Cryptocurrency firm Bullish files for US IPO
Uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump's tariff policies slowed down the IPO market amid heightened volatility, but sentiment is shifting as new listings gain traction.
Bullish is expected to list on the NYSE under the symbol "BLSH".
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Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Nasa says thousands of employees set to resign from space agency
[WASHINGTON] National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) will lose roughly 3,870 employees through a voluntary resignation programme, part of a broad push from US President Donald Trump's administration to reduce the federal workforce. The numbers are subject to change as Nasa reviews applications, including if an employee withdraws from the programme or a resignation is not approved, the US space agency said on Friday (Jul 25). 'Safety remains a top priority for our agency as we balance the need to become a more streamlined and more efficient organisation and work to ensure we remain fully capable of pursuing a Golden Era of exploration and innovation, including to the Moon and Mars,' Nasa said. Nasa has offered employees two separate opportunities in 2025 to leave through the government's Deferred Resignation Programme. The agency said its expected remaining civil servant workforce would be about 14,000 people, following both resignation programmes, as well as normal attrition of about 500 people over the same time period. The first round came during the start of the Trump administration when federal workers received e-mails offering them the opportunity to take a buyout, an effort spearheaded by the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency. About 870 people, or 4.8 per cent of the Nasa workforce, took the offer then. Nasa initiated its own second round of deferred resignation beginning in early June, with a deadline to opt in by Jul 25. About 3,000 personnel, or 16.4 per cent of the workforce, took it up, the agency said on Friday. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Executives at the space agency, who have been working to reduce headcount to comply with the Trump administration's goal of shrinking the federal workforce, have spearheaded deferred resignation as a way to avoid layoffs. 'The reason we are doing this is to minimise any involuntary workforce reductions in the future,' Nasa's former acting administrator Janet Petro said during an agency town hall on Jun 25, according to an audio recording obtained by Bloomberg. 'That is our whole goal, minimising that.' Nasa had sought a 'blanket waiver' in February to save all of the agency's probationary employees from layoffs. The prospect of a mass exodus of employees from Nasa has raised alarm bells within the industry and at the agency, with some experts arguing that the cuts will cause Nasa to lose some of its best talent. In a letter to newly appointed Nasa interim administrator Sean Duffy titled The Voyager Declaration, hundreds of former and current employees warned Duffy, who is also the head of the Transportation Department, that workforce reductions could jeopardise the safety and efficiency of operations. 'Thousands of Nasa civil servant employees have already been terminated, resigned or retired early, taking with them highly specialised, irreplaceable knowledge crucial to carrying out Nasa's mission,' they wrote in the letter to Duffy. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
Trump tariffs leave costly China supply question unanswered
[BEIJING] US President Donald Trump's recent flurry of trade deals have given Asian exporters some clarity on tariffs, but missing are key details on how to avoid punitive rates that target China's supply chains. Trump unveiled tariffs of 20 per cent for Vietnam and 19 per cent for Indonesia and the Philippines, signalling that those are the levels the US will likely settle on for most of South-east Asia, a region that ships US$352 billion worth of goods annually to the US. He's also threatened to rocket rates up to 40 per cent for products deemed to be transshipped, or re-routed, through those countries, a move largely directed at curbing Chinese goods circumventing higher US tariffs. But still unclear to manufacturers is how the US will calculate and apply local-content requirements, key to how it will determine what constitutes transshipped goods. South-east Asian nations are highly reliant on Chinese components and raw materials, and US firms that source from the region would bear the extra tariff damage. That's left companies, investors and economists facing several unanswered questions about Trump's tariffs that appear aimed at squeezing out Chinese content, according to Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore. 'Is that raw materials? All raw materials? Above a certain percentage?' she said. 'How about parts? What about labour or services? What about investment?' