Indy letter perfectly sums up Boris Johnson’s legacy

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish -

"The legacy of our outgoing Prime Minister is not that he got ‘Brexit Done’, but that he is leaving a large number of other matters unfinished."

 by Jack Peat
2022-08-03 08:53

Boris Johnson is to begin a summer holiday on Wednesday with his premiership set to end in less than five weeks’ time.

Downing Street would not give details of where the Prime Minister would be spending his time off from Wednesday until the end of the week.

But the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Mr Johnson will remain in charge of the country and be receiving updates as required.


The fitting end to his premiership draws to a close three years of turbulent governance in which, according to his statement to parliament, ‘getting Brexit done’ was the crown jewel.

But a letter sent to the Independent rubbishes any claim that Britain exit from the European Union has been completed.

David Laverick from York said Johnson’s legacy will be a Brexit that is far from done.

“The reality is that ministers are currently seeking to undo that part of the deal which related to Northern Ireland and which has led to a political impasse there.

Related Posts 

Johnson to see out final weeks in office by doing what he does best: Going on holiday

         Brutal New York Times column concludes: The fantasy of Brexit Britain is over

“The Government has singularly failed to ‘take back control’ of our borders. Small boats continue to cross from France.

“Prior to Brexit, the people being trafficked in this way could, lawfully, have been returned to France, an option not now available. Instead we have a half-baked scheme to deport a very small proportion of them to Rwanda at vast cost and another half-baked scheme to use Linton-on-Ouse as a place to site them while denying them any opportunity to work.

“The absence of workers (particularly HGV drivers) from Europe was one of the reasons advanced for the fuel crisis last year.

“It is also advanced as a factor (too few baggage handlers) in the chaotic state of our airports this year. I suspect that there will soon also be a shortage of workers to harvest our crops.”

Read the letter in full below:

DOE Project To Prove U.S. Power Grid Can Fully Run On Clean Energy

by Bojan Lepic

|

Rigzone Staff

|

Wednesday, August 03, 2022 

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $26 Mn to fund projects demonstrating that America's electricity grid can reliably run on clean energy.

The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has announced $26 million to fund projects that will demonstrate that America's electricity grid can reliably run with a mix of solar, wind, energy storage, and other clean distributed energy resources.

Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration Program will show how clean energy resources can address key reliability challenges facing the grid by developing and testing tools and plant functions that allow the grid to stay online amid disturbances and restart if it goes down.

The demonstration projects will provide data to underscore how President Biden’s goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2030 can be achieved while supporting grid reliability. 

“Americans do not have to choose between a clean grid and a reliable one as we move forward towards our goals of a net-zero economy by 2050,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Thanks to funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, DOE is proving that transitioning to solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources can keep the lights on without service interruptions while creating good paying jobs.”

The U.S. electricity grid was originally built to deliver power from just a few large fossil fuel power plants to homes and businesses, but today’s grid has a mix of traditional and renewable energy sources.

DOE investments have led to the development of new tools that enable grid operators to manage this increasingly complex network. Now those tools need to be demonstrated at a broader scale to increase their adoption and build trust as grid operators face a growing number of disruptions, such as cyberattacks, extreme weather events, and wildfires.

To achieve a clean power sector, clean energy sources such as solar and wind generation and energy storage must prove that they can support the grid during normal as well as emergency situations. 

The Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration Program will fund up to 10 projects that demonstrate how large-scale solar, wind, and energy storage can support the power grid by automatically adjusting to changing demand and disruptions.

Projects, which require testing at a plant of at least 10 megawatts in size from a mix of solar, wind, or other generation or storage technology, will also demonstrate how a clean energy grid prevents blackouts by quickly identifying and responding to faults.

Academic institutions, private companies, nonprofits, state and local governments, and tribal nations are encouraged to apply and form diverse teams that include representation from entities such as historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions, and community-based organizations.

Through DOE’s new Building a Better Grid Initiative, the DOE is deploying more than $20 billion in federal financing tools, including through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s new $2.5 billion Transmission Facilitation Program, $3 billion expansion of the Smart Grid Investment Grant Program, and more than $10 billion in grants for States, Tribes, and utilities to enhance grid resilience and prevent power outages, and through existing tools, including the more than $3 billion Western Area Power Administration Transmission Infrastructure Program, and several loan guarantee programs through the Loan Programs Office.

