Serie A players to face automatic 25% pay cut if relegated
The five-year agreement was announced on Tuesday. The pay cut is aimed at easing the financial strain on clubs that drop out of Serie A and will apply to all contracts signed after September 2, 2025 - the end of the transfer window.
The new system automatically reduces salaries unless otherwise stipulated in a player's contract. Existing deals will remain subject to previously agreed terms.
If a team earns promotion back to Serie A, affected salaries will return to their original value. The collective bargaining agreement also introduces a minimum salary structure based on a player's age, which cannot be lowered even after relegation.
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CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Wary of sticker shock, retailers clash with brands on price hikes
LONDON :Caught between rising costs from tariffs and belt-tightening consumers, big retailers are clashing with the producers of consumer brands such as Nivea-maker Beiersdorf and brewer Heineken, as they look to avoid sticker shock that could hurt sales. The disputes - which have dented some brands' sales - underscore the challenge for consumer goods makers and sellers, with inflation and tariffs pushing up input costs and price spikes in commodities such as coffee. While pricing talks have never been easy, tariffs are escalating already high food inflation since the pandemic, making grocery bills more contentious and political as consumers grapple with a cost-of-living crisis. "We all should be very well aware of consumer budgets," Frans Muller, CEO of supermarket company Ahold Delhaize, which owns U.S. chains Food Lion, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said conversations with consumer goods companies over pricing were "tight," adding that the industry's focus was on increasing sales volumes rather than increasing revenue by hiking prices. "That is the wrong way of supporting customers and the wrong way of growing the business itself." Ahold has in-house teams that track commodity, energy, and labour costs, and own-brand products it can compare with to establish whether price increases demanded by consumer brands are justified or not, Muller said. On the other side of the equation are the brands, facing higher costs that are squeezing margins. Beiersdorf CEO Vincent Warnery said on Wednesday that retailers in key markets, including Germany and France, had pushed back strongly in price talks last quarter, not only refusing price increases but asking for price reductions, and pulling products from shelves. Beiersdorf eventually agreed to a 2.6 per cent rise, Warnery said, but delistings of some products by retailers knocked two percentage points off its sales growth in Europe in the second quarter. "There will be a lot of price changes pushed forward by consumer brands, some will be accepted by retailers and some will not," said Bobby Gibbs, a Dallas-based partner at Oliver Wyman who advises retailers and consumer goods firms. Manufacturers will find it easier to push higher prices through on products where there is brand loyalty and fewer strong private label alternatives, Gibbs said. Reuters' global tariff tracker shows at least 102 out of nearly 300 companies monitored by the tracker have announced price hikes in response to the trade war, with about 41 of them in the consumer sector. As well as tariffs, other factors like the cost of capital and labour, and commodity prices in the case of coffee and chocolate, are pushing prices up on certain products, Gibbs said. Trump has said the tariffs counter persistent U.S. trade imbalances and declining U.S. manufacturing power, and that the moves will bring jobs and investment to the nation. MORE PRICE HIKES AHEAD More price hikes are planned, particularly in the U.S. Tide detergent maker Procter & Gamble last week said it was raising prices on about a quarter of its products in the U.S. by a mid-single-digit percentage as part of efforts to mitigate the cost of higher tariffs on imported goods. That will affect pricing at Walmart, Target, and other stores. As talks heat up, more retailers could pull branded products temporarily as a negotiating tactic, as Ahold's Albert Heijn chain did this year in a dispute over price hikes by coffee roaster JDE Peet's. Dutch brewer Heineken last week said its beer sales were dented by a price dispute with European retailers. "Many retailers are getting more sophisticated in how they can measure product switching ... so they're willing to be bolder on delistings because they're able to protect sales and margin more than they would have in the past," said Gibbs. In Europe, retailers are joining forces to increase their clout in pricing talks. Carrefour said last month it had created a new European buying alliance called Concordis, along with rival group Coopérative U, and is in advanced discussions with other European retailers to expand the alliance. Supermarkets are developing more own-brand alternatives to big-name brands. Ahold has introduced 300 new own-brand products this year in its U.S. chains, and sales growth in those has outpaced the rest of the store, it said. Big brands have taken note, with P&G's Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten saying last week that retailers have been implementing "more aggressive pricing" on own-brand products. "We see some level of pressure to drive trade down because of price promotional behaviour," he said, referring to consumers swapping to lower-priced products, adding the market would remain "volatile and challenging".
