Automobile and truck tire maker Federal Corp (泰豐輪胎) yesterday said that it has shut a factory in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), as it has lost substantial orders following a steep anti-dumping tariff imposed by the US.
Federal Corp’s decision came after the US Department of Commerce on May 24 ruled that Taiwanese tire manufacturers have to pay anti-dumping tariffs of 20.04 to 101.84 percent.
Federal Corp faces a duty of 84.75 percent on tire exports to the US, up from a 4 percent levy on local suppliers in the past.
Photo: CNA
Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co (正新輪胎) has tariffs of 20.04 percent and Nankang Rubber Tire Corp (南港輪胎) faces the stiffest penalty of 101.84 percent, the department has said.
“The anti-dumping duty has severely affected the company’s operations. Considering the levy’s threat to the company’s survival, the board of directors approved the proposal to close down the Jhongli plant entirely to safeguard shareholders’ interests,” Federal Corp said in a statement submitted to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Federal Corp expects the ruling to have a severe effect on its US orders and revenue, as more than 80 percent of the tires made at the factory are exported to the US, the statement said.
The Jhongli plant contributed about 27 percent to the company’s revenue of NT$549 million (US$19.85 million) in the first quarter, Federal Corp said.
The plant has installed capacity of 1.8 million tires a year, it said.
To cut costs and squeeze out more cash, Federal Corp has submitted an application to lay off a lot of workers, the company said.
It also plans to auction the Jhongli facilities and land, it said.
It has laid out a long-term business strategy to recoup lost exports to the US, while stepping up collaboration with overseas original electronics manufacturers to circumvent the duty, it said.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
From George Clooney to LeBron James, celebrities in the US have cashed in on tequila’s soaring popularity, but in Mexico, producers of the agave plant used to make the country’s most famous liquor are nursing a nasty hangover. Instead of bringing a long period of prosperity for farmers of the spiky succulent, the tequila boom has created a supply glut that sent agave prices slumping. Mexican tequila exports surged from 224 million liters in 2018 to a record 402 million last year, according to the Tequila Regulatory Council, which oversees qualification for the internationally recognized denomination of origin label. The US, Germany, Spain,
RSS