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Trade Wars
US To Begin Furniture, Wood Import Tariffs On Oct. 14 – Manufacturing Dive
Trump Places A 10% Tariff On Lumber And A 25% Tariff On Furniture And Cabinets - CNN
Trump Visa Curbs Push U.S. Firms To Consider Shifting More Work To India - Reuters
‘Dare To Fight’: How China’s Refined Art Of The Deal Reflects Years Of Dealing With Trump - SCMP
US Widens Reach of Export Blacklist to Cover Subsidiaries – IndustryWeek
Europe’s Top Central Banker Says Economy Holding Up Better Than Expected In Face Of Trump Tariffs - AP
Tariffs and Their Impact on Inventory Accounting – Dannible & McKee
China Factory Activity Shrinks Again As Firms Watch For Stimulus, US Trade Deal - Reuters
Thousands Of Jobs At Risk In Africa As US Trade Deal Expires – AP
CoreWeave Signs $14 Billion AI Infrastructure Deal With Meta
CoreWeave said it has signed a $14 billion agreement with Meta to supply computing power, the latest multi-billion dollar deal as businesses ramp up infrastructure to meet the demand for artificial intelligence applications. There has been a wave of billion-dollar deals in recent months, with many AI tech firms making investments and supply deals with each other, raising questions about "circular" financing and concerns whether capital will continue to flow.
Meta has been one of the biggest proponents of AI, investing tens of billions into data centers across the U.S. and paying athlete salaries to hire top AI software engineers while competition intensifies. The social media firm did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. As a part of the agreement, CoreWeave will provide the Facebook-parent access to Nvidia's latest GB300 systems. CoreWeave operates AI data centers in the U.S. and Europe, offering access to Nvidia's graphic processing units, which are highly sought after for training and running large AI models.
Read more at Reuters
Boeing Has Started Working on a 737 MAX Replacement
Boeing BA -1.89%decrease; red down pointing triangle is planning a new single-aisle airplane that would succeed the 737 MAX, according to people familiar with the matter, a long-term bid to recover business lost to rival Airbus during its series of safety and quality problems. Earlier this year, Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg met with officials from Rolls-Royce Holdings RR 0.52%increase; green up pointing triangle in the U.K., two of the people said, where they discussed a new engine for the aircraft. Ortberg appointed a new senior product chief in Boeing’s commercial plane business, whose prior role was developing a new type of aircraft.
Boeing’s plans represent a shift for the company, which had put some new aircraft development work on the back burner while it navigated multiple challenges. They are also a sign that the company is betting that a cutting-edge plane design could power its business for the next few decades. Ortberg hasn’t publicly detailed any plans for a 737 successor. He has consistently said that fixing Boeing’s long-running quality and manufacturing problems, and shoring up its balance sheet, are his priorities.
Read more at The WSJ
Share Of Mortgages With Rates Above 6 Percent Reaches 10-Year High
The days of 3 percent mortgages are gone, and 6 percent loans are steadily becoming the norm. Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. homeowners with a mortgage now has a rate of at least 6 percent — the highest share since 2015, according to a new Redfin analysis of second-quarter data. That proportion has nearly tripled in just three years, rising from about 7 percent of homeowners in mid-2022 to nearly 20 percent today. The trend isn’t surprising. Mortgage rates have hovered above 6 percent since late 2022. But the shift could have big implications for the housing market.
In recent years, the so-called “lock-in effect” has constrained supply, with many homeowners opting to stay put rather than give up their 3 percent mortgages. The decision made financial sense, but it also limited inventory and pushed prices higher. The rise in 6 percent-plus mortgages suggests that the effect is easing. And it means, if rates fall, more owners may be willing to move, potentially relieving some pressure on prices. Today, just 53 percent of mortgaged homeowners have a rate below 4 percent, down from a record 65% in early 2022, according to Redfin.
Read more at The Hill
Hitachi Opens New $100 Million Railcar Plant In Maryland
Hitachi Rail held a grand opening for its new railcar factory in Annapolis, Maryland September 8. The $100 million, 300-square-foot facility will directly create 500 manufacturing jobs. The new Washington County factory, the company said, is “strategically located” for filling metro rail orders, including for the nearby Washington, D.C. and Baltimore light rail systems. Each railcar will reportedly include advanced anti-collision tech, including proximity alerts and “an AI-powered video analytics suite.”