CNA
5 hours ago
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Trump wants more American pick-ups in Tokyo and London. That may be a hard sell
TOKYO/STOCKHOLM, August 7 :Donald Trump is right that Japan and Europe buy few American-made cars - but it has little to do with trade barriers. From Tokyo to London, many consumers see Detroit's offerings as simply too big and too gas-guzzling. That view has made Chevrolets and Cadillacs a hard sell, and a rare sight, in cities full of slimmer cars from the Toyota Corolla to Honda Civic, Volkswagen Golf and Renault Clio. Trump often complains about what he sees as a refusal to accept U.S. cars while the Japanese and Europeans sell millions of automobiles a year into the United States. In recent trade deals, both markets agreed to drop or ease safety tests on American vehicle imports. Europe will lower levies on U.S. cars. But it may take more than a change of rules and lower tariffs to convince Japanese and European consumers, who contend with narrow roads and painfully tight parking, to buy big American-made Ford F-150 trucks and Cadillac Escalade SUVs. "American cars are designed for wide roads and freeway driving, so handling them on narrow Japanese streets can be tricky. It takes a bit of technique," said Yumihito Yasue, president of Johnan Jeep Petit in Tokyo, which imports and services vintage cars from the United States. His customers tend to be enthusiasts in their 50s and 60s who grew up seeing American cars on TV and in movies. On a recent weekday, he was servicing two Chevrolets, a lustrous brown 1971 Nova and a low-slung 1986 El Camino, both with their steering wheels on the left. In Japan, steering is on the right. Yasue inherited his love of American cars from his father, who started the business four decades ago and would travel to California to scout for cars. Yasue took over after his father died nine years ago, and sells about 20 vehicles a year. "What makes American cars special is the design. Compared to Japanese or German cars, the body shape is more beautiful. Especially the lines, like the rear lines and the fenders," he said. Some 3.7 million new cars were sold in Japan last year, with a third of those mini or "kei" cars - tiny, fuel efficient vehicles not produced by American automakers. Overall, foreign cars accounted for 6 per cent of new car sales, data from the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association showed. Of those, around 570 Chevys, 450 Cadillacs and 120 Dodges were sold, data from the Japan Automobile Importers Association showed. Ford pulled out of Japan almost a decade ago. Tesla makes cars sleeker than some of Detroit's and is becoming more popular. The data does not give a breakdown for the EV maker. 'WE DON'T BUY FORD F-150S' In Europe, smaller locally-made U.S. cars have done well: models like the best-selling Ford Puma and the older Fiesta. But over the past two decades, Ford and General Motors have pivoted towards larger pickups and SUVs, vehicles less suited to Europe's narrow streets and compact-car culture. Ford, a big player in Europe from the early 1900s, has seen sales in the region fall sharply, from 1.26 million vehicles in 2005 to just 426,000 in 2024, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). Its market share dropped from 8.3 per cent to 3.3 per cent. "We don't buy Ford F-150s, that's not what our roads are scaled for, it's not what our customers want," Andy Palmer, former CEO of Aston Martin, told Reuters. GM exited Europe in 2017, selling Opel after pulling back Chevrolet, but returned with its Cadillac Lyriq last year. It sold a mere 1,514 of the U.S.-made SUV, according to auto data firm Jato. A GM spokesperson said Cadillac was growing its all-electric lineup in Europe, and the vehicles had been well-received in the markets where they were launched. A Ford spokesperson said the firm exported "passion products" to Europe like the Bronco and Mustang, alongside locally-made models tailored for the market. Clive Sutton, a British car dealer in London who sells luxury American models, said his buyers were drawn to the rarity of vehicles like the giant Cadillac Escalade. But he admitted it was a challenge. "There are people that want that car because of its exclusivity and its perceived status," Sutton said. "But it's not the most easy car to find a parking space for, certainly in central London." COMPETITIVE MARKET Trump has also put pressure on South Korea to open its market to American cars and said duty-free access was part of the trade deal the two countries agreed last week. There, imported vehicles account for less than one-fifth