Category: Business

The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into whether AT&T, Verizon and a standards-setting group worked together to stop consumers from easily switching wireless carriers.   The companies confirmed the inquiry in separate statements late Friday in response to a report in The New York Times.    The U.S. government is looking into whether AT&T, Verizon and telecommunications standards organization GSMA worked together to suppress a technology that lets people remotely switch wireless companies without having to insert a new SIM card into their phones.    The Times, citing six anonymous people familiar with the inquiry, reported that the investigation was opened after at least one device maker and one other wireless company filed complaints. Verizon, AT&T respond  Verizon, which is based in New York, derided the accusations on…

Russian companies hit by U.S. sanctions, including aluminum giant Rusal, have asked for 100 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) in liquidity support from the government, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Friday. The United States on April 6 imposed sanctions against several Russian entities and individuals, including Rusal and its major shareholder, Oleg Deripaska, to punish Moscow for its suspected meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and other alleged "malign activity." Rusal, the world's second-biggest aluminum producer, has been particularly hard hit as the sanctions have caused concern among some customers, suppliers and creditors that they could be blacklisted, too, through association with the company. "Temporary nationalization" is an option for some sanctions-hit companies, but not Rusal, Siluanov was quoted as saying. He did not name the companies he was referring to. A Kremlin spokesman…

U.S. news reports say Wells Fargo will be fined as much as $1 billion for illegally selling customers car insurance policies they did not want or need, and for charging unnecessary fees in connection with mortgages. This would be the largest fine ever imposed by federal bank regulators and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The fine is part of a settlement regulators negotiated with the bank. Wells Fargo and federal officials have not commented on the reports. The San Francisco-based lender admitted selling the unwanted insurance policies to hundreds of thousands of car loan customers. In many cases, the borrowers could not afford both the insurance and car payments and their cars were repossessed. Many U.S. banks have enjoyed looser federal regulations under President Donald Trump's pro-business administration. But Trump denied…

The biggest danger from the U.S.-China trade dispute is the threat to global confidence and investment, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday. The IMF chief said the tariffs threatened by the world’s two largest economies would have a modest direct impact on the global economy but could produce uncertainty that choked off investment, one of the key drivers of rising global growth. “The actual impact on growth is not very substantial, when you measure in terms of GDP,” Lagarde said of the tariffs, adding that the “erosion of confidence” would be worse. “When investors do not know under what terms they will be trading, when they don’t know how to organize their supply chain, they are reluctant to invest,” she told a news conference in Washington…

Russian aluminum giant Rusal is stockpiling large quantities of aluminum at one of its plants in Siberia because U.S. sanctions imposed this month have prevented it from selling the metal to customers, five sources close to the company said. With the firm's own storage space filling up with unsold aluminum, Rusal executives in Sayanogorsk, in southern Siberia, have had to rent out additional space to accommodate the surplus stock, one of the sources told Reuters. "Aluminum sales have broken down. And now the surplus aluminum is being warehoused in production areas of the factory itself," said someone who works on the grounds of one of Rusal's two plants in Sayanogorsk. Several people connected to Rusal said that Oleg Deripaska, the company's main shareholder who along with the company was included…

Russia demanded compensation from the U.S. for its worldwide tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel Thursday, becoming the third influential member of the World Trade Organization to do so. China, the European Union and India have also objected, arguing the tariffs are a "safeguard" measure to protect U.S. domestic products from imports, which require compensation for major exporting countries. The Trump administration has rejected that argument and says the tariffs are for national security reasons and are therefore allowed under international law. The U.S. has agreed to negotiate with China and has informed the EU and India it is willing to discuss any other issue, while maintaining their compensation claims are unwarranted. It is unclear what Moscow's demand means in practice because it did not challenge the tariffs through a…

SunPower Corp. on Wednesday said it would buy U.S. solar panel maker SolarWorld Americas, expanding its domestic manufacturing as it seeks to stem the impact of Trump administration tariffs on panel imports. The White House cheered the deal, saying it was proof that Trump's trade policies were stimulating U.S. investment. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The news sent SunPower's shares up 12 percent on the Nasdaq to their highest level since before President Donald Trump imposed 30 percent tariffs on imported solar panels in January. "The time is right for SunPower to invest in U.S. manufacturing," chief executive Tom Werner said in a statement. SunPower is based in San Jose, California, but most of its manufacturing is in the Philippines and Mexico. The company had lobbied heavily against the solar trade case brought last year by U.S.…

