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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Welzo establishes new regional headquarters in Singapore
Welzo, a Japanese agri-horticultural innovation company, has launched a wholly owned subsidiary, Welzo Singapore. By opening this new subsidiary, the company aims to expand into the Southeast Asian market and enhance its global business development. The Singapore office will be a central hub for marketing and business development across the region and will focus on key areas. These include the import and export of agricultural products, feed ingredients, and pet supplies, the development of marketing strategies for Southeast Asia, building local partnerships to optimise the supply chain, and recruiting local talent. Yoshifumi Kanao, president and CEO of Welzo, said: "Singapore is not just a gateway to Southeast Asia—it's a global hub where innovation and agriculture can converge. With this new subsidiary, we aim to deliver high-quality Japanese products to local markets while building sustainable partnerships rooted in mutual growth. This marks a crucial step in our journey toward global co-creation." The company hopes its Singapore office will enable it to provide value customised to local requirements and promote collaboration with local communities. Welzo is aiming to broaden operations in Japan and abroad. As the firm considers expansion prospects in nearby markets, it chose Singapore as the location for its regional headquarters due to its business environment and international connectivity. "Welzo establishes new regional headquarters in Singapore" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
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How the latest US tax bill increases uncertainty for foreign businesses
The US' latest tax bill, officially named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, contains a section that could drastically change the business environment for foreign companies and investors in the US. Section 899 says that the US could increase taxes on foreign investments (such as subsidiaries from non-US multinationals) if these come from countries that the US deems to have unfair trade policies. House Ways and Means Committee chair and Missouri Representative Jason Smith told Axios: 'This is a way to help put them in check, so that they understand that if they do that to our businesses, there will be consequences for their actions. Hopefully it will never take effect.' Under this provision, foreign companies operating in the US, US companies with foreign owners, multinationals and individual foreign investors from "discriminatory foreign countries" could face higher US taxes. This would enable the government to retaliate against countries that have imposed digital services taxes (DSTs) on US tech companies by targeting foreign investments from these countries in the US. It comes a few months after US Vice-President JD Vance visited France for the AI Summit, where he warned Europe against increasing tech regulations. US President Donald Trump has also criticised antitrust and privacy cases being pursued by the EU against big tech companies. Already, the US' dizzying tariff regime was hurting foreign investor confidence in the US. Delegates at the SelectUSA Investment Summit told Investment Monitor that many foreign businesses were delaying plans until they could have a more certain outlook. 'The measure risks detonating investor confidence and could set off a damaging pullback of foreign capital just as the US needs it the most,' Nigel Green, deVere Group's CEO, tells Investment Monitor in a note. 'It punishes the very people whose capital keeps American businesses growing, whose investments fund US debt and whose companies are employing millions of US workers.' 'Other countries won't sit idle while their firms and funds are penalised. They will respond. This means potential tax retaliation, trade frictions and further fragmentation of an already fragile global economic order,' Green says. He also emphasised that US workers would suffer the most severe consequences from this law if it came into effect. Ashley Akin, a tax consultant at RKO Tax and former KPMG manager, tells Investment Monitor over email that this provision 'introduces a real pricing risk for foreign investors and multinational firms'. 'If a country enforces digital taxes that the US finds discriminatory, their businesses operating in the US can face extra taxes starting at 5%, climbing up to 20%. These surcharges can override tax treaties,' Akin outlines. 'Companies doing everything by the book could still get hit, purely because of the tax policy in their home country." Already, the Trump administration has suggested that countries regulating US tech companies abroad could provoke more tariffs. These threats were seemingly aimed at Europe, where regulators have begun cracking down on major tech companies for what they view as privacy breaches and anti-competitive behaviour. Trump's senior trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has accused the EU of using "lawfare [...] to target America's largest tech firms". 'Section 899 is designed to protect US tech giants from what Washington views as targeted digital taxes. It gives the US leverage to push back against European digital services taxes, and it can help these companies negotiate better terms abroad,' Akin says. There is, she adds, a risk of backlash. 'If European countries respond with their own countermeasures, we could see a patchwork of retaliatory rules. That would just create more friction for everyone, not just tech. It is not a clean win [for US tech companies], but it does shift the power dynamic back towards the US,' she notes. The One Big Beautiful Bill passed in the House with 215 votes for and 214 against. Two Republicans joined Democrats in opposing it. It will now be debated in the Senate, where officials will have the opportunity to amend provisions. "How the latest US tax bill increases uncertainty for foreign businesses" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