of the car market and U.S. models for only 16 per cent of the imported car segment, which is dominated by German rivals, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association. German manufacturers have also carved out a strong presence in Japan's luxury market. Mercedes-Benz sold more than 53,000 vehicles last year, making it the most popular foreign brand, followed by BMW at more than 35,000. Japanese automakers say Europeans have been successful because they committed the time and resources to the market. Detroit carmakers, meanwhile, are often associated with left-hand drive cars, which are more challenging to drive on the left-hand side of the road. But some U.S. manufacturers are changing. GM has offered the Corvette only in right-hand drive since the eighth generation version went on sale in 2021. That may be one reason why some 80 per cent of buyers are new customers, a GM spokesperson said. The Corvette is the only model Chevy offers in Japan, and it has sold fewer than 1,000 of them a year for the last decade. GM this year announced plans for a line-up of right-hand-drive Cadillac EVs and deliveries of the Lyriq started in July. 'WOW, A FOREIGN CAR' Jeep, which sells right-hand drive models, has been the most popular American brand for more than a decade, the importer data showed. It sold just shy of 10,000 vehicles last year in Japan. Yukimi Nitta used to drive a "kei" car but she was drawn to the Jeep Wrangler's appearance, which she described as "friendly" and "outdoorsy". The 42-year-old hair salon owner is now on her second Jeep - a limited-edition beige model - and hopes to switch again to another limited-edition colour. Parking is tight but manageable, she said, and two of her friends have since bought Wranglers. "People often say, 'Wow, a foreign car!' But once you drive it, it feels totally normal. I wish more people would try it," she said. While the Wrangler does burn through fuel quickly, the resale value is good, making it possible to switch out colours, something owners do, Nitta said. A spokesperson for Jeep owner Stellantis said it actively promoted owner events. In July, it announced a collaboration with the "Jurassic World" movie series featuring a limited-edition pink Wrangler, the spokesperson said. Big American cars and trucks might find it hard to follow in Jeep's tracks. Daniel Cadwell, an American living in Tokyo, exports used Japanese camper vans and wagons to the United States. He said he was struck by the size of American cars whenever he went home. "They are just excessively big," said Cadwell, who runs Javan Imports in Portland with his U.S.-based business partner. "I think it is highly challenging for a car of that sort to be seen as attractive in Japan."
CNA
11 hours ago
- CNA
Zelenskiy says Russia appears more open to ceasefire, but warns against deception
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday (August 6) that Russia appeared "more inclined" to agree to a ceasefire, but cautioned that the details of any potential deal would be crucial and that neither Ukraine nor the United States should be misled by Moscow. His remarks followed a meeting in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, which US President Donald Trump described as having delivered 'great progress' – though he offered no specifics. CALL FOR LASTING PEACE "Ukraine will definitely defend its independence. We all need a lasting and reliable peace. Russia must end the war that it itself started," Zelenskiy said in a post on X following a phone call with Trump that included European allies. Trump, who has shown increasing frustration with Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until Friday to advance toward peace or face tougher sanctions. A White House official confirmed that the secondary sanctions Trump had previously warned of – targeting countries that continue doing business with Russia – were still scheduled to take effect on Friday. TARIFFS ON INDIA ADD TO PRESSURE Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday (August 6) imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods over its purchases of Russian oil. The move is widely seen as part of a broader strategy to pressure Moscow by targeting its trade partners. 'The pressure on (Russia) works. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us in the details – neither us nor the US,' Zelenskiy said. While Ukraine has consistently called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, Russia, which controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, has rejected the proposal and continues to push forward on the eastern front.