President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported aluminum and steel are disrupting business for hundreds of American companies that buy those metals, and many are pressing for relief. Nearly 2,200 companies are asking the Commerce Department to exempt them from the 25 percent steel tariff, and more than 200 other companies are asking to be spared the 10 percent aluminum tariff. Other companies are weighing their options. Jody Fledderman, chief executive of Batesville Tool & Die in Indiana, said American steelmakers have already raised their prices since Trump's tariffs were announced last month. Fledderman said he might have to shift production to a plant in Mexico, where he can buy cheaper steel. A group of small- and medium-size manufacturers are gathering in Washington to announce a coalition to fight the steel tariff.…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs the idea of a European Monetary Fund, provided national governments have sufficient oversight, sources close to her said before a visit by the French president. President Emmanuel Macron, who will meet Merkel in Berlin on Thursday, is pushing hard for bold euro zone reforms to defend the 19-member currency bloc against any repeat of the financial crisis that took hold in 2009 and threatened to tear it apart. His vision includes turning Europe’s existing ESM bailout fund into a European Monetary Fund (EMF). At one point, Macron also suggested the zone should have its own budget worth hundreds of billions of euros, an idea that does not sit well with Germany. Merkel told lawmakers from her conservative bloc on Tuesday that she favored the EMF…

The European Commission will put forward a proposed free-trade agreement with Japan for fast-track approval Wednesday, hoping to avoid a repeat of the public protests that nearly derailed a trade pact with Canada two years ago. The European Union and Japan concluded negotiations to create the world’s largest economic area in December, signaling their rejection of the protectionist stance of U.S. President Donald Trump. Now they want to see it go into force. The agreement would remove EU tariffs of 10 percent on Japanese cars and the 3 percent rate for most car parts. It would also scrap Japanese duties of some 30 percent on EU cheese and 15 percent on wines, and secure access to large public tenders in Japan. Canada deal memories The commission, which negotiates trade agreements…

The city of Yanan, a major wind power base in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, has introduced a lottery system to decide which wind projects will go ahead this year, a sign that grid constraints are forcing local governments to restrict capacity. China has been aggressively developing alternative power as part of its efforts to cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Grid-connected wind power reached 163.7 gigawatts (GW) last year, up 10.1 percent on the year and amounting to 9.2 percent of total generating capacity. But capacity expansion has outpaced grid construction, and large numbers of wind, solar and hydropower plants are unable to deliver all their power to consumers as a result of transmission deficiencies, a problem known as curtailment. Grid constraints According to a Yanan planning agency notice seen…

Chevron said on Tuesday two of its executives were arrested in Venezuela, a rare move likely to spook foreign energy firms still operating in the OPEC nation stricken by hyperinflation, shortages and crime. Venezuelan Sebin intelligence agents burst into the Petropiar joint venture’s office in the coastal city of Puerto La Cruz on Monday and arrested the two Venezuelan employees for alleged wrongdoing, a half-dozen sources with knowledge of the detentions told Reuters. Venezuela’s Information Ministry and state oil company PDVSA did not respond to a request for information about the detentions, which come amid a crackdown on alleged graft in the oil sector. One of the detainees, Carlos Algarra, is a Venezuelan chemical engineer and expert in oil upgrading whom Chevron had brought in from its Argentina operations. The…

China has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's charges China and Russia are manipulating the value of their currencies. Monday, Trump tweeted, "Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the U.S. keeps raising interest rates. Not acceptable!" His charge came just days after the U.S. Treasury Department declined to label China and Russia as currency manipulators in its latest report. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday the messages coming from the United States are confusing, and China will continue to promote the reform of its currency exchange rate mechanism. Trump said Russia and China are devaluing their currencies amid a possible new round of sanctions against Russia and a simmering trade war with China. In general, when a country artificially devalues its currency, its exports…