According to a company announcement, $30 million of the $100 million investment went towards “digital enhancements” for the new factory. It will use monitoring systems and AI programs developed by Hitachi Digital Services to monitor manufacturing processes, supplies, and energy use in real time, automatically, the announcement said. “The Hagerstown factory acts as a lighthouse for the unique power and capabilities of Hitachi,” said Hitachi, Ltd. President and Chief Executive Officer Toshiaki Tokunaga. “Combining our deep strength in digital and AI with the expertise of our rail business has enabled us to deliver an evolution in manufacturing. The shared vision and collaboration across our business to deliver the technology in this facility underlines how we can deliver ever greater value to our customers and society.”
Read more at Plant Services
Why General Motors Boss Mary Barra Is Slamming the Brakes on Lofty EV Ambitions
Not long ago, Chief Executive Mary Barra declared that General Motors was a decade away from quitting gas-powered cars, setting the course for a new mission, one that would safeguard the planet for generations. Her ambitious quest to command new markets and save the Earth has since stalled. GM has gone from one of the industry’s loudest EV champions to a leading opponent of government emissions rules and fuel-economy standards that for decades fueled the consumer market for cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Many car companies, faced with softening EV sales and a Trump administration hostile to green-energy initiatives, have called for looser regulations. None has backtracked as quickly and dramatically as GM. The change is a practical move that reflects the poor performance of the once-booming EV market, according to Barra. U.S. sales across the industry are expected to plunge after Sept. 30, when a $7,500 federal tax credit for EV buyers expires.
Read more at the WSJ
Stellantis Confirms New Mid-Size Truck For Belvidere Plant
Stellantis remains committed to reopening its idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, in 2027 where it will produce a new mid-size truck, a company spokesperson said in an email to Automotive Dive. The confirmation follows announcements by the financially struggling automaker, which is rethinking its vehicle strategy after canceling plans for a fully-electric Ram pickup and the Jeep Gladiator 4xe.
A Sept. 23 union update notice from United Auto Workers Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen said 960 members are currently on the recall list for the plant. The local once represented about 1,800 people. Stellantis shuttered the Belvidere plant in February 2023 as part of a wave of cost-cutting moves. “Stellantis confirmed in January its intention to reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant for production of a mid-size truck and still expect a launch in 2027,” Jodi Tinson, a company spokesperson, said in an email. She did not specify whether the truck would be electric or gas-powered.
Read more at Automotive Dive
Sono-Tek Wins Order for Medical Device Coating Systems Valued at Over $5 Million
Council Member Sono-Tek Corporation the leading developer and manufacturer of ultrasonic coating systems, today announced that it has received a multi-million dollar purchase order, valued at over $5 million, for coating systems to be used in the production of a medical device. The order includes multiple state-of-the-art MediCoat systems designed for high-precision, scalable manufacturing. Deliveries under this order are expected to commence in calendar year 2026 and will be completed over approximately a 12-month period.
Ulster County based Sono-Tek Corporation is the global leader in the design and manufacture of ultrasonic coating systems that are shaping industries and driving innovation worldwide. Their ultrasonic coating systems are used to apply thin films onto parts used in diverse industries including microelectronics, alternative energy, medical devices, advanced industrial manufacturing, and research and development sectors worldwide. Steve Harshbarger, President and CEO of Sono-Tek, commented: “This order reflects the growing adoption of Sono-Tek’s advanced coating platforms by leading medical device manufacturers worldwide.”
Read more at Yahoo Finance
The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2026 Best Colleges in America: Stanford, Babson and Yale Take Top Spots
Stanford University tops the list of the best U.S. colleges in the latest WSJ/College Pulse rankings. Unlike other school rankings, this list emphasizes one point: How well did the college prepare students for financial success? More than any other factor, it rewards the boost an institution provides to its graduates’ salaries, beyond an estimate of what they could have expected from attending any college.
Stanford returns to the top of this list for the first time since the 2017 rankings. Ivy League schools also figure prominently, with Yale University, Princeton University and Harvard University finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Two other Ivy League schools—Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania—come in at eighth and ninth, respectively. Beyond the marquee names, the rankings’ distinct methodology highlights some institutions that don’t have as much name recognition but still help their students achieve remarkable success. City University of New York schools dominate the list of colleges that offer the best value, ranking first through seventh in this category. Baruch College in Manhattan won the top spot, keeping costs low while increasing graduates’ earning potential.
Read more at the WSJ
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