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Trade Wars
China’s Exports Fall In October As Trade War Takes Toll
Chinese exports unexpectedly fell in October after months of front-loading U.S. orders to beat President Donald Trump's tariffs, in a stark reminder of the manufacturing juggernaut's reliance on American consumers even as it woos buyers elsewhere. The world's second-largest economy has pushed hard to diversify its export markets since Trump won last November's presidential election, bracing for a resumption of the trade war that dominated his first term in office, and seeking closer trade ties with Southeast Asia and the European Union. China's exports shrank 1.1%, the worst performance since February, reversing from an 8.3% rise in September, and missing a forecast for 3.0% growth in a Reuters poll.
Chinese shipments to the U.S. tumbled 25.17% year-on-year, the data showed, while those to the European Union and Southeast Asian economies - big trading partners with whom policymakers have sought to bolster ties amid tariff tensions with Washington - grew by just 0.9% and 11.0%, respectively.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
US Steel Details Plans To Invest $11 Billion By 2028 Across All Business Segments
United States Steel last week detailed its billion-dollar multiyear growth plan with new owner Nippon Steel that includes modernizing the century-old steelmaker. The announcement comes just five months after Nippon Steel finalized a “ historic partnership ” with the Pittsburgh steelmaker in a deal worth nearly $15 billion. That deal included a “golden share” provision that gave the federal government the power to appoint a board member and a say in some company decisions. The combined company became the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, and Nippon agreed to invest $11 billion to upgrade U.S. Steel's facilities.
the company said it will make the investments by the end of 2028. The plan targets unlocking $2.5 billion in savings from capital investments and another $500 million from operational efficiencies. U.S. Steel says it has identified more than 200 initiatives to save money across all business segments, assisted by nearly 50 professionals from Nippon Steel. The company is modernizing and expanding its manufacturing operations and expanding research and development to feature “higher value, lower emission steel."
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
DuPont’s Q3 Sales Exceed Expections, Generating $3.1B
DuPont de Nemours’ third quarter earnings exceeded the chemical manufacturer’s expectations as net sales hit $3.1 billion, up 7% year over year, per a release Thursday. The increase was attributed to sales growth in its electronics, healthcare and water end-markets as well as its cost-effective operational strategy announced at DuPont’s investor day in September, CEO Lori Koch said in the release. Q3 income fell 32% YoY to $308 million.
Looking ahead, the company updated its “New DuPont” full-year guidance to $1.6 billion, up from $1.575 billion. The guidance also reflects the discontinued operations of DuPont’s aramid fiber business, which is in the process of being sold, and the electronics business separation, Qnity Electronics, which was completed Nov. 1. Part of the growth strategy includes innovation. On Monday, DuPont introduced a new disposable chemical garment fabric, meant to be an improvement of its Tyvek brand. The protective coverall is supposed to be more comfortable and breathable, while also preventing workers from overheating.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Ford Considers Scrapping Electric Version of F-150 Truck
Ford Motor F 0.15%increase; green up pointing triangle executives are in active discussions about scrapping the electric version of its F-150 pickup, according to people familiar with the matter, which would make the money-losing truck America’s first major EV casualty. The Lightning, once described by Ford as a modern Model T for its importance to the company, fell far short of expectations as American truck buyers skipped the electric version of the top-selling truck. Ford has racked up $13 billion in EV losses since 2023. A turn away from electric full-size trucks would align with Ford CEO Jim Farley’s more recent comments about the market: that EVs are great for commuting and other local driving, while hefty trucks will continue to need hybrid or all-gasoline powertrains.
No final decision has yet been made, according to people familiar with the discussions, but such a move by Ford could be the beginning of the end for big EV trucks. Ram truck-maker Stellantis earlier this year called off plans to make an electric version of its full-size pickup. General Motors executives have discussed discontinuing some electric trucks, according to people familiar with the matter. Sales of Tesla’s angular, stainless steel Cybertruck pickup tanked this year. And EV truck-maker Rivian has been cutting jobs to conserve cash.
Read more at the WSJ
National Retail Federation: Holiday Sales To Increase 3.7% To 4.2% Despite Concerns Over Inflation
American shoppers are expected to spend more during the holiday shopping season this year, compared with a year ago, despite uncertainly over tariffs and the overall economy. The 2025 forecast from the National Retail Federation on Thursday estimates that shoppers will make $1.01 trillion to $1.02 trillion worth of purchases in November and December, an increase of 3.7% to 4.2% over the same two-month period a year ago.
