|
Trade Wars
Who Is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs? – NY Fed
USMCA Review -Brace For A New Trade Fight With Canada And Mexico – Barron’s
US Commits To 15% Tariff Limit For Taiwan Goods – Supply Chain Dive
Modi-Trump Trade Deal Stirs Backlash From Indian Farmers – Nikkei Asia
Europe’s China Shock Worsens As Trade Deficit Widens - Politico
South Korea Ship Orders Soar As US Fees Steer Business Away From China – Nikkei Asia
Applied Materials To Pay $252.2M To Settle Export Violations – Manufacturing Dive
Senate Republicans Rally Behind USMCA Even As Trump’s Support Wavers - Politico
Trump’s Tariffs: Tracking The Status Of International Trade Actions – Supply Chain Dive
Eurozone Industry Stumbles, But Outlook for 2026 Remains Bright
Eurozone industrial output slipped in December, dragged by a slowdown in Germany, though a recovery is still expected to gather pace this year. Industrial production fell 1.4% on month, compared with a rise of 0.3% in November, according to the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat. This marked the first contraction in output since August. For 2025 as a whole, industrial production rose 1.5% in the eurozone—the first annual expansion since 2022. Output was also up 0.3% sequentially in the fourth quarter, compared with a 0.1% rise in the prior quarter.
Eurozone industry has faced repeated headwinds in recent years. High energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have driven up production costs, while a flood of cheaper products from China—and a stronger euro—has eroded the bloc’s competitiveness. In addition to a turbulent outlook for global trade, these challenges have prompted many European countries to reconsider their industrial strategies, with focus shifting from exports to domestic demand. Looking to 2026 manufacturing is expected to contribute positively to growth this year.
Read more at the WSJ
Detroit Automakers Take $50 Billion Hit as EV Bubble Bursts
U.S. automakers have been pumping the brakes on their electric-vehicle businesses for months, and the costs are piling up. Following years of investments into EV technology, the Detroit Big Three—General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep-maker Stellantis have announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs. EV sales fell more than 30% in the fourth quarter, after a $7,500 federal tax credit that had juiced U.S. sales expired in September. Demand cratered for the highest-profile EVs, from Tesla’s Cybertruck to Ford’s much-hyped electric pickup. Automakers expect demand to remain muted.
Automakers’ retreats and massive write-downs have come as Republican lawmakers abolished a lucrative federal tax credit for EVs last fall, while also doing away with federal fuel-efficiency mandates. Even with federal support, EV demand was below expectations. Now, auto companies and battery makers are scaling back. After pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into U.S. manufacturing, they are downsizing investments, canceling projects and pivoting plants to support making more traditional gas-powered vehicles.
Read more at The WSJ
Pratt Wins New F135 Purchasing Contract
Pratt & Whitney has drawn a new Pentagon with a maximum value of $230.56 million for purchasing materials in advance of production of F135 engines for Lot 20 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. The complete order for Lot 20 calls for “138 propulsion systems,” for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, non-U.S. Dept. of Defense F-35 program partners, and Foreign Military Sales customers. The scope of procurement covers long lead time materials, parts, components, and efforts “necessary to protect the F135 Lot 20 propulsion system delivery schedule,” according to a Pentagon statement.
The F-35 is a series of fighter jets deployed for ground attack and combat, and available in three variants – for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and for the defense forces of more than a dozen other nations. Eleven months ago the Pentagon began funding long-lead time procurement by Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor for the F-35, as it began production planning for Lot 20. Lots 20 and 21 will incorporate the various hardware and software updates planned as part of the F-35 Block 4 update – which will introduce more than 80 improved capabilities meant to keep the F-35 competitive against emerging threats, including improved sensors, sensor fusion, and expanded weapon capabilities.
Read more at American Machinist
Centrus and Fluor Partner to Advance Major Expansion of Ohio Uranium Enrichment Plant
The subsidiary of U.S. uranium enrichment company Centrus has contracted with engineering firm Fluor for the multibillion-dollar expansion of its uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio. Under the multiyear contract, Fluor will lead engineering and design of the expanded capacity in Ohio, manage the supply chain and procurement of key materials and services, oversee construction at the site and support the commissioning of the new capacity.
The Piketon project includes substantial production of Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) “to address [the] commercial LEU enrichment contingent backlog of $2.3 billion and growing demand from existing reactors. Centrus will also build “12 metric tons of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) annual capacity for next-generation reactors.” In January, Centrus announced that it had been selected by the Department of Energy for a $900 million task order to expand its enrichment and centrifuge manufacturing capabilities at Piketon and its facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The company said later last month that it would invest more than $560 million to turn its Oak Ridge centrifuge factory into a “high-rate manufacturing” site.