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Uncertainty: worse than tariffs, better than decoupling
Last week, over 5,000 delegates gathered in a sprawling convention centre just outside Washington DC to answer one question: is the US still the most attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) destination in the world? The SelectUSA Investment Summit, established in 2007, is the US's most important event to promote FDI. It gathers international businesses, industry leaders, economic development organisations and representatives from all US states. This year's event, however, took place against the backdrop of a US-initiated trade war. Many versions of the US's current FDI standing emerged during the few days Investment Monitor was present at the event, but one thing was clear: the uncertainty brought on by tariffs is causing many businesses to pause, delay and hope for the best while some multinationals with long-term horizons double down. The plenary sessions that featured industry leaders and government representatives mainly focused on the positive and were mostly attended by country delegations. They discussed US President Donald Trump's America's First Investment Policy and pressed the suggestions that now is the 'perfect time to be investing in the US' (Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens Corporation) and that 'there's never been a better time to select the US than now' (Ola Källenius, Mercedes-Benz Group CEO). Mercedes-Benz has increased production of some models in the US to counter the tariffs. One of the very few statements on the main stage that alluded to the tariff mayhem of the past few months came from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who acknowledged that 'trade policy is creating a lot of stress in industries all across our economies.' When a moderator asked Hyundai CEO José Muñoz whether his company has increased production in the US because of tariffs (the 'elephant in the room', the moderator called them), Muñoz gave a long answer about how his industry's time horizons are so long they do not make decisions based on 'incentives that come and go.' Some of Hyundai's moves, such as starting a tariff task force in April and shifting some of its production to the US from Mexico, suggest a different reality to Muñoz's unfazed answer. The rest of the Summit (except some smaller panels) took place downstairs, in the exhibition hall, where investment promotion agencies and other organisations from across the US had their own booths. Here, for the majority of people that Investment Monitor spoke to, there was no downplaying the difficulties that businesses are facing, given the rapid changes to trade policy. While many are still eager to engage with the US market, many feel the need for some level of predictability before fully committing. European American Chamber of Commerce executive director Fernanda Ceva, who had recently been in Germany conferring with companies interested in investing in the US, said: 'The impression that we have is that everyone is holding up to decide something until they have more certainty. I see that they're still interested in doing business with the US.' According to a poll of 6,000 German companies conducted by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, only 19% of firms in Germany are planning to expand to the US. German investments in the US account for 12% of the country's foreign investment. Yvonne Bendinger-Rothschild, the executive director of the European American Chamber of Commerce New York, said: 'The problem is more the uncertainty than the tariff itself [...] We're constantly going back and forth. If we saw there's going to be a 10% tariff, then people can plan with it to do something and make forecasts [...] If you think about it, that we have earnings reports that don't have a forecast in them, I mean, that turns every economist's stomach.' Christopher Chung, the CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, echoed this sentiment. 'What we are hearing at this event is largely around, just tell us what the rules of the game are going to be and assure us that these are the rules that will be in place for a while, and they're not going to change in two or three years, because that makes it really hard for these companies,' he said. 'That kind of back and forth [...] creates a little too much uncertainty, and that makes it hard for [companies] to push ahead with their decision.' Hours before the second day of the summit began, the first day when media would be allowed in, the US and China reached a major milestone in trade negotiations when they announced a tariff pause. The US would reduce its 145% tariff on Chinese goods to 30%, and China would reduce its 125% tariff to 10% for 90 days. The pause was a welcome development for everyone, as it seems to signal that the pace of change is slowing down. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt suggested it would 'give them the time to really sit down and have cooler heads prevail.' But others highlighted that the pause was just that, a pause. 'You're seeing a little bit more certainty now that there's going to be negotiations, but again, it's a pause,' said Ed Brzytwa, vice president of International Trade at the Consumer Technology Association and a former official of the US Trade Representative's Office. 