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about whether a rule it announced decades ago in a case involving a catalog retailer should still apply in the age of the internet. The case on Tuesday focuses on businesses' collection of sales tax on online purchases. Right now, under the decades-old Supreme Court rule, if a business is shipping a product to a state where it doesn't have an office, warehouse or other physical presence, it doesn't have to collect the state's sales tax. Customers are generally supposed to pay the tax to the state themselves, but the vast majority don't. States say that as a result of the rule and the growth of internet shopping, they're losing billions of dollars in tax revenue every year. More than 40 states are asking…

Every year when the pastoralist men in Fatima Demba's Mauritanian village return from their months-long journey to find pastures and water, the women erupt in wild celebrations. "We draw henna tattoos on our bodies, we braid our hair, we wear our nicest clothes," she said, re-adjusting her bright yellow and blue robe. Yet although she longs for her husband to come home, Demba sees one benefit in his absence. "I am in charge of everything," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, sitting in the shade of a mud-brick hut in Mafoundou village. "Our money, our field of millet — even the village's borehole is my responsibility." Prolonged dry spells in this southern region of Mauritania have depleted grazing land, forcing pastoralists to travel ever longer distances to search for food…

Consumers in the Chinese capital of Beijing are watching closely the simmering trade spat between China and the United States and some are concerned about the possible impact heightened trade frictions, if not an all-out trade war, could have on the cost of goods and even the broader economy. VOA’s Bill Ide files this report. ...

Doug Fabbioli is concerned about the future of the rural economy, as urban sprawl expands from metropolitan areas into farm fields and pastureland. The Virginia winery owner decided to be part of the solution and founded The New AG School, the school's mission is raising the next generation of farmers.  Farming, the hardship and joy Being a farmer is hard work, but Fabbioli says if young people knew the joys and fulfillment of farming, they'd love it. But to succeed - they will need specialized skills. That’s what Fabbioli is hoping to teach at his new school. The goal is to fill the immediate need for farm workers, but also to prepare future leaders, those who can to be mentors and teach new people how to do this down the…

The Northern Territory government in Australia says it has been approached by nearly 50 Chinese companies looking to buy land to start donkey farms. Demand for donkey products, especially donkey-hide gelatin is increasing in China, while global supplies are falling. The Northern Territory government has bought a small herd of wild donkeys for its research station near the outback town of Katherine. Earlier this a month of delegation of Chinese business people visited the facility, and up to 50 companies from China have expressed interest in buying land to set up donkey farms. It is estimated there are up to 60,000 wild donkeys in the Northern Territory. Donkeys were brought to Australia from Africa as pack animals in the 1860s, and many were released when they were no longer needed.…

Dozens of passengers line up in single file along the platform in the dead of night, ready to gather their luggage and pile into the ageing railway carriages. At the small railway station in Nampula, in northeastern Mozambique, the 4:00 a.m. train to Cuamba in the north west is more than full, as it is every day, to the detriment of those slow to board and forced to stand. In recent years, the government in Maputo has made developing the train network a priority as part of its economic plan. But mounting public debt has meant that authorities had no choice but to cede control of the project to the private sector. Seconds before the train — six passenger coaches coupled between two elderly US-made locomotives — leaves Nampula station, the platforms…

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that he was leaving a summit of Latin American countries in Peru very hopeful that the United States, Mexico and Canada were close to a deal on a renegotiated NAFTA trade pact. Pence told reporters it was possible that a deal would be reached in the next several weeks. The vice president also said that the topic of funding for U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico did not come up in Pence's meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. ...

India's federal police said Saturday that they had filed a case against a former chairman of state-run UCO Bank and several business executives alleging criminal conspiracy that caused a loss of 6.21 billion rupees ($95.17 million). Police said officials at the bank had colluded with private infrastructure firm Era Engineering Infra Ltd. and investment banking firm Altius Finserve Pvt. Ltd. to siphon bank loans. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement that Arun Kaul, the bank's chairman from 2010 to 2015, had helped clear the loan. Kaul did not respond to Reuters' calls for comment. Era Engineering and Altius Finserve did not respond to calls outside regular business hours. The case revealed yet another case of alleged bank fraud in India since February, when two jewelry groups were accused of using nearly $2 billion of fraudulent bank guarantees in what has…

After weeks of railing against online shopping giant Amazon, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday creating a task force to study the United States Postal System. In the surprise move, Trump said that USPS is on “an unsustainable financial path” and “must be restructured to prevent a taxpayer-funded bailout.” The task force will be assigned to study factors including its pricing in the package delivery market and will have 120 days to submit a report with recommendations. The order does not specifically mention Amazon or it owner, Jeff Bezos. But Trump has been criticizing the company for months, accusing it of not paying its fair share of taxes, harming the postal service, and putting brick-and-mortar stores out of business. Trump has also gone after Bezos personally and accused…

China’s exports growth unexpectedly fell in March, raising questions about the health of one of the economy’s key growth drivers even as trade tensions rapidly escalate with the United States. March import growth beat expectations, however, suggesting its domestic demand may still be solid enough to cushion the blow from any trade shocks. That left China with a rare trade deficit for the month, also the first drop since last February. The latest readings on the health of China’s trade sector follow weeks of tit-for-tat tariff threats by Washington and Beijing, sparked by U.S. frustration with China’s massive bilateral trade surplus and intellectual property policies, that have fueled fears of a global trade war. China’s March exports fell 2.7 percent from a year earlier, lagging analysts’ forecasts for a 10…

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that his administration might  allow the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol year-round, which could help farmers by firing up corn demand but faces opposition from oil companies. The proposal marked the latest move by the Trump administration to navigate the rival oil and corn constituencies as they clash over the nation's biofuels policy. Oil refiners say the Renewable Fuel Standard requiring them to add biofuels into gasoline is costly and displaces petroleum, while the farm sector says the law provides critical support to growers. The Environmental Protection Agency currently bans the higher ethanol blend, called E15, during summer because of concerns it contributes to smog on hot days — a worry biofuels advocates say is unfounded. Gasoline typically contains just 10 percent ethanol. "We're going to be going probably, probably to 15, and we're going…

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered his top economic and trade advisers to look into rejoining the Pacific Rim trade pact that he abandoned last year three days after taking power. Farm-state lawmakers said after a White House meeting on agricultural trade that Trump told his economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to weigh the benefits of re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a deal struck by the Obama administration. Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican critic of Trump's trade policies, said that at one point in the meeting, the president turned to Kudlow and said, "Larry, go get it done." Sasse represents a Midwestern farm state. He called Trump's change of mind on the Pacific trade deal "good news." He said the president has consistently "reaffirmed…

The World Trade Organization predicts continued trade growth this year, though it warns that tensions and "tit-for-tat" retaliatory measures, notably between the U.S. and China, could compromise those projections. WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo laid out the trade body's predictions at a news conference Thursday amid concerns about a trade war over U.S. President Donald Trump's planned tariffs on Chinese and other goods and Beijing's retaliation.   As it stands, the forecast is for 4.4 percent growth in merchandise trade volumes in 2018, easing to 4 percent next year. That's down from 4.7 percent in 2017.   The WTO is pointing to "broadly positive signs" in world trade but says they face headwinds from "a rising tide of anti-trade sentiment and the increased willingness of governments to employ restrictive trade measures."…

Thousands of megawatts of wind and solar energy contracts in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia have been signed, seriously challenging the financial viability of major hydropower projects on the river, an energy expert told a water conference last week. Buoyed by a recent Thai government decision to delay a power purchase deal with a major mainstream Mekong dam, clean-energy proponents and economists told the third Mekong River Commission summit that the regional energy market was on the cusp of a technological revolution. Brian Eyler, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Stimson Center, a nonprofit in Washington dedicated to enhancing global peace and security, said 6,000 megawatts' worth of wind and solar contracts had been signed in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos in the last six months. He said…

The increasing trade tensions between the United States and China has rattled farmers in the American heartland, the place where many of the products on which China seeks to impose a tariff are produced.  As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, those farmers, once supportive of President Trump, are increasingly wary about his stance on global trade, and ultimately, how it will impact their bottom line. ...