■TRADE
PRC buying group in Taipei
A delegation from China’s Sichuan Province is arriving today to attend a procurement meeting in Taipei tomorrow, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) officials said yesterday. The delegation, led by Sichuan communist party secretary Liu Qibao (劉奇葆), is expected to place orders for agricultural products, consumer products, electrical appliances, flat panels and machinery, TAITRA said in a press release. Officials from 56 Sichuan-based firms will accompany Liu, including Sichuan Changhong Group (四川長虹集團), Chengdu Construction Engineering Corp (成都建築工程集團), Sichuan Changzheng Machine Tool Group (四川長征機床集團), Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co (四川科倫藥業公司) and Sichuan Yadong Cement Co (四川亞東水泥有限公司).
■CHEMICALS
Sinochem buys Peregrino
Sinochem Group (中國中化), China’s biggest chemicals trader, agreed on Friday to pay US$3 billion to Statoil ASA for 40 percent of the Brazilian offshore Peregrino field. The companies also agreed to jointly seek more opportunities in Brazil and elsewhere, Statoil CEO Helge Lund said. “Both companies see many opportunities for value creation through increased recovery and exploration for additional resources in the decades to come.” Statoil, Norway’s largest oil and natural gas company, said last year it was considering cutting its stake in Peregrino to reduce risk and raise funds to develop other projects.
■INTERNET
Facebook to tighten security
Facebook Inc, owner of the world’s most popular social-networking site, plans to announce changes to privacy settings after users said they wanted simpler ways to manage what information is shared online. The company will introduce the changes “shortly,” it said in an e-mailed statement. The company has been grappling with concerns about privacy after it introduced tools last month that let users recommend products and Web sites to their friends.
■COMPUTERS
HP expands laptop recall
Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) is expanding a voluntary recall of laptops due to the risk of fire from overheating batteries, the company and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Friday. The commission said that since an initial recall in May last year, HP has received additional reports of overheated and ruptured batteries.
■AUTOMOBILES
Ford recalls cars in Brazil
US carmaker Ford on Friday issued a recall of Ka models sold in Brazil because of an electrical defect that posed a fire risk. The recall affected Ka cars made since 2008, Ford said in a statement. That amounted to 155,000 vehicles, according to the National Automobile Dealership Federation. There was a “possibility” of the electrical system coming into contact with the chassis, Ford said.
■BANKING
FDIC settles WaMu case
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) has approved a global settlement of the bankruptcy case involving Washington Mutual Inc (WaMu), one of the largest US banks to fail as a result of the financial crisis. “This agreement will result in substantial recoveries to the receiver and resolve potential claims that could have taken years and millions of dollars to litigate,” FDIC’s general counsel Michael Bradfield said on Friday. WaMu was closed by regulators who orchestrated its sale to JPMorgan Chase on Sept. 25.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
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
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