Union could set up a programme to promote green technology by combining various funding elements to avoid budget constraints: the Innovation Fund could increase support for large-scale projects for clean technologies, for example, or the European Investment Bank (EIB) could take on more risk through guarantees, it said.

 

The ministry document also suggests member states could anchor sustainability criteria more firmly in public tenders at the national level as well as extend or increase traditional subsidy programmes, but warned against local content requirements which favour domestic industry.

 

These would not only likely contradict World Trade Organization (WTO) law, according to the document, but also contribute to “a further erosion of the world trade order”.

 

While European Union countries welcome Washington’s investment drive for green technology, they claim 200 billion euros ($207 billion) of U.S. subsidies tied to locally produced content could break WTO rules by disadvantaging their companies.

 

The EU and Washington have established a joint task force in hope of resolving the dispute over the $430 billion act.

 

 

Source: U.S.News