A US bankruptcy court will likely rule tomorrow on whether to allow the sale of US auto giant Chrysler to a group led by Italy’s Fiat, the presiding judge said.
Speaking on Friday at the close of three days of marathon hearings, Judge Arthur Gonzalez said: “My plan is to issue an opinion sometime Monday.”
The judge had been widely expected to rule on Friday after lawyers backing and opposing the US-government-crafted rescue plan for Chrysler plan completed their final arguments.
The third-biggest US automaker filed for bankruptcy protection on April 30 and is seeking a tie-up with Fiat in a plan presented as the only way to save the company from liquidation.
Creditors, parts suppliers, dealership owners and others losing money in the bankruptcy argue that their rights have been trampled in the effort to force through the deal.
Legal appeals were expected if Gonzalez ruled in favor, meaning possible new delays. Fiat has said it might back out if the transaction is not completed by June 15.
Thomas Lauria, an attorney for pension funds attempting to stop the bankruptcy, said the plan was “illegal” and stripped his clients of their protections as provided under bankruptcy law.
“The planned process is being completely short-circuited,” he told the court as he opened what were expected to be lengthy closing arguments by lawyers for the various sides.
A lawyer representing some of the 789 dealers who face being shut down accused Chrysler choosing the victims in an unbusiness-like way that equated to “throwing darts at a board.”
But speaking for Chrysler, attorney Corinne Ball said there had been no other way out other than accepting the government plan for partnership with Fiat.
“The context for Chrysler is accelerating erosion of value,” she said. “There is no other alternative than liquidation.”
The developments in Chrysler are critical for General Motors (GM).
The largest US automaker was widely expected to file for bankruptcy protection ahead of its deadline tomorrow imposed by US President Barack Obama’s administration, which is providing GM with emergency cash and may put as much as 72.5 percent of the country’s biggest automaker under state ownership, according to documents filed by GM on Thursday.
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back
RSS