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Tariff and Trade War Headlines
Manufacturers Look For Certainty Following Supreme Court’s Tariff Decision
Manufacturers are searching for economic certainty and stability following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, which upended the Trump administration’s authority to use emergency economic powers to enact tariffs worldwide. Shortly after the court’s decision, Trump moved to place a 10% surcharge on U.S. imports under Section 122, essentially imposing the IEEPA tariffs through a different vehicle. He also signaled that he would raise the rate to 15% “effective immediately,” but no official documentation has been published yet.
Several manufacturing groups asked for more economic certainty and discretion when it comes to tariffs. They also praised the administration’s success in driving new investment in the United States, tearing down trade barriers and reopening markets once closed to U.S. producers. “Ongoing legal and policy uncertainty makes it more difficult to make the long-term decisions that drive American competitiveness,” National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons and Rockwell Automation Chairman Blake Moret said in a joint statement Friday. “Now is the time for policymakers to work together to provide a clear and consistent framework for trade,” they said, adding that if “tariffs are utilized as a tool, they should be targeted to countries engaged in specific unfair trade practices, particularly by nonmarket economies.”
Read more at MarketWatch
Johnson & Johnson Expands U.S. Makes $1 Billion Investment in Next Generation Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility in Pennsylvania
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson is expanding its operations in Pennsylvania by building a new cell therapy manufacturing facility in Lower Gwynedd Township. The project is expected to create 500 new biomanufacturing roles within the next 12 years and more than 4,000 construction jobs during development. The commonwealth is committing $41.5 million in tax credits and grants toward the $1 billion initiative.
The new building planned for Lower Gwynedd Township will focus on manufacturing treatments like immunotherapy drugs used for cancers, neurological diseases and other conditions. By integrating “cutting edge, self-rapid technologies,” Juaquin Duato, chairman and CEO at Johnson & Johnson, said the company will be able to shorten delivery times for these personalized therapies. “Because we know that patients are waiting,” he said. “For someone facing cancer, weeks can feel like years.”
Read more at WHYY
Novo Nordisk Weight Loss Drug Fails To Match Eli Lilly’s In Trial
Novo Nordisk stock fell as much as 15% Monday after it said its next-generation weight loss drug didn’t meet its key goal of showing that it wasn’t inferior to Eli Lilly’s rival drug, in the latest blow to the Danish drugmaker, whose stock is trading at a multi-year low after a series of disappointing announcements. The experimental drug, CagriSema, didn’t achieve its primary endpoint of demonstrating non-inferiority on weight loss when compared to Eli Lilly’s rival drug tirzepatide after 84 weeks, Novo said in a statement Monday morning.
Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in Lilly’s mega-blockbuster medicines Mounjaro and Zepbound, which have overtaken Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, in U.S. prescriptions. Patients taking a 2.4 mg dose of CagriSema achieved a weight loss of 23% after 84 weeks compared to 25.5% with a 15 mg dose of tirzepatide, Novo said. The trial was a so-called open-label trial, meaning participants knew what treatment they were receiving. Such a design can introduce bias in favor of a well-known product when it is compared to an investigational therapy, said Novo’s Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange, adding that he was “surprised” by the 25% weight loss seen with tirzepatide. Lilly’s own studies have shown tirzepatide to result in a 20.2% weight loss over 72 weeks for people living with obesity or overweight.
Read more at CNBC
Volkswagen Workers In Tennessee Vote By 96% To Ratify First UAW Contract
United Auto Workers members at Volkswagen AG's assembly plant in Tennessee overwhelmingly ratified a historic first labor pact that locks in higher wages, lower health insurance costs, and stronger job security language for the next four years, the union announced late Thursday. The result — with 96% voting in favor of the deal — ends a drawn-out contract bargaining fight at the Chattanooga plant that began nearly two years ago. Workers voted in April 2024 to join the UAW, making it the first foreign-owned plant in the South to organize. And earlier this month, union officials said they had finally struck a tentative deal with the automaker, with the final step being ratification this week.
The deal includes a compounded 21.6% wage increase over the four-year life of the agreement, plus cost-of-living adjustments. Top hourly wages for production workers will rise by about $7 from their current level to above $39 by the end of the contract. Skilled trades workers' top hourly wages will tick up nearly $9 from the current level, to about $50.