Read more at Centrus
New 737 MAX Assembly Line to Start
Boeing Commercial Airplanes will start up a new 737 MAX assembly line by midsummer, according to remarks by the 737 program manager to a conference of Boeing suppliers. The fourth assembly line for Boeing’s top-selling aircraft is being established at Everett, Wash., where the manufacturer formerly assembled the 787 Dreamliner until that program was relocated to South Carolina. The cost of the Everett expansion has not been reported.
Boeing recorded 577 new orders for 737 MAX series jets during 2025, and currently has back orders totaling 4,887. The plan to expand 737 MAX assembly has been in development for several years as Boeing works to fill the extensive order backlog for the narrow-body aircraft. The pending certification of the 737 MAX 10 and 737 MAX 7 models will add to the complexity of program’s supply chain and assembly operations. Some 737 MAX program suppliers indicate Boeing aims to achieve 47 jets per month in 2027.
Read more at American Machinist
The US Air Force Needs To Buy Hundreds Of Sixth-Gen Fighters And Bombers To Be Ready For A China Fight, Airpower Experts Say
The US Air Force will need a lot more next-generation fighter jets and bombers to fight a war against China, former pilots and airpower experts argued in a new report. They said the Air Force will need to procure significantly more of the new and coming B-21 Raider bombers and F-47 fighter jets than it currently plans to buy. Insufficient numbers may force the service to operate conservatively, potentially giving China an edge in such a fight, they warned in a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies policy paper out this week.
The report said that China's anti-access and area-denial network, together with its natural geography, creates sanctuaries from which its air and missile defenses can fire. The firepower available to Chinese forces within these sanctuaries could pose a threat to US forces, making eliminating them critical to US operations.
Read more at Business Insider
Campbell’s To Shutter Cape Cod Potato Chip Plant
The Campbell’s Company plans to close a potato chip plant in Massachusetts, shifting production to other facilities in an effort to boost efficiency. Campbell’s will cease operations at its Hyannis manufacturing site, which produces Cape Cod and Kettle Brand chips, in April and sell the facility. It is the smallest potato chip plant in Campbell’s network in terms of size and volume. The company said the closure will impact 49 employees.
Cape Cod Chips was founded in Hyannis in 1980, and the plant has been in operation since 1985, according to Campbell’s. The company acquired the brand as part of its nearly $5 billion purchase of Snyder’s-Lance in 2018. As the Cape Cod brand has grown, production has increased at other snack locations, including at plants in Beloit, Wisconsin; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Hanover, Pennsylvania. The Hyannis location produces only 4% of the total annual volume of Cape Cod Chips “and the site no longer makes economic sense for the business,” Campbell’s said. Similar to other food companies such as PepsiCo and General Mills, Campbell’s has closed and consolidated some facilities throughout its network while increasing efficiencies elsewhere.
Read more at Supply Chain Dive
U.S. Military Airlifts Mini Nuclear Reactor in First-Ever Flight
Three C-17 transport planes flew components of the Valar Atomics Ward 250 unfueled nuclear reactor from March Air Reserve Base, Calif., to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on Sunday. Pentagon and Energy Department officials, reporters and industry representatives sat alongside the reactor module, encased in plexiglass, during the hourlong flight. Proponents of the technology say the new systems can deliver megawatts of power safely and cheaply, eliminating fuel supply vulnerabilities and providing reliable, scalable energy to remote locations. But some critics say the Trump administration’s fast tracking of the untested reactor designs, built by private companies, could pose safety issues.
The flight on Sunday “gets us closer to deploying nuclear power when and where it is most needed to give our nation’s war fighters the tools to win,” said Michael Duffey, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. Valar Atomics, which funded the flight, will test the Ward 250 at a facility near Hill Air Force Base, according to CEO Isaiah Taylor. Testing will begin at 250 kilowatts, and the system is ultimately capable of 5 megawatts, which is enough to power 5,000 homes. The reactor uses TRISO fuel, uranium kernels in ceramic layers, rather than uranium. It also uses helium coolant, instead of water.
Read more at the WSJ
Why Winter in the U.S. Is Crazy This Year, in Five Charts
If this winter feels strange, it’s not in your head. In the eastern U.S., residents have been suffering through one of the most frigid seasons in recent memory. Yet for much of the West, temperatures have been unusually mild and snowpack levels are at record lows. Here’s a look at this record-setting winter, in five charts.
Read more at the WSJ
|
