Germany’s foreign minister and Social Democrat rival to German Chancellor Angela Merkel says he is in favor of state aid for German automakers, a German Sunday newspaper reported.
The German auto industry is “the spinal cord of our economy,” Steinmeier told the Welt am Sonntag, according to advance copies. It is Germany’s largest industry and biggest export.
“We must also stimulate the purchasing of automobiles with state incentives,” such as a tax break, said Steinmeier, a member of Germany’s “grand coalition” government and expected rival to Merkel in next year’s election.
New car registrations in Germany slumped by 18 percent last month compared with the same month last year, according to the auto manufacturers’ association VDA.
For all of this year, VDA says car sales are expected to hit their lowest level since the reunification of west and east Germany in 1990, at less than 3.1 million vehicles. Sales are expected to be even worse next year.
One out of seven German workers is directly or indirectly involved in the car industry, according to VDA.
The US auto industry dodged almost certain collapse last week when the US government extended US$13.4 billion in loans to cash-strapped General Motors and Chrysler. Merkel, who has been criticized for not doing enough to help Europe’s biggest economy out of recession, has called a cabinet meeting for Jan. 5 to discuss a second stimulus package.
Meanwhile, troubled German property lender Hypo Real Estate is being investigated for possible insider trading, according to the weekly Der Spiegel to be published today.
It said prosecutors in Munich had launched an investigation in February after large sales of shares were registered just before the private bank announced a 35 percent drop in assets.
After a German association of small shareholders filed a complaint, prosecutors in Munich opened an investigation into accusations that Hypo Real Estate (HRE) directors provided insufficient information on the bank’s situation before it required an emergency bailout.
HRE posted a net loss of 3.1 billion euros (US$4.3 billion) in the third quarter, and said a week ago that it expects to report new losses in its fourth quarter and annual results.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
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