The French government wants all retail outlets other than restaurants and bars to be able to reopen once a nationwide lockdown is lifted on May 11, French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire said yesterday.
The government has said that not all businesses would be able to go back to work immediately once the lockdown, in place since the middle of last month to rein in the COVID-19 outbreak, ends.
“We want all retailers to be able to open on May 11 in the same way out of fairness,” Le Maire told France Info radio, adding that it remained to be seen whether that would be possible nationwide or only region by region.
“I would only set aside restaurants, bars and cafes,” he said.
The retail sector is among the hardest hit by the government-imposed closure of non-essential activities.
The lockdown is still cutting economic activity by 35 percent more than a month since it was imposed, despite a slight pick-up in the industrial and construction sectors, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said.
Setting those two sectors aside, the INSEE estimate suggests that activity has yet to regain any momentum.
In the private sector and excluding rents, the loss of activity was as much as half of what it would be at normal levels, it said.
With the recovery likely to be gradual after the lockdown is lifted, the INSEE said that the impact was likely to be bigger than its previous estimate that each month of lockdown would reduce GDP by 3 percentage points.
The government has forecast that the eurozone’s second-biggest economy would contract 8 percent this year, which would be its worst recession since World War II.
Activity had picked up in the industrial and construction sectors after health protocols had been put in place allowing some factories and construction sites to resume work, INSEE said.
Separately, INSEE’s monthly survey showed that business confidence fell this month to the lowest level since records began in 1980, falling to 62 points from 94 last month.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
RSS