EUROPEAN UNION
Inflation fight remains ‘key’
In policy recommendations to be given to member states yesterday, seen by Bloomberg News, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, was to tell national governments that “it will take time for price pressures to disappear” so “combating inflation remains a key policy priority in the coming period.” Officials reiterated that fiscal measures taken to aid consumers and businesses through the energy crisis should be phased out this year, and that they should revert to prudent policies for their public finances to ensure long-term debt sustainability. The annual recommendations to capitals around the region differ from last year’s by elevating inflation as a key challenge for governments to help tackle. A turbulent geopolitical context, the ensuing energy crisis and implementation of the EU’s unprecedented 800 billion euros (US$862 billion) recovery fund have been dominant themes since the previous report.
GERMANY
Business outlook sours
The country’s business outlook deteriorated for the first time since October last year, as a struggling manufacturing sector threatens to undermine the recovery of Europe’s biggest economy. An expectations gauge by the Ifo institute slipped to 88.6 this month from 91.7 the previous month, worse than expected by every single economist in a Bloomberg survey. A measure of current conditions also slipped. “The mood in the German economy has taken a significant hit,” Ifo president Clemens Fuest said in a statement yesterday. “The German economy is skeptical about the summer.”
TECHNOLOGY
Apple, Broadcom join forces
Apple Inc on Tuesday announced a multibillion-dollar collaboration with US tech firm Broadcom Inc to make “cutting-edge” components for wirelessly connecting to high-speed 5G telecom networks. The iPhone maker did not specify exactly how many billions of dollars it would put into the Broadcom alliance, but said it is part of a commitment to invest in the US economy. “All of Apple’s products depend on technology engineered and built here in the United States, and we’ll continue to deepen our investments in the US economy because we have an unshakable belief in America’s future,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement. The alliance would include designing and manufacturing sophisticated radio frequency components and other “cutting-edge wireless connectivity” parts in the US, Apple said.
UNITED STATES
White House hosts forum
The White House hosted a forum for workers whose employers use automated systems to monitor them, and plans a broader effort to ask Americans what priorities the government should pursue regarding artificial intelligence as President Joe Biden weighs new regulations on emerging workplace technologies. The meeting with White House officials on Tuesday would feature employees from call centers, warehouses, healthcare, gig work and the trucking industry, as the administration seeks to better understand how companies deploy automated technology for worker surveillance. Companies including Amazon.com Inc and Uber Technologies Inc have come under criticism from labor groups who say technologies designed to improve performance and efficiency can push them to accept unsafe working conditions.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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