U.S. prepares action targeting allies' ability to ship American chip-making equipment to China
CNBC's Megan Cassella joins 'Money Movers' to discuss the U.S. preparing to revoke waivers to stop chipmakers from shipping American equipment to China.
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Politico
37 minutes ago
- Politico
Majority of staff axed at Voice of America
The Trump administration on Friday sent out termination notices to hundreds of employees at Voice of America. Included in that group are employees working for the network's Persian-language service who were called back from administrative leave just last week in the wake of Israel's attack on Iran, according to two people familiar with the decision. The move — which makes official what has long been expected since hundreds of contract employees got termination notices in early May — is a part of the Trump administration's sweeping target to downsize the government and remake America's role in the global order. Critics of the administration's focus on VOA have said that the network has played a vital role in combatting disinformation abroad. But the administration says these cuts are in service of 'cutting waste' and putting 'American taxpayers first.' 'Today, we took decisive action to effectuate President Trump's agenda to shrink the out-of-control federal bureaucracy,' senior presidential adviser Kari Lake said in a statement released Friday . The move eliminates 1,400 jobs at U.S. Agency for Global Media, VOA's parent agency, roughly an 85 percent cut to the workforce. The last day on payroll for the employees will be Labor Day. Some of those affected by Friday's cuts who are not old enough for mandatory retirement, are being terminated without severance pay, according to one of the people. The move would contradict USAGM's policy on severance. 'As our legal team fight[s] for our rights under the law, we call on Congress to continue its long tradition of bipartisan support for VOA,' the named plaintiffs in VOA's lawsuit against the Trump administration said in a statement. 'Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and extremist groups are flooding the global information space with anti-American propaganda. Do not cede this ground by silencing America's voice.' Lake said in her statement that 250 employees will remain across the USAGM, VOA and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. She noted that none of the OCB's 33 employees were terminated. The government-funded network, which was founded 80 years ago to combat Nazi disinformation during World War II, has — largely unsuccessfully — fought the administration's decision in court. The administration sent RIF notices to employees in small batches for weeks. But Friday's notice could deliver the coup de grâce for Voice of America after decades of providing the world with accurate information in countries where media is state-run.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Honda launches cargo e-bike delivery business
This story was originally published on Smart Cities Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Smart Cities Dive newsletter. Honda debuted a new business unit named 'Fastport' this week that will use cargo e-bikes to serve the last-mile delivery market in dense urban areas in North America and Europe. The automaker developed a modular, electric quadricycle it will use for deliveries. The vehicle, which can operate in bike lanes, will be manufactured in Ohio beginning later this year. Honda plans to work with delivery providers to offer the new Fastport service. 'Instead of just selling the vehicle itself, [Honda is offering] the entire support ecosystem: the batteries, the cargo box, the maintenance, the service, as well as the software,' Adam Elsayed, head of product at Fastport, an American Honda Motor Co. venture, said in an interview. Electric-powered cargo bikes can help reduce emissions and traffic congestion from truck deliveries. In recent years, several pilot programs have tried to increase their use with delivery hubs, three-wheel cargo bikes and larger bikes. Honda plans to work more holistically: 'We're dedicated to transforming the last-mile delivery space, and we plan to do that through what we're calling an ecosystem of hardware and software products,' Elsayed said. Since the bikes will operate on crowded city streets, they have safety features such as proximity sensors, a rear-view camera and automatic parking brakes, Elsayed said. The bike, which Honda is calling the Fastport eQuad, will be available in two sizes. Each will have a maximum speed of 12 mph; a canopy, vent fan and front enclosure are designed for rider comfort, the company says. The larger model can handle a payload up to 650 pounds; the smaller model can handle 320 pounds. The bike's software can be updated over the air. The eQuad's swappable batteries are also a Honda product, its mobile power pack. Each bike carries two 1.3-kilowatt-hour batteries, Elsayed said, with a range of up to 23 miles, depending on payload, for the larger vehicle. Honda calls its Fastport business model 'fleet-as-a-service,' which it will be selling to business customers. Honda said it is speaking with 'major logistics and delivery companies' in North America and Europe about pilot programs, but it did not reveal any names. Elsayed said the company is 'mainly focused on parcel and food delivery' for the initial rollout. Fastport was the brainchild of the Honda New Business Innovation Lab at American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance, California. The Fastport eQuad will be produced at the Honda Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio, which the company describes as a small volume, specialty manufacturing facility. 'We believe that [the Fastport eQuad is] more advantageous than a van and more capable than an e-bike,' Elsayed said. 'If we get these on the road, we may be able to replace some of those larger vans, and we think that will be a benefit for the city.' Recommended Reading NYC launches 'microhub' pilot to reduce truck delivery congestion, pollution