Read more at The Detroit News
Stellantis Pins Hopes on New Jeep Cherokee To Lead U.S. Sales Turnaround
Stellantis is counting on the return of the Jeep Cherokee to help lead a U.S. turnaround for the SUV brand and embattled automaker. The Cherokee returns after a three-year hiatus, rejoining the compact and midsize vehicle markets, which represent the largest segments in the U.S. It also marks Jeep’s first traditional hybrid model and its most fuel-efficient, gas-powered vehicle ever in the U.S.
The automaker has set a target to increase retail sales by roughly 25% in 2026 to 1.15 million vehicles, driven by updated and new models as well as pricing and product realignments to move vehicles off dealer lots. “It’s a huge part of our growth,” Richard Cox, Jeep senior vice president of brand operations said regarding the new Cherokee. “It positions us well in ’26.” The 2026 Cherokee is a traditional hybrid – a technology pioneered by the Toyota Prius – that does not require a plug, but does use a small battery and electric motors to assist fuel economy. Jeep has historically been known for its large, boxy gas-guzzling SUVs, but the Cherokee is expected to achieve 37 combined miles per gallon, including 35 mpg on the highway and 39 mpg in the city.
Read more at CNBC
Bayer Sues J&J Over ‘False And Misleading Claims’ About Competing Prostate Cancer Treatments
Bayer BAYGn.DE sued Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N on Monday, accusing the drugmaker of falsely advertising a rival multibillion-dollar drug to treat prostate cancer. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Bayer said Johnson & Johnson is causing irreparable harm through a campaign begun this month for the drug Erleada that threatens to erode trust in the German company's drug Nubeqa. Bayer said Johnson & Johnson falsely claimed that patients treated with Erleada had a "51% reduction in risk of death" compared with Nubeqa patients, in testing that replicated a clinical trial and adhered to "rigorous" U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards.
Bayer is seeking punitive and triple damages, the recoupment of ill-gotten profit, and an injunction against further false advertising. The complaint also said artificial intelligence - reflected in a Google search regarding Erleada, Nubeqa and risk of death - is amplifying Johnson & Johnson's false claims, and feeding people "unsubstantiated messages about the risk of dying with Nubeqa."
Read more at USA Today
American Airlines Makes Long-Term Commitment to GE Engines
CFM International and American Airlines confirmed that the carrier will select CFM LEAP-1A engines for the Airbus A321neo jets that have yet to be delivered from an order placed in March 2024. The LEAP-1A is one option for the twin-engine A321neo, the other being Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100-JM engine. With a reported value of $14.5 million per engine, American’s commitment could be worth almost $4.5 billion to CFM, the joint venture of GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines. The two partners manufacture the engines under license from their venture.
The LEAP-1A engine is a variant of the high-bypass turbofan engine developed by CFM as a successor to its CFM56 engine, with 15% greater fuel efficiency and 15% percent lower carbon emissions than the earlier engine. In a February call with analysts, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury made public the manufacturer’s frustration with late engine deliveries from Pratt & Whitney. He indicated the supplier did not fulfill its delivery commitments in 2025 and is not expected to do so in 2026, causing Airbus to reduce its delivery forecast for this year. “We see shortages of engines from Pratt & Whitney not matching our needs nor our orders,” Faury said.
Read more American Machinist
Lamborghini Kills Off Luxury EV As CEO Says Demand 'Close To Zero'
Volkswagen group's Lamborghini is pulling the plug on its upcoming luxury EV. In an interview with the Sunday Times, CEO Stephan Winkelmann confirmed the SUV-like EV, dubbed the Lanzador, will no longer join the Lamborghini lineup. The car was initially slated for a 2028 release but had been pushed back numerous times. In a statement to Yahoo Finance, Lamborghini said that it was “fully prepared for full electric; however, market readiness within the segment is not yet aligned with this transition.”
Winklemann said the decision to cancel the Lanzador was made over the past year, with the company gauging feedback from customers and dealers, as well as looking at the market dynamics in general. Lamborghini said the Lanzador will be replaced by a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which is currently the powertrain of choice for its main vehicles, the Urus SUV and Temerario and Revuelto supercars. The next-generation Urus, coming in 2029, will remain a PHEV despite originally being planned as another EV.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
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