Legal industry groups ask U.S. Supreme Court to protect affirmative action

By Karen Sloan

August 2, 2022


Summary

Race-conscious college admissions have helped grow the pipeline of minority lawyers, they say

But lawyer diversity still lags

(Reuters) - Legal educators, law student organizations, bar associations and law firms this week flooded the U.S. Supreme Court with amicus briefs asking it to uphold the use of affirmative action in college admissions, arguing it is key to diversifying the legal profession and addressing bias in the justice system.

The American Bar Association, the National Black Law Students Association, The National Women’s Law Center and the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association are among the more than 15 legal industry groups that submitted briefs in a closely watched case that seeks to bar Harvard University and the University of North Carolina from considering race in undergraduate admissions.

Racial diversity in law "can only be achieved if the private bar and the legal profession have a racially diverse pool of talent from which to recruit,” the 300-member Law Firm Antiracism Alliance wrote in its brief.

Students for Fair Admissions — founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum — is appealing lower court rulings that upheld the programs used by the two prestigious universities to foster a diverse student population. The group claims the programs discriminate against Asian American applicants.

The high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, could end affirmative action with its decision in the case. Consovoy McCarthy partner William Consovoy, who is representing Students for Fair Admissions, did not respond to a request for comment on the legal groups' briefs Tuesday.

Law firms and others in the legal industry have been vowing to increase their diversity for decades, with modest but steady gains over the years. Still, 86% of lawyers were white as of 2020, according to the ABA’s amicus brief — a significantly higher percentage than the overall U.S. population, which was 60% white.

“The legal system has made significant progress over the last several decades, due in no small part to the increased diversity in the legal profession resulting from admissions policies that consider race as one of many factors,” the ABA’s brief said.

Read more:

U.S. Supreme Court to hear challenge to race-conscious college admissions

University of North Carolina defeats challenge to race-based admissions policies

UK

Mum and three children living in Travelodge because renting is ‘too expensive’

Jordan King

Tuesday 2 Aug 2022 
METRO UK

Charlene Pascoe said it is very difficult to put her two-year-old to bed (Picture: SWNS)

A family have been living out of one hotel room with no kitchen since they were evicted 15 weeks ago.

Charlene Pascoe, 34, and her three children were kicked out of their home in St Blazey, Cornwall, in March when their landlord decided to move back into the property.

Private renting is ‘just too expensive’ for Charlene so she needs the council’s help to find somewhere to stay.

The council put the family up in a Premier Inn for a week before moving them to a Travelodge in St Austell, where they have stayed since.

Freya, 12, Kieran, 10, and Darcy, two, all share one room with three beds, no kitchen and no living area.

Their mum is struggling with Darcy who often can’t sleep through the night because of noise in the hotel.

Charlene said: ‘It’s the summer holiday and people are often slamming doors and shouting.

‘It is also ridiculously hot but when you open the windows there is more noise pollution.’

The staff at Travelodge in St Austell have been ‘amazing throughout’ (Picture: SWNS)

Thankfully, Charlene’s mum Sonia, 57, lives nearby and the family use her house to cook, eat and socialise.

Charlene said: ‘Every day organising meals is stressful as we have no where to store food so it’s daily trips to the shops.

‘We then cook the food from that shop at mums and do it all again the next day.

‘I don’t know what we’d do if we didn’t have mum’s place because as soon as we wake up in the morning that’s where we go. We then only come back to the Travelodge to sleep.’

Charlene said she looks for houses on the council’s website every day ‘but you can only bid on one property a week and it’s always so busy’.

She admits being very stressed as she claims she gets ‘no communication’ from the council and has to find out from reception staff whether her room has been paid for every three weeks.

Charlene said she looks for a new home on the council’s website every day 

(Picture: SWNS)

But workers at the hotel have been ‘amazing throughout and are always willing to help’ the family, she said.

They even allow Kieran and Freya to watch TV in the cafe area so Charlene can put Darcy to bed.

Charlene is responsible for the £3.10 per day cleaning charge, which she believes has now built up to £350, but she does not know when she has to pay it.

She said: ‘All I can do is keep looking for council housing in the hope that I get lucky – although at the minute it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.’