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US Companies Take Trump Tariff Suit to Supreme Court
American businesses that filed a joint lawsuit against President Donald Trump's tariffs have petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case, effectively sidestepping a lower court in search of a speedier resolution. The plaintiffs, two toy importers called Learning Resources and Hand2Mind, saw an Illinois federal court rule in their favor in late May after filing a lawsuit against the president alleging that he overstepped his authority in utilizing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs. But the court's decision, along with a parallel ruling from a New York-based Court of International Trade, was put on hold amid appeals from the Trump administration. More from Sourcing Journal Tariffs Stall Long Beach Imports, Marking Slowest May Since Pre-Covid Era Port of LA Ordered by Federal Judge to Clean Up Contaminated Wastewater Majority of Americans Believe Tariffs Threaten Their Finances In light of the impact of the duties on U.S. businesses importing goods from overseas, the plaintiffs argued that challenges to the administration's tariff regime can't wait for the normal appellate process to play out—even on an expedited timeline. They asked the Supreme Court to swiftly grant a review the lower court's decision. According to the complainants, 'the President with the stroke of a pen increased the Nation's effective tariff rate tenfold to the highest it has been in more than a century'—an act that he is attempting to justify through the unprecedented use of IEEPA, and one that will cost Americans 'billions of dollars.' IEEPA, a little-known trade rule signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, allows the president to regulate international commerce in the event of a national emergency caused by an 'unusual and extraordinary threat' to the country's security or economy. It authorizes the Commander in Chief to use economic sanctions—like freezing assets or blocking transactions—to thwart foreign influence by bad actors, from terrorists to cyber criminals. But the plaintiffs in the suit against Trump argued that IEEPA doesn't give the president the power to impose sweeping tariffs on trade partners across the globe—or sanction his ability to leverage duties in any way. They pointed to the rulings of the Court of International Trade, as well as the federal district court that decided their case, underscoring that both found the administration's tariffs unlawful. 'But as of last week, both lower court injunctions have been stayed pending appeal. Even as these punishing tariffs cause American businesses and consumers to bleed billions of dollars each month, there will be no relief any time soon,' they wrote. With much confusion swirling around the lawfulness of the tariffs and the president's authority to impose them, the plaintiffs asked that the Supreme Court rule simply on the question of whether IEEPA authorizes the president to impose tariffs. 'That pure question of law, implicating core separation-of-powers concerns, is in fact the only merits question that the government believes courts have the power to answer. It will inevitably fall to this Court to resolve it definitively,' the petition read. Learning Resources and Hand2Mind are among a bevy of plaintiffs—including more than a dozen states' attorneys general, and a handful of businesses—that have taken on Trump for what they perceive to be an unjust and unsubstantiated use of tariffs. And there's no question of timing when it comes to elevating the issue to the Supreme Court, as the administration's three-month deferral of so-called reciprocal duties is set to expire on July 9, ushering in a flood of double-digit duties on goods from across the globe. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted last week that Trump might be willing to push out that deadline in the interest of continuing negotiations with trade partners—specifically, 18 of the most prominent countries or trade blocs doing business with the U.S. Last week, the administration touted an interim trade deal with China, wherein the sourcing titan will pay 55 percent duties on imports into the U.S. after a 90-day cooling off period. The finer details of that agreement have not been released. Outside of China, only the United Kingdom has reached a deal with the U.S. during the negotiating period. Announced in early May at an Oval Office signing, the deal—which lowered tariffs on British cars as well as steel, aluminum and aerospace equipment—was finalized by Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday.