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up In an agreement with Indonesia last week, the White House said the two countries would negotiate 'rules of origin' to ensure a third country would not benefit. The deal with Vietnam earlier this month outlined a higher 40 per cent tariff rate for transshipped goods. And Thai officials, who have yet to secure a deal, detailed that they likely need to boost local content in exports to the US. Missing details The Trump administration is not providing much clarity on the matter right now. US officials are still working out details with trading partners and looking at value-based local content requirements, to ensure exports are more than just assembled imported parts, according to a source familiar with the matter, who did not want to be identified discussing private talks. A senior Trump administration official also said this week that details on the approach to transhipment are expected to be released before Aug 1, the deadline for when higher US tariffs kick in. Some factories are already adjusting their supply chains to comply with rules that will require more locally-made components in production. Frank Deng, an executive at a Shanghai-based furniture exporter with operations in Vietnam, and which gets about 80 per cent of business from the US, said in an interview that his firm is making adjustments as authorities appear to be more strictly enforcing country-of-origin rules. Vietnam has always had specific local content requirements for manufacturers, Deng added, including that a maximum of 30 per cent of the volume of raw materials originates from China, and the value after production in Vietnam must be 40 per cent higher than the imported raw materials. 'We have been struggling to meet all the standards so that we can still stay in the game,' Deng said. 'But I guess that's the only way to survive now.' For most of South-east Asia, reducing the amount of Chinese-made components in manufacturing will require a complete overhaul of their supply chains. Estimates from Eurasia Group show that Chinese components make up about 60 to 70 per cent of exports from South-east Asia – primarily industrial inputs that go into manufacturing assembly. About 15 per cent of the region's exports now head to the US, up about four percentage points from 2018. Local content The US has become increasingly vigilant about China's ability to bypass US trade tariffs and other restrictions through third countries since Trump's first trade war in 2017. Thailand signalled its frustration over the lack of clarity for how much local content is needed in goods exported to the US to avert transhipment rates, but noted it will likely be much higher than a traditional measure of 40 per cent. 'From what we have heard, the required percentage could be significantly higher, perhaps 60 per cent, 70 per cent, or even 80 per cent,' Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said on Jul 14. 'Emerging countries or new production bases are clearly at a disadvantage,' he said, as their manufacturing capabilities are still at an early stage and must rely on other countries for raw goods. Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia have all taken steps this year to address Trump's concerns, increasing scrutiny of trade that passes through their ports, including new rule-of-origin policies that centralise processing and imposing harsh penalties on transshippers. Developing nations may still struggle to enforce Trump's rules or comply with the rules if it means going up against China, their largest trading partner and geopolitical partner. 'The reality is it's not enforceable at all,' said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group. 'Chinese companies have all kinds of ways to get around it and those other countries have no incentive to enforce those measures, or capacity to collect the data and determine local content.' BLOOMBERG
Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
American Airlines' new Airbus jet grounded by supply chain issue
[TEXAS] American Airlines Group has finally taken possession of its first long-range Airbus A321XLR aircraft, but the plane will remain in Europe because of a supply chain issue that's caused a shortage of seats. The carrier signed paperwork to accept the plane in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday (Jul 25), American said. The company, which ordered 50 of the longer-range aircraft in 2019, plans to initially use this first plane on US transcontinental routes later this year before shifting it to international service. The aircraft is part of American's plan to increase its long-haul fleet to 200 in 2029 from about 125 today. It will also help it capitalise on rising consumer demand for upscale travel options. The aircraft, equipped with 20 suites and 12 premium seats, has the longest range of any single-aisle commercial jet. The plane 'will remain in Europe until ongoing seat supply chain challenges are resolved', the airline said, declining to name the seat manufacturer. Aircraft built in Europe currently get 10 per cent tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump's trade war. The A321XLR delay is not related to those levies, American said. Chief executive officer Robert Isom said in April that the carrier did not plan to absorb extra tariff charges. Delta Air Lines also has new Airbus jets stranded in Europe, because their seats have not yet been certified by regulators, Bloomberg reported earlier this month, citing sources familiar with the matter. The carrier has been cannibalising some of the stranded aircraft by stripping off their US-made engines and using them to get grounded planes in America back into service. BLOOMBERG