Cornwall council said: ‘We sympathise with the position that some residents are finding themselves in as Cornwall continues to face extreme pressure on the availability of housing. We are committed to providing support for any resident faced with homelessness. However, there is a high demand for accommodation, including our own housing stock, properties that we rent, and other accommodation. 
 
‘We are working hard to find suitable emergency accommodation for all those who need it and are investing £39m to increase the Council’s own stock of temporary accommodation to reduce the reliance on short-term hotel and B&B accommodation.  

‘This includes the purchase of new modular homes, buying and refurbishing disused properties and providing dedicated ‘move on’ accommodation to support former rough sleepers on their journey towards settled, permanent, homes.’

Cost of living crisis drives record numbers to moonlight as Uber driver

Anugraha SundaraveluWednesday 3 Aug 2022 

Uber said there were 1.87 billion trips on the platform between April and June period this year (Picture: Reuters)

The cost of living crisis has left people scrambling to find new ways to make money and driving for Uber seems to offer a tricky solution.

Almost 5 million people are now picking up passengers or making food deliveries for the company, according to Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. That’s 31% more than last year.

The shift has come at a time when the ride hailing app has been struggling with a driver shortage since the pandemic. Now, the number of people driving for Uber has hit an all time high.

‘More people are earning on Uber today than before the pandemic,’ said Khosrowshahi in a call with investors to discuss the firm’s financial performance.

However, it’s not a win-win situation either as the drivers still come away with the short end of the stick thanks to rising fuel prices that end up eating into drivers’ profits.

The cost of living crisis has left people scrambling to find new ways to make money and driving for Uber seems to be a tricky solution (Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

So, it’s not the easiest way to make money either but Uber does not seem to see it this way.

‘Against the backdrop of elevated gas prices globally, this is a resounding endorsement of the value drivers continue to see in Uber,’ said Khosrowshahi.

The demand for Ubers which had plunged with the pandemic in 2020, is now on the rise, pushing the company’s gross bookings up 33% to £24 billion.

Uber said there were 1.87 billion trips on the platform between April and June this year. That’s an average of roughly 21 million per day, making it a 24% increase from last year and 12% more than pre-pandemic numbers.

‘Rather than relying solely on financial incentives, our goal has been to improve drivers’ overall experience,’ said Khosrowshahi.

Uber has had a tumultuous history with its drivers. In February 2021, they were officially ruled as workers, meaning they are entitled to rights like minimum wage and holiday pay.

The company has since introduced several changes including the ability for drivers to see how much they’ll be paid for a trip.

In October 2021, Uber launched a new feature called ‘upfront fares’ that gave drivers the amount they’ll be paid and the drop-off location for trips.

Drivers are also able to see other ride requests in the area to give them a choice over which rides they accept.

MORE : Uber will start showing drivers how much they’ll get paid

MORE : Uber ‘secretly lobbied ministers to block regulations limiting growth in London’

Pet owners 'would go without food' and animal shelters in crisis due to cost of living

WALES
Wednesday 3 August 2022 
Mike Griffiths
Reporter, ITV Wales

The increasing pressure on household budgets is impacting different families in different ways.

But a new report shows that pet owners are increasingly worried about how they'll continue to afford to feed their animals.

The RSPCA says the cost of living crisis is impacting up to three-quarters of owners, many of whom are concerned about caring for their pets.

Volunteers loading trollies of pet food at Sirhowy Community Centre, near Tredegar

The charity has formed a 'pet food bank' across Wales, joining up with existing services to provide pet food for people in need.

One food share scheme, near Tredegar, says the stock needs to be totally replenished each week.

Brian Irving began visiting the centre after his work and income was affected by the pandemic.

Brian Irving is a regular visitor to the food share scheme

He says without the support, he and his wife would struggle to feed themselves and their dogs adequately.

"It would be a case of do we buy meat or cheese or sausages for ourselves, rather than buy food for the dogs. My wife would go without food to buy food for the pets.

"Everything has gone up. Fuel has gone up. The pet food has made a hell of a difference."

Former RSPCA inspector Darren Oakley, who runs the charity's Wyth Sir Branch, says demand is only expected to rise.

RSPCA branches across Wales have partnered with suppliers and community organisations to offer a pet food service

"We're delivering this amount every week and it is going. It's clearly needed in the community" he explains.

