With a week remaining for Chrysler LLC to clinch a deal with Italy’s Fiat, the US automaker is readying a bankruptcy plan but still focused on reaching an alliance with the support of the administration of US President Barack Obama, people with knowledge of the discussions said on Thursday.
Fiat, meanwhile, also emerged as a potential buyer for General Motors Corp’s (GM) Opel unit in a deal that would mark the Italian automaker’s emergence as a major global player with a role in the restructuring of two of Detroit’s sputtering carmakers.
Chrysler, which faces a government-imposed April 30 deadline to cement an alliance with Italy’s Fiat or face a cut off of its federal funding that could trigger its liquidation in bankruptcy, has been preparing for a Chapter 11 filing as a contingency, a person with direct knowledge of the plans said.
A US official said the focus for the automaker’s task force headed by former investment banker Steve Rattner was for brokering a Chrysler-Fiat deal even as it prepared for the alternative.
“In a negotiation like this, everything is speculation until there’s a deal,” the official said.
Separately, the head of the Canadian Auto Workers union said on Thursday he expected to have a cost-saving deal completed with Chrysler by yesterday morning.
Canada is also considering providing financing to both Chrysler and GM if the companies end up filing for bankruptcy, Industry Minister Tony Clement said.
GM said on Thursday it would slash production over the next three months.
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
TECHNICAL LEAD: The US needs to boost its missile technology and build a communications network able to withstand hackers, Admiral Samuel Paparo said US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said the US is confident it could defeat China in the Pacific, but that technical advantage is shrinking, the Washington Post reported yesterday. Speaking at the Reagan Defense Forum on Saturday, Paparo said the US needs to maintain its technical lead over China by enhancing missile technology and building a communications network able to withstand hackers, the paper reported. Although the US is able to hit long-distance and difficult targets with its advanced cruise missile system, each launch costs more than US$1 million, he said. By contrast, drones, which are relatively cheap to build and develop, can
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia