Latest news with #industrialpolicy
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Coke bottles bitter US economic formula
NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Mexico is a frequent target of Donald Trump's ire, but he prefers the Coke sold there. After holding conversations with the president, Coca-Cola (KO.N), opens new tab unveiled plans to roll out a version of its signature soda using cane sugar, as it is sold south of the border, instead of corn syrup. Even setting aside the idea of the Oval Office occupant influencing one of the world's most successful recipes, it's a classic case of industrial policy gone awry. The $300 billion company has occasionally tinkered with the Coke formula over its 139-year lifespan, removing the cocaine, opens new tab that was originally included in 1903 and introducing a sweeter New Coke in 1985, which created a marketing disaster. After Coca-Cola and other carbonated beverage makers started using corn syrup for their U.S. products in the 1980s, the so-called Mexican Coke, bottled with purer sucrose, became a cultish find in supermarkets. Making it more widely available bubbles up a multitude of complications. Homegrown sugar – as Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey vowed to use – is pricey because the Department of Agriculture tightly controls production and limits imports. There have been levies on it since 1789, and the U.S. government started providing farmers with financing in 1981 to help underpin prices. It costs about 50% more today for domestic sugar than what's sold internationally, according to the Sweeteners Users Association trade group. There's also the matter of U.S. support for corn. It's the most subsidized crop in the country, with growers receiving some $3 billion of direct payments, insurance and loans from the government. The feed grain accounts for 30% of all U.S. agricultural assistance. Championing Coke with sugar muddles the various policy objectives while also inviting more imports from Mexico. Moreover, both ingredients contradict other White House positions. Although Trump guzzles Diet Coke, his Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy has denounced high fructose corn syrup and sugar as poison and wants to prevent low-income Americans from buying soda with their food assistance money. These clashes over Coke's recipe mainly serve to accentuate distasteful U.S. economic formulas. Follow Jennifer Saba on Bluesky, opens new tab and LinkedIn, opens new tab. Coca-Cola said on July 22 that it plans to roll out a version of its signature soda sweetened with U.S. cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup after President Donald Trump issued a statement on July 16 saying he had been discussing the idea with the company.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wall Street's China Exit? U.S. Firms Slash Investment Plans to 20-Year Low
Investor appetite for China is coolingand fast. According to the latest US-China Business Council survey, only 48% of U.S. firms plan to invest in China in 2025. That's a staggering drop from 80% just a year ago, and the lowest reading since the question was first asked in 2006. The reasons? Think tariffs, slower growth, and shifting industrial policy. While tensions between Beijing and Washington have eased slightly after recent talks in London, many firms remain in holding pattern mode. They are riding out the uncertainty, said Kyle Sullivan, VP of the Council's advisory services. And when you look under the hood, the sentiment shift makes sense: nearly one-third of companies say they've lost market share in China over the past three years, and almost 70% expect more of the same ahead. The push to diversify is gaining traction. A record 27% of companies said they've either moved or plan to move parts of their operations out of China. That's the highest since at least 2016. These aren't small playersover 40% of respondents earn more than $1 billion annually from their China business. Yet the mounting cost of retaliatory tariffs, particularly for firms sourcing inputs from the U.S., is proving difficult to absorb. About three-quarters of companies flagged tariffs as their top cost concern. Some are turning to alternative markets, while others are renegotiating with suppliers or passing higher costs down the chain. Each option comes with tradeoffs, and none offer clear-cut solutions. Meanwhile, China's policy landscape isn't helping. More than 80% of U.S. companies say Beijing's industrial policy is propping up once-uncompetitive Chinese firms, while nearly 60% believe it's steering customers toward local products. And although recent export approvals and a modest rebound in Chinese shipments to the U.S. offer a glimmer of stabilization, underlying trade friction remains. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and other U.S. multinationals with deep ties to China may have to navigate a tougher operating environment heading into 2025. Investors should watch how this plays outespecially with the political calendar heating up and policy decisions on both sides still in flux. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. 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
South China Morning Post
10-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
EU boosts China de-risking efforts with plans to regain control of key sectors
The European Union has unveiled sweeping plans to slash its reliance on China and reclaim control over critical sectors – from chemicals to pharmaceuticals and biotech – as it steps up its de-risking plans. On Wednesday the bloc unveiled three separate proposals – an action plan for the chemicals industry, a medical countermeasures strategy and a stockpiling strategy – designed to make it more self-reliant in the face of growing concerns about the weaponisation of crucial supply chains. Unlike the other two, the stockpiling plan does not name China directly, but all three are aimed at reducing reliance on Chinese supply chains through tighter trade defences, reshoring, and diversification. They reflect a broader EU agenda to de-risk from China economically, treating resilience and industrial policy as tools of geopolitical alignment. 'These realities do present a real challenge for Europe to confront. And we have started to address these challenges. Whether de-risking our economy and industry, using our new toolbox of trade defence measures, or diversifying our supply chains in sectors where China holds dependencies, if not outright monopolies,' she told the European Parliament.
Bloomberg
07-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Vestas CEO Says EU's Fragmented Policy Puts Wind Energy at Risk
The head of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, one of the world's largest wind turbine makers, has a blunt warning for Europe: adopt bolder industrial policy or risk watching business drift across the Atlantic and to other regions. As demand rises for cheap and reliable power, Vestas's Chief Executive Henrik Andersen said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the European Union's fragmented approach to industry jeopardizes the continent's quest to achieve energy independence and compete against other global manufacturers.
Telegraph
28-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour's industrial strategy is a corporatist, state-led agenda
Within the strategy, the talk is of competitiveness, the answer is intervention. The document acknowledges that firms are concerned about high electricity prices and lengthy waits for grid connections, and the answer is that the current policy is right but can be tweaked. The burden of regulation and the speed of planning are noted as barriers, so let's see if the government's actions back their words in trying to address these. I doubt it on regulation, but I am more hopeful of planning reform, which would indeed make a profound, welcome difference to growth prospects. At their core, industrial policies reflect scepticism about markets and an aversion to supply-side reform. Instead of removing hurdles to growth as supply-side policies would, industrial policies often reflect the lethal combination of politicians driven by a belief that the state drives growth, academics who think they know best and lobbyists. This new strategy is unlikely to improve underlying business conditions. Industrial policy is sometimes presented as a complement to supply-side reform, but more often, it becomes a substitute. One criticism has been that government spending crowds out the private sector, but this strategy hopes that funds directed to the IS-8 will crowd it in. Let's see. There is also something amiss about these eight sectors in that they reinforce the imbalanced nature of the economy. The UK is a low wage economy because half the population work in low paid jobs. Outside London and the South East the numbers employed in these eight sectors is very limited. The UK's approach to such strategies often leans towards tax credits. That remains a focus. This new strategy explicitly mentions the role tax plays in incentivising investment, innovation and growth. It then argues our current approach is competitive. Really? In the 2024 International Tax Competitiveness Index, the UK ranked 30th out of 38 OECD countries and looks more likely to fall, than rise. The last 12 months have been turbulent for the world economy and difficult for the UK. But instead of tax, spend and borrow, what we need is for the UK to save, invest and compete. Gerard Lyons is a research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies
