■GREEN BUSINESS
Buffet buys share of BYD
Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc agreed to pay HK$1.8 billion (US$231 million) for a minority stake in BYD Co (比亞迪), China’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries. Berkshire Hathaway unit MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co will buy 225 million BYD shares, equivalent to a stake of about 10 percent, in the Shenzhen-based manufacturer, a statement issued yesterday. The partnership with MidAmerican would help BYD bring its electric vehicles and other environmental protection measures to the global market, Wang Chuanfu (王傳福), the Chinese company’s chairman, said in the statement. BYD aims to start selling gasoline-electric hybrid cars in the US as early as 2010, it said in January. It also plans to roll out its first all-electric auto in China next year.
■SHIPPING
Yang Ming launches ships
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), Taiwan’s second-largest shipping line, launched two new container ships on Friday, increasing the number of vessels in its fleet to more than 100. Lu Feng-hai (盧峰海), chairman of Yang Ming, and Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文隆), chairman of CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) — the builder of the two ships — jointly presided over the launching ceremony for YM Upward and YM Enhancer at CSBC’s deep-water wharf in Kaohsiung. YM Upward can carry 4,250 containers, known as 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) , while YM Enhancer has a capacity for 8,241 TEUs.
■AIRLINE
Pilots agree to takeover
Pilots at Alitalia SpA gave their green light to a rescue plan for the Italian airline after nearly 15 hours of nonstop negotiations, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported yesterday. The pilots agreed to a takeover by a consortium of private investors after negotiating a reduction in sackings and manager contracts for captains. The agreement meant only Alitalia’s flight attendants union had yet to approve the deal designed to keep Italy’s flagship carrier from collapse. Talks were scheduled with that union tomorrow. Under plans for the takeover, the private investor group, the Italian Air Co, has demanded at least 3,000 jobs be cut.
■AUTO
Chrysler fires 250 workers
Chrysler LLC has resorted to firing 250 salaried workers in order to meet targeted job reductions as it shrinks its struggling US operations, the automaker said on Friday. “There are involuntary separations underway,” Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said. “It’s certainly very difficult. But we have to take these steps to ensure the long term financial health and competitiveness of the company.” The layoffs are part of a cost cutting plan announced in June that involved the elimination of 1,000 white-collar positions. The company said at the time that it hoped to eliminate the positions through buyouts and retirements.
■COMPUTERS
Apple unlocks iPhones in HK
Apple has started selling unlocked models of its popular iPhone 3G in Hong Kong that allow users the freedom to select the telecom provider of their choice. The eight gigabyte version was on sale yesterday at Apple’s online store for HK$5,400 (US$700), while the 16 gigabyte model was HK$6,200. Apple said the phone can be activated with any wireless carrier. The move is a shift from Apple’s previous strategy of tying the phone exclusively to a single mobile operator in each country or territory.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
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