Animal shelters say they too are struggling to meet demand, due to a combination of people giving away unwanted pets after lockdown, and the costs of feeding and caring for an animal.

"The picture now is probably as bad as I've seen it in the eleven years I've been here" says Cardiff Dogs Home manager Maria Bailey.

"Since January we've had hardly any empty kennels. We're running on between three and no empty kennels. And we have a waiting list to get in here, which we've never had before."

Cardiff Dogs Home manager Maria Bailey with Olive

Volunteer Toria Acreman helped found the Rescue Hotel, a charity affiliated with the home that fundraises for care for the dogs.

They too are struggling with the sheer number of dogs that need support.

"Just because you are struggling to afford to keep your dog doesn't mean you're a bad owner" she says.

"As a dogs home, we would rather the dogs stay in their loving homes rather than go through the turmoil of being signed over."

AUSTRALIA
Corporations' profits soaring as inflation skyrockets and real wages fall, report reveals

The Drum /
By David Taylor

There are fresh calls for big business to rein in their big or "supernormal" profits in order to provide low wage earners some desperately needed household budget relief.

Key points:

Big oil and gas companies almost doubled their profits in six months

An interim report shows the productivity growth that drives real wages is at a 60-year low

Some experts say the lack of wage growth is symptomatic of a broken industrial relations system

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) wants businesses to share a greater portion of their profits with their workforce.

The latest national accounts show Australian companies are taking a record share of company earnings in the form of profits.

The latest profit results from Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP show record half-yearly earnings.

Half-yearly profits for all companies together had almost doubled to $US55.2 billion ($79.6 billion), up from $US28.7 billion for the same period last year, the ACTU noted.

"These energy giants are posting staggering profits while fuelling our cost-of-living crisis," ACTU president Michele O'Neil says.

"Their shareholders are pocketing billions while working people are wondering how on Earth they can afford to fill up their car or heat their homes.

"The big oil and gas companies booked super windfall profits while Australian taxpayers have subsidised the bowser price of petrol.

The latest profit results from big energy corporations Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and BP show record half-yearly earnings.(ABC News: Lucas Hill )

"It's time that big businesses do their part to address the cost-of-living crisis gripping Australians right now.

"If the bargaining system was working the way it is supposed to, workers' standard of living wouldn't be hit as hard by big increases in power, gas and petrol prices."

Productivity first, according to businesses

Business groups argue that for real wages to lift, worker productivity needs to lift.

The Productivity Commission's interim report confirms that the productivity growth that drives real wages is languishing at 60-year lows, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott says.

"This challenge is monumental because it is productivity that has overwhelmingly driven better living standards and higher wages for Australians since Federation.

But labour market economists say there should be less focus on the trend in the rate of productivity growth and more attention given to the difference between wage growth and productivity.

Figures from the Centre for Future Work, part of progressive the think tank The Australia Institute, show productivity growth has beaten wages growth for over a decade.

That should, in theory, mean a higher rate of pay growth for workers.

Productivity growth has beaten wages growth for over a decade, data from the Centre for Future Work shows.(Greg Jericho, ABS)

Impact Economics and Policy lead economist Angela Jackson says stubbornly low wage growth is a symptom of a broken industrial relations system.

She says the basic formula is that inflation plus productivity growth should equal wage growth.

"The system of wage determination and enterprise bargaining hasn't factored in productivity gains for decades," she says.

"It's frustrating."

The latest private-sector check on corporate profitability may only add to that frustration.

Double-digit rise in private infrastructure company profits

The big end of town, according to the latest gauge of corporate profitability, is swimming in cash.

Consulting firm Deloitte Access Economics has released its quarterly Investment Monitor.

It examines major engineering and commercial construction projects and their promoters.

The advisory firm markets the report as a "barometer of structural change in the Australian economy, and of the investment climate — now and in the future."

Deloitte Access Economics partner and report lead author Stephen Smith says the analysis confirms industry more generally is in rude health.

"Business profits grew at double-digit rates over the past year," he says.

He says big infrastructure firms are pushing the limits of what they are able to achieve in terms of work done, and are also looking to do more.

"Measures of spare capacity — a key leading indicator of investment — continue to tighten, and there is likely a degree of catch-up spending by businesses as supply chain disruptions ease."