'The President himself confirmed that at the end of the 90 days, if China doesn't cut a much more substantive deal, that the tariffs could come back on, maybe not all the way to 145% but certainly not as low as 30%.' While some importers or inventors have stopped or delayed plans, businesses have also been trying to circumvent trade barriers through other means. The demand for bonded warehouses in the US, buildings where imports can be kept before payment of a duty, has surged since the tariff uncertainty began. Goods can be stored in bonded warehouses for up to five years. Shifting global supply chains, once seen as the best method to avoid being affected by US hostilities with China, has become a tougher path. 'Companies have been trying to reposition their supply chains out of China, but they're facing tariffs of 46% in Vietnam, 32% in Taiwan and similarly high tariffs in Thailand, Japan and South Korea,' Brzytwa noted. 'So, they're being penalised for making the right decision.' Whatever happens with the tariffs, the interdependence of the global economy with the US means decoupling is not an option. This dependence fares well for the North American country, because firms would rather wait out this period of uncertainty than leave the US and try to replace it with another market (an impossible task given that the US is the world's largest consumer market). The same cannot be said for companies that are caught in a waiting game with no end in sight. 'Europe and the US are each other's biggest trading partners, and no tariff is going to change that,' Bendinger-Rothschild explained. 'What the tariffs are going to change is how we're going to go about doing business with one another, but we're not going to stop. You can't replace either Europe for a US company or the US as a European. [Companies] have confidence in the economy, because the moment we have the most faint of good news, the market is shooting up.' The cautious approach foreign firms are taking, even as tariff pauses have been put in place, shows the implications of the US's loss of credibility on global business decisions. While the 90 day pause with China has just begun, we are already a third of the way through the other 90-day tariff pause – the one that began a week after universal reciprocal tariffs were announced in April. This break is set to last until July, prompting countries to rush to make concessions and deals with the US. The deals being made during this period, however, are not true trade deals, according to Rothschild-Bendinger. 'A trade agreement is a comprehensive agreement where you have everybody give a little, take a little,' she highlighted. 'A trade agreement is not selling somebody more soybeans.' Given the uncertainty around what the tariffs will look like at the end of the pause, some officials this publication spoke to said their companies are accounting for that uncertainty by factoring a base tariff rate into their projections. Huynh Thien Phu, business development specialist at Vietnam-based coconut water supplier Betrimex, said his firm is 'accepting [...] that it's going to be around 10-15%. If it's around 10%, let's say 11%, then it's okay. We already pay five. Adding another five wouldn't hurt us as much; we can adapt to it. But, hopefully it's not high, in the 40s.' Vietnam was hit with one of the highest tariff rates in April, at 46% and is currently in trade talks with the US. Brent Omhdal, executive vice president for government affairs at Taiwanese semiconductor firm GlobalWafers, commented: 'If you believe the news reports, the new normal is 10% tariffs, so I think businesses, including our industry, are adjusting.' Even the US's development of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, which was heavily touted by speakers during the plenary sessions, could be slowed down by the tariffs because of the uncertainty around the price of inputs. On tariffs affecting semiconductors, Omhdal said of GlobalWafers: 'Being the only manufacturer of silicon here in the US at 300mm, you could benefit from the tariff in that way. At the same time, we need to actually import some substrates, even from our own company.' A few days after the conference, GlobalWafers announced a $4bn expansion in the US. The semiconductor industry is also facing uncertainty from an ongoing government probe. In April, the Trump administration initiated an investigation into semiconductors under Section 232, which enables the president to restrict imports that threaten national security. 'With these investigations, they could impose a tariff of 25% or more [...] on the finished good that has a semiconductor in it,' Brzytwa explained. 'Technology products have many different types of inputs [...] If there's a tariff on the semiconductor or the printed circuit board or let's just say the glass casing, it makes it much more difficult and expensive to manufacture that product in the US.' Companies have long been interested in investing in the US. And, despite the uncertainty, they still are. But given the events of the past few months, the ability to confidently predict the economic conditions under which that investment might happen has practically disappeared. Most firms can do is stay agile, vigilant and ready to change course. Christopher Chung told Investment Monitor about his meeting with the North American CEO of a big aerospace company. 'We were talking afterwards, and he turned to his communications person, and basically his question was, have we heard anything from the White House in the past 30 minutes? He didn't say it as a joke.' "Uncertainty: worse than tariffs, better than decoupling " was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FDI in Europe is at its lowest in the past nine years
