logo
Nissan is dying and taking globalisation with it

Nissan is dying and taking globalisation with it

Straits Times15-05-2025

More than half of revenues are in North America, and about 30 per cent of the vehicles produced in its Japanese factories are exported to the same market. PHOTO: AFP
In retrospect, you can put a date on the moment globalisation peaked: Jan 24, 2018.
In the rarefied winter air of Davos, Switzerland, Mr Carlos Ghosn – then boss of the sprawling alliance of Nissan Motor, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors – was asked what he thought of a tentative initial round of tariffs on washing machines and solar panels imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

South Korea's Lee, Trump agree to work towards swift tariff deal, Lee's office says
South Korea's Lee, Trump agree to work towards swift tariff deal, Lee's office says

CNA

time28 minutes ago

  • CNA

South Korea's Lee, Trump agree to work towards swift tariff deal, Lee's office says

SEOUL/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung agreed to work toward a swift tariff deal in their first phone call since Lee was elected this week, Lee's office said on Friday (Jun 6). Trump has imposed tariffs on South Korea, a long time ally with which it has a bilateral free trade deal, and pressed it to pay more for the 28,500 US troops stationed there. Separately, Trump allies have aired concerns about Lee's more conciliatory stance towards China, Washington's main geopolitical rival. Lee, a liberal, was elected on Jun 3 after former conservative leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached and ousted. The future of South Korea's export-oriented economy may hinge on what kind of deal Lee can strike with Trump, with all of his country's key sectors from chips to autos and shipbuilding heavily exposed to global trade. His term began on Wednesday. "The two presidents agreed to make an effort to reach a satisfactory agreement on tariff consultations as soon as possible that both countries can be satisfied with," Lee's office said in a statement. "To this end, they decided to encourage working-level negotiations to yield tangible results." Trump invited Lee to a summit in the US and they plan to meet soon, according to a White House official. Analysts say the first opportunity for the two to meet could be at a G7 summit in Canada in mid-June. Lee's office said the two leaders also discussed the assassination attempts they both experienced last year as well as their enthusiasm for golf. Lee underwent surgery after he was stabbed in the neck by a man in January last year, while Trump was wounded in the ear by a bullet fired by a would-be assassin in July. South Korea, a major US ally and one of the first countries after Japan to engage with Washington on trade talks, agreed in late April to craft a "July package" scrapping levies before the 90-day pause on Trump's reciprocal tariffs is lifted, but progress was disrupted by the change of governments in Seoul. Lee said on the eve of the elections that "the most pressing matter is trade negotiations with the United States." Lee's camp has said, however, that they intend to seek more time to negotiate on trade with Trump. While reiterating the importance of the US-South Korea alliance, Lee has also expressed more conciliatory plans for ties with China and North Korea, singling out the importance of China as a major trading partner while indicating a reluctance to take a firm stance on security tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Political analysts say that while Trump and Lee may share a desire to try to re-engage with North Korea, Lee's stance on China could cause friction with the US. A White House official said this week that South Korea's election was fair, but expressed concern about Chinese interference in what analysts said may have been a cautionary message to Lee. Speaking in Singapore last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said many countries were tempted by the idea of seeking economic cooperation with China and defense cooperation with the United States, and warned that such entanglement complicated defense cooperation.

US, China set for trade talks in London on June 9
US, China set for trade talks in London on June 9

Straits Times

time42 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

US, China set for trade talks in London on June 9

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will represent Washington in the talks. PHOTO: AFP WASHINGTON - Three of President Donald Trump's top aides will face their Chinese counterparts in London on June 9 for talks to resolve a trade dispute between the world's two largest economies that has kept global markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent Washington in the talks, said Mr Trump, who announced the talks in a post on his Truth Social platform but provided no more details. It was not immediately clear who would represent China. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more details. "The meeting should go very well," Mr Trump wrote. The scheduling of the meeting comes a day after Mr Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals. Mr Trump and Mr Xi agreed to visit one another and asked their staffs to hold talks in the meantime. Both countries are under pressure to relieve tensions, with the global economy under pressure over Chinese control over the rare earth mineral exports of which it is the dominant producer and investors more broadly anxious about Trump's wider effort to impose tariffs on goods from most US trading partners. China, meanwhile, has seen its own supply of key US imports like chip-design software and nuclear plant parts curtailed. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 in Geneva to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Mr Trump's January inauguration. That preliminary deal sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market levels have recouped the lion's share of their losses. The S&P 500 stock index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18 per cent after Mr Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on goods from across the globe, is now only about 2 per cent below its record high from mid-February. The final third of that rally followed the US-China truce struck in Geneva. Still, that temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model. Since returning to the White House in January, Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened an array of punitive measures on trading partners, only to revoke some of them at the last minute. The on-again, off-again approach has baffled world leaders and spooked business executives. Beijing sees mineral exports as a source of leverage - halting those exports could put domestic political pressure on the Republican US president if economic growth sags because companies cannot make mineral-powered products. In recent years, the United States has identified China as its top geopolitical rival and the only country in the world able to challenge the US economically and militarily. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Beware of private investment deals that promise high returns
Beware of private investment deals that promise high returns

Straits Times

time42 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

Beware of private investment deals that promise high returns

Investors are often blind-sided by promises of huge returns that they forget to check how they can even cash out and get their money back, let alone any profit. ST ILLUSTRATION: MANNY FRANCISCO Fixed deposits are only paying around 2 per cent now so it would certainly be tempting if someone dangles a private investment deal offering returns of 10 times or more. But before jumping in, ask why anyone would let you share such bumper profits when they could have it all to themselves. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store