In the June quarter, the value of definite projects (those under construction or committed) increased by $10.1 billion over the quarter, largely due to several infrastructure projects progressing through the planning stages.

A total of $417.1 billion worth of definite projects are currently included in the database.

That is the highest total seen since the end of the gas construction boom in late 2016, according to the report.

Rising inflation, interest rates, rent hikes and energy prices are creating a perfect storm for many Australians.(ABC Rural: Jane McNaughton)

Deloitte Access Economics forecasts business investment to grow through 2022 and 2023, but by less than previously expected.

"While it's a positive outlook, the long list of risks to that outlook has become longer," Mr Smith says.

"Public sector investment is expected to grow modestly in 2022 before falling in 2023."

The Bureau of Statistics will publish its latest measure of wage growth on August 17.

The bitter pill of Australians' financial pain

If inflation is being driven by profits, as new analysis suggests, some of the financial pain Australians are experiencing may be unnecessary — and something will have to give.

WW3.0

Hezbollah Threatens Israel With War Over Disputed Gas Field

By Charles Kennedy - Aug 01, 2022

• Lebanon’s armed Hezbollah group threatened Israel that drilling at the Karish gas field could result in war.
• 
  
• Israel and Lebanon are in a years-long dispute over the demarcation of their territorial waters in the Mediterranean.
• 
  
• Israel has already warned early on that any damage to the drilling rig in Karish will result in an immediate reaction.

Lebanon’s armed Hezbollah group warned Israel on Sunday against drilling at an offshore gas field, renewing a threat that it could escalate the offshore border demarcation dispute to a war.

Hezbollah, backed by Iran, aired a video on its Al-Manar television channel, showing drone footage of Israeli barges at the gas field and their coordinates. The video ends with footage of a rocket with the words “within range” in Arabic and Hebrew. The text on the video message opens with “Playing with time is useless,” also in both languages.  

Israel and Lebanon, which do not have diplomatic relations, are in a years-long dispute over the demarcation of their territorial waters in the Mediterranean.

The dispute escalated this summer after UK’s Energean, which has been awarded the right to drill at the offshore Karish field, arrived on the site with a rig, prompting an immediate reaction from Beirut. The Lebanese president and the caretaker prime minister of the country accused Israel of violating Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Karish is the focus of the rift. According to Israel, Karish lies in its territorial waters. According to Lebanon, it falls within a triangle of contested waters because the two cannot agree where exactly the border passes.

Israel has already warned early on that any damage to the drilling rig in Karish—like attacks on any gas drilling rigs in its waters—will be construed as an attack on the state, implying there would be an immediate reaction.

The latest video threat from Hezbollah came as Amos Hochstein, U.S. Special Presidential Coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, traveled to Lebanon on Sunday.

Hochstein was set to “discuss sustainable solutions to Lebanon’s energy crisis, including the Biden Administration’s commitment to facilitating negotiations between Lebanon and Israel on the maritime boundary,” the U.S. Department of the State said. “Reaching a resolution is both necessary and possible, but can only be done through negotiations and diplomacy,” the State Department added.  

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

After the CHIPS Act: U.S. still has a long road ahead to rival Asia in semiconductor manufacturing

PUBLISHED TUE, AUG 2 2022
Susan Caminiti@SUSANCAMINITI

KEY POINTS

After three years of stops and starts, Congress passed a $52 billion package designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. and improve competitiveness with China.

President Joe Biden is expected to signed the bill into law.

While top tech executives say a consistent supply of chips is crucial for technology advances like 5G and in medicine, not all are convinced that domestic manufacturing is critical to their business.


US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, alongside members of Congress, holds the CHIPS and Science Act, providing domestic semiconductor manufacturers with $52 billion in subsidies to cut reliance on foreign sourcing, after signing it during an enrollment ceremony on the West Front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, July 29, 2022.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

The global semiconductor shortage that has left consumers waiting on coffee makers, computers, cars and medical devices — anything with a computer chip — might have an end in sight.

After three years of stops and starts, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $52 billion package last week designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. and improve competitiveness with China. The bill passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support, and will now go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The bill, known as the CHIPS-plus or Chips and Science Act, addresses concerns expressed by both parties that the U.S. needs to bring the production of these vitally important components back home and rely less on Asia-based manufacturers. Supporters, including companies such as Intel and Global Foundries, argued that the bill was necessary since other countries subsidize their semiconductor industry, making it hard for U.S. companies to compete without help.

