Latest news with #050
TimesLIVE
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Detroit Big Three carmakers raise concerns about Japan trade deal
A group representing General Motors, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis on Tuesday raised concerns about a trade deal that could cut tariffs on car imports from Japan to 15% while leaving tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico at 25%. Matt Blunt, who heads the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC) that represents the Detroit Three carmakers, said they were reviewing the agreement but "any deal that charges a lower tariff for Japanese imports with virtually no US content than the tariff imposed on North American built vehicles with high US content is a bad deal for US industry and auto workers." Trump has threatened to hike tariffs on Mexico to 30% and Canada to 35% on August 1. White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended the deal, calling it "a historic win for American carmakers by putting an end to Japan's unfair auto trade barriers for American-made cars". GM said on Tuesday its second quarter earnings took a $1.1bn (R19,323,332,050) hit from tariffs and expects the impact to worsen in the third quarter. Stellantis said on Monday it expects more impact from US tariffs on vehicles and car part imports in the second half of 2025, reporting US President Donald Trump's tariffs had cost it €300m (R6,183,783,000) so far as the company reduced vehicle shipments and cut some production to adjust manufacturing levels. In May, AAPC criticised Trump's announced trade deal with Britain, saying it would harm the US auto sector. British carmakers will be given a quota of 100,000 cars a year that can be sent to the US at a 10% tariff rate, almost the total Britain exported last year. "This hurts American automakers, suppliers and auto workers," AAPC said. Trump in April softened the blow of his car tariffs by easing the impact of duties on parts and materials, but left in place 25% tariffs on imported vehicles.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Are stabilisation measures backfiring?
Under the emerging situation, the people are facing unemployment and underemployment and this scenario is grave from the socio-political point of view. photo: file Listen to article The stabilisation measures have impacted the real economy a great deal. The market economy has been growing slowly, as indicated by the statistics of GDP. The current account surplus from July to May 2025 remained around $1.8 billion. This surplus has been achieved at the expense of imports, where deliberate attempts have been made to scale down imports in the last couple of years. In addition, remittances of around $38 billion also helped in achieving the surplus. The massive import compression, started in FY2023 to stabilise the economy, has produced results. This compression played an important role in bolstering the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which have crossed $14 billion. If the economy operates at the current level, foreign exchange reserves will cover around 2.5 months of merchandise imports, since imports remained around $58 billion in FY2025. Apart from rollover of commercial loans from China, the SBP intervened in the foreign exchange market to fulfil the target of foreign exchange reserves agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On the monetary front, the SBP has kept the policy rate at 11% to attract international financial capital. This high rate will attract hot money to finance the current account in the event it turns into deficit. The growth in imports is linked with the growth in the real economy, which will turn the current account surplus into a deficit. As the level of aggregate demand is low, business firms cannot sell their products to consumers. Furthermore, the level of aggregate demand remained low owing to regressive taxation and high energy costs. The gas prices have been revised upward in FY2026, while electricity prices are already at an elevated level. The higher international crude oil prices have started to affect the masses. The salaried class has paid around Rs550 billion in income tax in FY2025, and the tally would remain around this level in the current financial year. All these measures have reduced the purchasing power of consumers. Many firms have invested in treasury bills, bonds, and Sukuk, since these firms intend to remain liquid. A whopping Rs13.5 trillion has been parked by the corporate sector in bills, bonds, and Sukuk till December 2024. Business firms did not enhance investment in the capital development of the country. As a result, the index of the Large-Scale Manufacturing sector has decelerated by 1.2% in the eleven months of FY2025. The government did spend around Rs1,050 billion through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in FY2025. The tight-fisted Ministry of Finance (MoF) allowed the release of a large chunk of the budgeted funds in the last quarter. The development funds have been diverted from development projects to meet the primary budget surplus. The tight fiscal and monetary policies have also reduced the level of economic activity a great deal. The high debt servicing cost has further reduced the fiscal space of the government. Under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the government intends to bring down the fiscal deficit to around 6%. This reduction in the fiscal deficit can be achieved by scaling down development expenditure. The impact of low development expenditure has already affected the cement, steel, glass, and allied manufacturing sub-sectors. In addition, the construction sector remained dull in the outgoing financial year. In a nutshell, stabilisation measures have started to implicate the masses a great deal. Under the emerging situation, the people are facing unemployment and underemployment. The level of unemployment is high for university graduates. This situation is grave from the socio-political point of view. Will policymakers take stock of the situation? THE WRITER IS AN INDEPENDENT ECONOMIST
The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Malaysia hikes August crude palm oil reference price, raising duty to 9%
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has increased its August crude palm oil reference price, a change that raises export duties to 9%, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Thursday. The world's second-largest palm exporter calculated a reference price of RM3,864.12 per metric ton for August. The July reference price was RM3,730.48 a ton, with a duty of 8.5%. The export tax structure starts at 3% for crude palm oil when prices are between RM2,250 to RM2,400 per ton. The maximum tax rate is 10% and kicks in when prices exceed RM4,050 per ton. - Reuters
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Tan Chong falls 8.0pct before settling flat at midday
KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd's share price dipped as much as 8.0 per cent in the morning session, before recovering to trade flat at 79 sen by the midday break. The stock touched an intraday low of 72.5 sen, retracing gains from Wednesday's close of 79 sen. It emerged as one of the most actively traded counters, with 19.56 million shares changing hands. The volatility followed an unusual market activity query by Bursa Malaysia yesterday, after the stock surged 44 per cent or 25.5 sen to 83.5 sen from 58 sen on Tuesday. RHB Research said Wednesday's rally reflected a shift in market sentiment, prompting the firm to upgrade its call on the stock to "Buy" from "Sell", with a significantly higher target price of RM1.12 from 27 sen previously. The firm said the market started to relook at Tan Chong from an underlying asset angle following an unexpected land sale on July 10. Tan Chong sold 1.30 hectares along Jalan Putra for RM148.8 million following the first land sale to Avaland Bhd in Petaling Jaya earlier this month for RM49 million. The total gain on disposal for these lands is expected to be between RM15 million and RM18 million with both deals transacted between RM518 per square feet and RM1,067 per sq ft. RHB Research said Tan Chong owns around 5.67-hectare non-manufacturing land - including showrooms, storage and service centres - across Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor, based on its latest annual report. "Assuming market values of RM250-RM1,050 per sq ft, we estimate these lands could be worth RM220 million, roughly 40 per cent of Tan Chong Motor's market capitalisation. "More importantly, the group does not disclose its exhaustive list of assets. "Hence, there may be other smaller properties that might not be used for its automotive business but are suitable for redevelopment, such as the recent land disposal was not included in the Top 10 largest properties, implying more assets to be potentially realised," the firm added. RHB Research said Tan Chong still retains its traditional automotive model of owing the distribution network, which includes showrooms/properties vis-à-vis the current agency distribution model. The firm said there may be incentives for Tan Chong to resize its business model by selling some of their showrooms as Nissan's market share has fallen from six per cent of TIV in 2010 to one per cent in 2024. The group operates around 50-60 branches, of which 20-30 per cent are based in Kuala Lumpur.
Borneo Post
7 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
Dalat a model for rural education success, says Fatimah
Fatimah (centre) presents a financial study aid to a student in Dalat today. DALAT (July 16): Dalat is fast becoming a model of success in Sarawak's rural education efforts, where strategic, data-driven policies are being used to tackle poverty and widen access to higher learning. State Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, said the Dalat constituency has shown that well-targeted financial aid and strong community involvement can transform lives and strengthen local development. She revealed that Since 2010, the Dalat Education Committee has disbursed RM952,050 in aid, benefitting over 1,800 students pursuing certificate, diploma, degree and other higher education programmes. 'This is not just financial assistance, this is an investment in our children's future and in Dalat's socio-economic development. 'Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty, and we must ensure that every child who earns a place at university has the means to go,' she said during the N.56 Dalat Education Committee Assistance Presentation Ceremony at the Dalat Service Centre here today. Fatimah said the aid, drawn from Minor Rural Project (MRP) allocations, aims to reduce the financial burden on families—particularly for upfront costs such as travel, deposits and essential supplies. 'Sometimes students don't even enrol because of financial constraints, even after receiving a university offer. That should never happen,' she said. Looking ahead, Fatimah announced that her ministry will meet this week with the State Development Office (SDO) and local community leaders to verify and update national poverty data under the eKasih system for Dalat. 'This is to ensure that our aid reaches the right people. We don't want outdated or inaccurate data. We'll work with village chiefs and community leaders to clean the list and identify those truly in need,' she said. She noted that this grassroots verification method had been effective in addressing hardcore poverty, and would now be applied to target relative poverty in the district. Fatimah also expressed concern about the rising number of unemployed graduates returning home, saying many had pursued fields that are no longer in demand. To address this mismatch, she said the Sarawak government will begin offering free higher education at state-owned institutions starting in 2026, but only for courses with strong job prospects such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), law, and finance. 'Graduates must not only obtain degrees, they must be employable. This is why we are focused on guiding students toward fields with strong job prospects,' she said. She also revealed that her team is working with the Resident's Office to identify unemployed graduates in Dalat, with plans to organise a job fair or training initiatives in collaboration with agencies such as the Social Security organisation (Perkeso). Among the education assistance available is the Sarawak Special Financial Aid of RM1,200 per year disbursed in two instalments via Yayasan Sarawak. Graduates who return to Sarawak after completing their studies are also eligible for a one-off RM300 grant, claimable twice. Fatimah urged all eligible students to apply, while reminding them of the sacrifices made by their families. 'We eat simply so our children can dream big. We hope our students remember this and stay motivated to succeed, not only for themselves but for their families and community,' she said. She reaffirmed her ministry's commitment to ensuring fair access to education and creating meaningful opportunities for rural youth. 'This is a long-term investment in Dalat's future. We want our children to succeed, come back, contribute, and lift their families and our community to greater heights,' she said. Dalat fatimah abdullah rural education
