Stock Markets
Nippon Steel emphasises its ‘deep roots’ in the US as it pursues U.S. Steel deal
By Yuka Obayashi and Ritsuko Shimizu
TOKYO (Reuters) – Nippon Steel intends to pursue its proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel and wants its “deep roots” in the United States to be recognised, its new president said – remarks that come after U.S. President Joe Biden expressed opposition to the deal.
The Japanese firm has agreed to buy U.S. Steel for roughly $15 billion but the deal faces an uphill battle to approval in a U.S. election year.
The White House sees steel as critical to national security and Biden said last month that U.S. Steel should remain domestically owned. His opponent in the November presidential vote, former President Donald Trump, has promised to block the deal if he is re-elected.
It’s not clear if Biden plans to use any U.S regulatory authorities to scuttle the deal.
“What U.S. politicians are concerned about is jobs and whether U.S. Steel can develop as an iconic U.S. company in the U.S.,” Tadashi Imai told reporters last week before he took on his new role on Monday.
“I am convinced that we’re the most useful partner to help U.S. Steel grow in the United States,” he added.
Imai, 60, became president in a management reshuffle intended to lower the average age of top executives but in a break with tradition, its charismatic former president Eiji Hashimoto has taken on the title of chief executive and will be in charge of shepherding the acquisition.
The proposed deal has drawn strong criticism from some lawmakers and the United Steelworkers (USW) labor union which is worried about potential job losses.
Japan’s largest steelmaker has pledged no job cuts as a result of the deal, to honour all agreements between the union and U.S. Steel as well as to move its own U.S. headquarters to Pittsburgh where U.S. Steel is based.
Imai said he was hopeful that Nippon Steel would come to be seen as a firm with deep roots in the U.S., noting that it has had a presence there since the 1980s and has 4,000 employees in the country, some of whom are also members of the USW.
“The most important thing and the only thing that we can do is to talk to the USW in good faith,” about investment plans and measures to raise the competitiveness of U.S. Steel, he said.
Imai said that the acquisition would give U.S. Steel access to Nippon Steel’s advanced technologies such as electromagnetic steel sheet, adding that the Japanese firm has some 2,000 steel patents in North America while U.S. steelmakers in general had roughly 200 each.
At home, Imai’s main focus will be decarbonisation, he said, adding that the company will soon need to make investment decisions on whether to invest in new electric furnaces at two sites – the Kyushu Works Yawata site in southern Japan and Setouchi Works Hirohata site in western Japan.
The company must decide on the projects either this financial year or the next one, Imai said.
“It will be a huge investment … but the time for a key decision is approaching on the technical certainty and predictability of the return on investment.”
Investing.com — Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) latest version of its Full Self-Driving software is “suspect” and still requires improvement to ensure Robotaxi operations can be safely undertaken, independent automotive research firm AMCI Testing said in a Tuesday statement.
An extensive 1,000-mile evaluation of Tesla FSD software exposed how often human intervention was required for safe operation, AMCI Testing said. While the Tesla’s latest FSD software is “impressive,” the automotive research firm said its drivers had to intervene over 75 times during the evaluation; an average of once every 13 miles.
These result “demonstrates just how far Tesla must go before Robotaxi operations can be safely undertaken,” it added just ahead of Tesla’s Robotaxi unveiling slated for Oct. 10.
“Getting close to foolproof, yet falling short, creates an insidious and unsafe operator complacency issue as proven in the test results,” said David Stokols, CEO of AMCI Testing’s parent company, AMCI Global.
AMCI Testing said it found that the more miles driven with FSD engaged, the more likely a driver were to encounter these failure modes.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:) was up 1% in recent trading.
By Tim Reid and Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump offered a series of incentives to encourage foreign companies to relocate to the United States if he wins the Nov. 5 election, including low taxes and few regulations.
The Republican presidential candidate said during his speech in Georgia the incentives would be offered only to companies that relocated manufacturing to the US and hired American workers.
“I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here,” Trump said.
Trump then warned foreign companies: “If you don’t make your product here, then you will have to pay a tariff, a very substantial tariff, when you send your product into the United States.”
Trump was speaking in Savannah, which has one of the largest ports in the U.S. and is a car manufacturing hub.
Trump said he would reward U.S.-based manufacturers with tax breaks for research and developments costs, and the ability to write off the costs of heavy machinery in the first year.
On Monday, Trump said he would slap a 200% tariff on John Deere (NYSE:)’s imports into the U.S. if the agricultural equipment company moved production to Mexico as planned.
Preserving and creating American manufacturing jobs by slapping expansive tariffs on friends and foes alike has become a central theme of Trump’s economic message, particularly in the closing months of the race against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.
While Trump and his allies say trade barriers are necessary to protect U.S. industry, mainstream economists roundly say Trump’s proposals would boost consumer inflation.
It is unclear what federal lands would be offered to foreign companies under Trump’s plan, or how such an arrangement would work. If land remains in federal hands while foreign companies operate on it, those companies could in theory be exempt from property tax.