Last month, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, speaking with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, emphasized just how critical it is for the U.S. to begin making more chips at home and why passage of the CHIPS Act was central to that happening.

“Mark my words, if Labor Day comes and goes and this isn’t passed by Congress, companies will not wait, and they will expand into other countries,” she said. “The U.S. will lose out.”

The bill, of course, doesn’t preclude U.S. chip makers from also producing in Europe and elsewhere, but it does provide financial incentives to make manufacturing facilities in the U.S. more attractive. Intel has already pledged to build a $20 billion chip plant near Columbus, Ohio. The facility is expected to employ 3,000 workers along with 7,000 temporary construction jobs.

The package making its way to Biden’s desk has a few components, including $39 billion that would give direct financial assistance to companies building chip manufacturing plants at home. A separate $11 billion is earmarked to advance chip manufacturing research and workforce training, and a $2 billion slice is set aside to move lab innovation into military and other applications.

Creating the technology of tomorrow

Maryam Rofougaran, CEO of 5G startup Movandi, said passage of the bill will provide a reliable, consistent source of chips for companies like hers that are “pushing the envelope and creating the technology of tomorrow.”

“As the CEO of a 5G chipmaker, I know firsthand how critically important it is to have stable, reliable manufacturing partners and a resilient supply chain,” she says. “Making chips in the U.S. will help the companies get them consistently and it will create good-paying jobs which is good for the economy.”

Yet, not every business leader is as focused on where advanced chips are made as much as they are getting a consistent supply. Mike Jette, vice president of telecom, media and technology for supply chain software and consulting firm GEP, says supply continuity rather than U.S.-based manufacturing, is what he’s hearing is most critical for companies.

“The folks that are putting these chips into the products they make are more concerned with getting a consistent supply than where they’re made,” he says. “Yes, chip buyers are desperate for fabs outside of Taiwan, and they’d love for the supply to be coming from the U.S., but everyone knows this is a multi-year journey. Supply consistency is what’s most important.”

And as big a win as this is for the U.S. semiconductor industry, the impact could take years to be felt.

Building a chip plant is a long process, and attracting the talent needed to staff a new facility is not done overnight. Regulations, labor costs, and other roadblocks common in U.S. manufacturing are likely to further slow the process and the timetable for when U.S. companies can obtain these home-grown chips.

Geoff Martha, CEO of medical device company Medtronic, told CNBC’s Sara Eisen on “Closing Bell” that while he is encouraged by the passage of the bill, he thinks “it will take several years to get this capacity online.” A growing majority of the products that Medtronic makes contain chips.

Even so, Martha believes funding for R&D afforded by the bill’s passage will help usher in a new era of med-tech. “Semiconductors are at the center of that,” he said.

China blocks some Taiwan imports but avoids chip disruption

China has blocked imports of citrus and fish from Taiwan in retaliation for a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi but avoided disrupting one of the world’s most important technology and manufacturing relationships

ByJOE McDONALD

AP Business Writer
August 03, 2022, 

FILE - Customers buy fruit at a stall in Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 20, 2021. China has blocked imports of citrus and fish from Taiwan in retaliation for a visit to the self-ruled island by a top American lawmaker but avoided sanctions on Taiwanese processor c...Show more
The Associated Press

BEIJING -- China blocked imports of citrus and fish from Taiwan in retaliation for a visit by a top American lawmaker, Nancy Pelosi, but has avoided disrupting one of the world's most important technology and manufacturing relationships.

The two sides, which split in 1949 after a civil war, have no official relations but multibillion-dollar business ties, especially in the flow of Taiwanese-made processor chips needed by Chinese factories that assemble the world's smartphones and other electronics.

They built that business while Beijing threatened for decades to enforce the ruling Communist Party's claim to the island by attacking.

Two-way trade soared 26% last year to $328.3 billion. Taiwan, which produces half the world's processor chips and has technology the mainland can't match, said sales to Chinese factories rose 24.4% to $104.3 billion.

“The global economy cannot function without chips that are made in either Taiwan or China,” said Carl B. Weinberg of High-Frequency Economics in a report.