However, holiday spending was up 4.3% during last year's holiday period compared with 2023. The trade group makes its calculations based on government figures. The numbers exclude sales at automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants. The forecast this year, however, arrives during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. There has been no data released on the jobs market or retail sales since the shutdown began 37 days ago.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Micron Chip Factories In Upstate NY Will Be Delayed By 2-3 Years, Company Says
Micron Technology will delay opening its first two chipmaking factories in Clay by two to three years, the company said in a report made public today. That would mean the first factory wouldn’t open until eight years after Micron announced in 2022 it planned to build in Central New York. Micron said earlier this year that the first fabrication plant, or fab, was scheduled to open in mid-2028. The opening has now been moved back to late 2030. Completion of the second fab has been pushed back from late 2030 to late 2033, the company said in the final environmental report on the project, released Friday.
Micron did not explicitly give reasons for the delays in the report. A company spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Micron did note in the report, however, that the requirements under its agreement for $6.1 billion funding deal with the U.S. Department of Commerce had recently changed. The revised agreement with the commerce department also called for Micron to build a second fab at its headquarters in Boise, Idaho. That fab, and one already under construction in Boise, would open before any of the fabs in Clay. That agreement also allowed Micron to shift part of its federal grant from the Clay to the Boise project. The company said a year ago it would spend $4.6 billion of that grant in Clay; now, that number has dropped to $3.4 billion.
Read more at Syracuse.com
Yellow’s $137M-Plus Lawsuit Against Teamsters Revived
A federal appeals court has reinstated defunct Yellow Corp.’s $137-million-plus lawsuit against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The decision overturns a previous dismissal by a lower court, allowing the former less-than-truckload carrier to pursue its breach-of-contract case. A Wednesday decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit remanded the case back to a federal district court in Kansas. Yellow can now amend its complaint against the union, which it claims deliberately blocked a restructuring dubbed “One Yellow,” a plan the company aserts was required for its survival. The Teamsters called the suit “unfounded and without merit.”
Running out of cash, Yellow sued the union in June 2023, saying the labor organization didn’t have the authority to stop a proposed change of operations. Phase 2 of One Yellow would have allowed the company to merge its four LTL operating companies, consolidate terminals and alter work rules. The union agreed to Phase 1 of the plan in 2022, which Yellow hailed as a success. Yellow, however, blamed the union’s “stonewalling” of Phase 2 as the cause of its “death spiral.” The suit alleged Sean O’Brien, Teamsters general president, used the blockade as leverage to “extract wage increases,” and that he was willing to let the company fail “as a show of strength” ahead of labor negotiations with larger companies like UPS.
Read more at Freight Waves
Judge Dismisses Boeing Criminal Case Over 737 Max Crashes At DOJ Request Despite Skepticism
A federal judge in Texas on Thursday dismissed a criminal conspiracy case against Boeing over two crashes of its 737 Max jetliner that killed 346 people, despite expressing sharp skepticism about the wisdom of the Department of Justice’s request that he toss the case. Some families of victims of the crashes had strongly opposed the DOJ’s move in May asking Judge Reed O’Connor to dismiss the case in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth.
The DOJ, which had accused Boeing of deceiving federal regulators about a flight-control system implicated in the crashes, at the time of the dismissal request said Boeing had agreed to pay or invest $1.1 billion in fines and compensation for victims’ families. The dismissal comes more than a year after Boeing and the DOJ said they had reached an agreement that required the company to plead guilty and serve a term of probation. In a statement Thursday about the dismissal of the criminal case, Boeing said, “We are committed to honoring the obligations of our agreement with the Department of Justice.”
Read more at CNBC
Tesla Shareholders Approve Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Pay Package – What’ In It?
Tesla shareholders approved a record-setting pay package for Chief Executive Elon Musk, a plan designed to motivate the world’s richest man with as much as $1 trillion in additional stock. Flanked by dancing humanoid robots on a stage bathed in pink and blue light at the electric vehicle maker’s Austin, Texas, headquarters, Musk thanked the crowd of shareholders who supported the pay package with more than 75% of the votes cast. The voting was largely seen as a referendum on the company’s longtime leader and his vision to shift Tesla’s focus to humanoid robots and artificial intelligence.
Musk’s new package is divided into 12 tranches. He could reach the first tranche if Tesla’s market cap grows to $2 trillion from around $1.5 trillion today, combined with an operational goal such as selling 11.5 million new vehicles, on top of the 8.5 million vehicles on the road. More challenging milestones include selling one million robots to paying customers and maintaining an adjusted Ebitda of $400 billion. Last year, Tesla posted an adjusted Ebitda of $16 billion. For each tranche he unlocks, Musk would receive equity equivalent to about 1% of Tesla’s current shares. Once he earns a tranche, he could vote those shares but wouldn’t be able to sell them until they vest, in either 7.5 years or 10 years.
Read more at the WSJ
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