Trump also reiterate a pledge to lower corporate tax rates, but only for companies that manufacture domestically. The former president said earlier this month that he would cut the rate to 15% from 21% for domestic manufacturers.
Harris, who polls show is in a tight race with Trump, is set to unveil a suite of new economic proposals in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Some of those proposals will be broadly aimed at helping Americans build and maintain wealth, Reuters reported.
Stock Markets
Entravision, AltaMed Health Services, and BSP Research Release Week 2 Results from the 2024 National Latino Tracking Poll
Findings Highlight Latino Voter Concerns Over Economic Stability, Healthcare, and Limited Engagement of Younger Voters as Election Approaches
SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Entravision, in collaboration with AltaMed Health Services and BSP Research, has released the second set of results from the 2024 National Latino Tracking Poll, continuing to offer real-time insights into the evolving priorities of Latino voters as the November election approaches.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924744417/en/
The second week’s results shed more light on voter concerns around economic stability, healthcare affordability, and voting engagement, particularly among younger Latinos.
Key Findings From Week 2:
- Presidential Race Remains Stable
Kamala Harris maintains a lead over Donald Trump among Latino voters, with a 56% to 33% margin, virtually unchanged from Week 1’s 55% to 33%. However, 9% of Latino voters remain completely undecided.
- Both Parties Need to Do More to Win Latino Voters’ Support
Less than half (47%) of Latino voters feel the Democratic Party is doing a good job of reaching out to them, while only a third (32%) believe the GOP is effectively courting the Latino vote.
- Younger Latino Voters Remain Unengaged
Only 55% of younger Latino voters (ages 18-29) are “almost certain” they will vote, compared to 70% of all Latino voters. Nearly half (46%) of younger Latinos feel they do not have enough information to make a presidential voting decision.
- Early Voting and Mail-in Process Confusion Grows
Currently, 49% of Latino voters intend to vote early, with 29% opting for in-person voting and 20% choosing to vote by mail. However, among those who plan to vote by mail, the percentage of individuals unfamiliar with the process has risen from 11% in Week 1 to 21% in week 2. This indicates a growing uncertainty about mail-in voting among Latino voters.
- Latino Voters Overwhelmingly Support Lower Drug Prices
A strong 87% of Latino voters support allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, with support consistent across all segments, including 83% of GOP respondents.
The 2024 National Latino Voter Tracking Poll topline report is available here.
The 2024 National Latino Tracking Poll will run for eight weeks, with weekly updates released every Monday. Each week, 500 Latino voters from across the country will be surveyed on their voting intentions, key issues, healthcare concerns, and candidate favorability.
For additional information, please visit: entravision.com/political.
About Entravision (NYSE:) Communications Corporation
Entravision (NYSE: EVC) is a media and advertising technology company. Our broadcast properties include the largest television affiliate group of the Univision and UniMás television networks and one of the largest groups of primarily Spanish-language radio stations in the United States, providing our customers with substantial access and engagement opportunities in the top U.S. Hispanic markets. Smadex, our programmatic ad purchasing platform enables customers, primarily mobile app developers, to purchase advertising electronically and manage data-driven advertising campaigns. Learn more about our offerings at entravision.com.
About AltaMed Health Services
AltaMed understands that when people have health care that looks at their individual health needs and respects their cultural preferences; they grow healthy”and help their families do the same. So we’re delivering complete medical services to communities across Southern California. Since 1969, our team of qualified multicultural and bilingual professionals”from these same communities”has focused on eliminating barriers to primary care services, senior care programs, and even essential community services. With more than 60 accredited health centers and service facilities, we remain committed and ready to help you grow healthy at any age.
About AltaMed Health Services My Vote. My Health.
My Vote. My Health. is a campaign led by AltaMed Health Services, one of the nation’s largest federally qualified community health centers, to mobilize patients, families and residents in our Southern California service areas to address the social and political determinants of health. My Vote. My Health. partners with other community healthcare providers and local civic engagement organizations to help increase Latino civic participation to improve the quality of life of underserved and underrepresented communities locally and across California.
About BSP Research
BSP Research is a Latino-owned polling, research and analytics firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and directed by four PhD-holding political scientists.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240924744417/en/
Marcelo Gaete, EVP, Public and Government Relations, Entravision
mgaete@entravision.com
Christina Sanchez, Vice President, Public Affairs, AltaMed
chsanchez@altamed.org
Source: Entravision
Forex2 years agoForex Today: the dollar is gaining strength amid gloomy sentiment at the start of the Fed’s week
- Forex2 years ago
How is the Australian dollar doing today?
- Forex2 years ago
Dollar to pound sterling exchange rate today: Pound plummeted to its lowest since 1985
- Forex2 years ago
Unbiased review of Pocket Option broker
- Cryptocurrency2 years ago
What happened in the crypto market – current events today
- World2 years ago
Why are modern video games an art form?
- Commodities2 years ago
Copper continues to fall in price on expectations of lower demand in China
- Stock Markets2 years ago
Morgan Stanley: bear market rally to continue
