EU push to protect digital rules holds up trade statement with US, FT reports
EU officials said disagreements over language relating to "non-tariff barriers", which the U.S. said include the digital rules, are among the reasons for the hold-up of the statement, the newspaper said.
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Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
China EV sector invests more abroad than at home for first time
[HONG KONG] Chinese companies involved in the electric vehicle industry invested more overseas than domestically for the first time in 2024, although foreign projects face higher costs, delays and risks. Firms along the supply chain invested around US$16 billion overseas last year – mostly in battery production, and just ahead of the US$15 billion spent at home, according to a report by research company Rhodium Group released on Monday (Aug 18). The figures represent an 'historic shift' after years of directing around 80 per cent of investment domestically, Rhodium said in the report. Chinese companies are being driven to expand globally as overcapacity and a long-running price war at home squeeze margins all along the supply chain. They are also seeking to skirt punishing tariffs in Europe and the US by building production facilities there, and bowing to pressure from foreign customers for more localised production. 'The fact that overseas investments now outpace domestic ones reflects a saturated Chinese market and the strategic appeal of expanding abroad for higher returns,' said Armand Meyer, senior research analyst at Rhodium and an author of the report. About three-quarters of the outbound investment came from battery makers, reflecting the capital intensive nature of the industry. Major battery makers like Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), Envision Group and Gotion High-Tech have followed existing clients like Tesla and BMW abroad, driven by high transport costs and requests for localised supply, according to the report. CATL, as the world's biggest EV battery maker is known, in June said it is making overseas expansion its 'No 1 priority' as intense competition in China's domestic auto market threatens the industry's health. BYD, China's top-selling automaker, has factories in Brazil and Thailand, and is planning facilities in Turkey and Indonesia. Chery Automobile has pledged to set up a US$1 billion electric vehicle factory in Turkey. 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 Overseas projects tend to be more expensive, take longer to build and face higher regulatory and political risks. Only 25 per cent of EV manufacturing projects announced abroad have been finished, compared with a 45 per cent completion rate at home, the report said. BYD last month indefinitely shelved plans to build a major plant in Mexico over geopolitical tensions and uncertainty stemming from US President Donald Trump's trade policies. Domestic projects are not only built faster but are also initiated sooner. Battery factories in China typically begin construction within 3-to-12 months, compared to 10-to-24 months abroad, Rhodium said. Svolt Energy Technology, a battery maker based in northern China, cancelled 99 per cent of its announced overseas investments, the report said. The international expansion of Chinese EV companies and suppliers will need to contend with dynamics such as uneven global demand for battery cars, and pushback in markets such as the EU. At the same time, Chinese firms need to manage Beijing's increasing concern over technology transfer, job losses and industrial hollowing out that could lead to tighter controls on outbound investment. BLOOMBERG
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Trump targets mail-in ballots ahead of 2026 US elections
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said on Monday (Aug 18) he would lead a "movement" against mail-in balloting as he sought to eliminate a voting method used by nearly a third of the country ahead of next year's midterm elections. Trump - who has spent years railing against postal ballots, even though they have benefited his Republicans and he has voted by mail - said he would sign an executive order to help bring "honesty" to the midterms. "I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we're at it, Highly Inaccurate, Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES," he posted on his website, Truth Social. Mail-in and absentee ballots can be counted after Election Day in 18 states, so long as they're postmarked on or before that date, and just over 30 per cent of those cast in the 2024 election were submitted by mail. There is no evidence that postal voting is less secure than other methods, and pro-democracy groups say ending it could disenfranchise millions of Americans with disabilities and other difficulties turning out in person. But Trump repeatedly spread misinformation about the practice as he campaigned in 2020 and 2024. After his defeat in 2020, he falsely claimed that tens of thousands of fraudulent mail-in ballots had helped Democrat Joe Biden beat him. Trump said on Friday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who US investigators found interfered on the Republican's behalf in the 2016 election, agreed with him that letting voters send in ballots by mail risked election integrity. "You know, Vladimir Putin said something, one of the most interesting things," Trump told Fox News. The International IDEA data shows there are 34 countries worldwide allowing in-country postal voting, including Germany, Britain, Denmark and US neighbour Canada. Trump issued an executive order in March directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to "take all necessary action" against states counting absentee or mail-in ballots received after the election, even if they were postmarked by Election Day. A judge ruled that Trump lacked the authority to impose state election rules and blocked the edict. Despite his criticism, Trump cast mail ballots twice in Florida in the 2020 primary elections and used absentee ballots in New York in 2018 and 2017. But he voted in person in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. And there was a brief about-face in 2024 when he announced the launch of a "Swamp The Vote USA" drive to encourage postal ballots, which analysts saw as a pragmatic acceptance of the reality that postal ballots are how many of his supporters vote.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Nearly 90% of videogame developers use AI agents, Google study shows
A Google Cloud survey showed that 87 per cent of videogame developers are using artificial intelligence agents to streamline and automate tasks, as the industry focuses on optimizing costs following a wave of record layoffs. Most of the respondents in the report, published on Monday, said AI was helping automate cumbersome and repetitive tasks, freeing developers to focus on more creative concerns. Gaming publishers have turned to AI to deal with the industry-wide challenge of ballooning development costs and elongated creation cycles stemming from high fan expectations and intense competition. The study, conducted by Google and The Harris Poll, surveyed 615 game developers in the U.S., South Korea, Norway, Finland, and Sweden in late June and early July. Around 44 per cent of developers use agents to optimize content and process information such as text, voice, code, audio and video rapidly, enabling them to exercise autonomy and make decisions, the study showed. But the use of AI in videogames is a highly contentious topic, with many within the industry concerned over potential job losses, intellectual property disputes and lower pay. Last year, Hollywood's videogame performers went on strike over AI and pay issues, while studios shut down and more than 10,000 people lost their jobs. The industry is expected to gain momentum this year and the next, with the launch of premium titles and new consoles seen to boost spending. According to the survey, 94 per cent of developers expect AI to reduce overall development costs in the long term. That, even as roughly one in four developers find it challenging to precisely measure the return on investment of their AI implementations, while costs associated with integrating the technology are also high. Around 63 per cent of those surveyed expressed concerns over data ownership as the legality around licensing and who exactly owns AI-generated content remains unclear.