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Europe is at its lowest level in almost a decade, according to EY's latest Europe Attractiveness Survey. In 2024, FDI dropped by 5%, manufacturing investment fell by 9% and FDI-related job creation dropped by 16%. Still, investors are optimistic that Europe will attract investment in sectors with major growth potential such as AI, pharma and defence. The report found that 37% of the 500 businesses surveyed, cancelled or diminished European investments in 2024. In 2024, businesses announced 5,383 foreign investment projects in 45 European countries, a year-on-year decrease of 5%; the year before, 5,694 projects were announced. The survey cites the three main drivers of this decrease as geopolitical tensions, slow economic growth and sticky high energy prices. This is the second consecutive year in which FDI into Europe has fallen. Investment in the continent is currently 16% below pre-pandemic levels. It is also 19% behind its peak in 2017, when there were 6,653 projects in Europe. The top FDI destinations in Europe, France, the UK and Germany, which receive roughly half of the continent's foreign projects, saw sharp decreases. France saw a fall of 14%, the UK 13% and Germany 17%. Domestic conditions related to politics, public finances and energy prices have also played a part in these decreases. The uncertainty from the US is also having an effect. The possibility that high tariffs will leave Europe unable to export to one of the world's biggest consumer markets is decreasing its competitiveness in the eyes of investors. Out of the 500 businesses surveyed between 31 January and 3 March 2025, 42% of them believed that US policies would hurt Europe's competitiveness. Only 27% of respondents thought they would increase Europe's appeal. The survey does not include responses taken after 2 April, when reciprocal tariffs were announced, which would have likely exacerbated the negative outlook. US investor interest in Europe also decreased in 2024, with an 11% decline in the number of projects from 2023 to 2024 and a 24% decline from 2022. Inflows from the US are the lowest in a decade, making up only 18% of FDI intake in 2024 after reaching 24% in 2015. Investors are still optimistic that certain sectors with high growth potential will be established in Europe in the next few years. Fears that the US will not back European security like it has before could drive investment in the defence sector. There are already signs that this is happening, as industry giants ramp up manufacturing in Europe. Europe also has the potential to attract investment in sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, AI and semiconductors. The survey found that 61% of respondents, a 14% drop, expected Europe's attractiveness to grow in the next three years. "FDI in Europe is at its lowest in the past nine years – survey" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
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Tariffs affecting US investment decisions by foreign companies
Representatives from numerous non-US companies have told Investment Monitor that they are delaying major US investment decisions as a result of the uncertainty created by the tariffs agenda being pursued by the Trump administration. Delegates at this week's SelectUSA Investment Summit, the country's primary foreign direct investment (FDI) event, cited difficulties in planning ahead while the implementation and level of the proposed tariffs remain unresolved. This embedded content is not available in your region. Speaking to this issue as part of GlobalData's Instant Insights podcast, Yvonne Bendinger-Rothschild, executive director of the European American Chamber of Commerce in New York, told Investment Monitor: 'The problem is more the uncertainty than the tariff itself. I mean, a tariff is a tax, and nobody likes to have a tax all of a sudden put onto them or onto their trade. 'But I think the problem is that we're constantly going back and forth, you know? If we say there's going to be a 10% tariff, then people can plan with it to do something and make forecasts. If you think about it, that we have earnings reports that don't have a forecast in them, that turns every economist's stomach.' Ed Bristol, vice president for international trade at the Consumer Technology Association, added: 'There is a great desire by companies to invest in the United States, but in order to do that, they need predictability and certainty on what the trading environment looks like – not just today, but in the future, both short term, mid-term and long term. 'The current tariff policy – it's much more of a tariff policy that is a trade policy – does not create that necessary certainty and predictability. As a matter of fact, it leaves companies guessing as to how they can position themselves for success.' Bristol went on to note that the imposition of tariffs could in fact discourage businesses from investing and locating in the US – in contrast to one of the aims stated for them by US President Donald Trump – by raising the cost of importing goods that may be required for manufacturing. The Summit, which ran from Sunday (May 11) to yesterday (May 14), is said to have been the largest edition to date, with a number of major investments announced to coincide with it. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced a $300m expansion in the state by ammunition manufacturer CBC Global Ammunition, and India's Waaree Energies announced a $200m expansion in its US subsidiary focusing on battery energy storage, for example. However, it was acknowledged by attendees at the conference that the tariffs being imposed are affecting investment in the US. Indeed, Stitt himself said: 'it's affecting everyone.' He went on to note that aviation companies in Oklahoma had told him they were now at a disadvantage and also referenced impacts for wheat, soybean and cotton producers in the state. Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, commented: 'California is a big international market. So about 40% of our business activity comes from international markets. 60% are domestic. This year, we're down about 26% over last year. I think any time you see uncertainty, people put the brakes on complicated projects.'"Tariffs affecting US investment decisions by foreign companies" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