On Wednesday, Beijing blocked imports of citrus fruits and frozen mackerel from Taiwan after Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, arrived in Taiwan. Those products are only a fraction of Taiwan's total exports to the Chinese mainland. The ruling party has avoided disrupting the flow of chips and other industrial components, a step that would send shock waves through the shaky global economy.

Beijing also announced four days of military exercises with artillery fire in waters around Taiwan. That might delay or disrupt shipping to and from the island, one of the biggest global traders.

The potential disruption adds to concerns over weakening global economic growth, but Asian stock markets rose Wednesday after there was no immediate sign of Chinese military action.

The Communist Party says Pelosi's visit might embolden Taiwan to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent. Beijing says that would lead to war.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to tone down the volume on the visit, insisting there’s no change in America’s longstanding “one-China policy,” which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.


Meeting leaders in Taiwan, Pelosi said she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation were showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island.

“America’s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad," Pelosi said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen.

“Facing deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down,” Tsai said.

The ban on imports of citrus fruits and frozen mackerel will hurt suppliers seen as Tsaí's supporters.

Taiwan plays an outsize role in the chip industry for an island of 24.5 million people, accounting for more than half the global supply.

Its producers including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. make the most advanced processors for smartphones, tablet computers, medical devices and other products. Taiwan says chip sales to China factories rose 24.4% last year to $104.3 billion.

Beijing has invested billions of dollars in developing its own industry, which supplies low-end chips for autos and appliances but cannot support the latest smartphones, tablet computers, medical devices and other products.

Chips are China’s biggest import at more than $400 billion a year, ahead of crude oil.

That concentration has fueled concern in the United States and Europe about relying too heavily on supplies that might be disrupted by conflict. The U.S. government is trying to expand its domestic chip production capacity.

Overall, China is Taiwan’s biggest trading partner, taking more than twice as much of its exports as the United States, the island’s No. 2 foreign market.

Beijing has tried to use access to its markets to undermine Tsai and other Taiwanese leaders it accuses of pursuing independence.

The customs agency blocked imports of cookies and other food products from more than 100 Taiwanese suppliers on Monday ahead of Pelosi's visit, according to the Global Times and other Chinese news outlets. There was no official announcement.

The Communist Party also has used military action in the past to try to hurt Taiwanese leaders by disrupting the island's economy.

The mainland tried to drive voters away from then-President Lee Teng-hui ahead of the island's first direct presidential elections in 1996 by firing missiles into shipping lanes.

That forced shippers to cancel voyages and raised insurance costs but backfired by allowing Lee to brag about standing up to Beijing in front of cheering supporters. Lee won the four-way election with 54% of the vote.

Pelosi’s Taiwan trip spurs Chinese battery giant to pause plant debut

Bloomberg News | August 2, 2022 

Credit: CATL

A giant Chinese supplier of electric-vehicle batteries decided to push back announcing a multibillion-dollar North American plant to supply Tesla Inc. and Ford Motor Co. due to tensions raised by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter.


Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles, has been considering at least two locations in Mexico near the Texas border, as well as sites in the US, for the plant. China’s CATL has been in an advanced stage of site selection and negotiating incentives, in anticipation of announcing its selection in the coming weeks.

CATL now plans to wait until September or October to make the announcement, the people familiar with the process said Tuesday, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The concern is that an announcement could stoke tensions at a sensitive time in US-China ties amid the controversial Pelosi visit to Taiwan, they said.

A representative for CATL didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Tesla also didn’t respond to requests for comment. Ford declined to comment.

Shares of Tesla trimmed earlier gains, trading up 0.8% to $899.11 as of 1:36 p.m. in New York. Ford fell into negative territory, declining 0.7% to $15.24.

Pelosi landed in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, on Tuesday evening local time in the face of threats and opposition from China, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory. Pelosi’s trip makes her the highest-ranking US politician to visit the island in 25 years, and Chinese officials have called it “provocative.”

CATL’s headquarters are in Fujian, across the Taiwan Strait from the island. China has announced military exercises will take place around the island this week in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.

Bloomberg News reported last month that CATL is considering Ciudad Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua, and Saltillo, in Coahuila, and that the company is contemplating an investment of as much $5 billion in the project. Sites in the US and Mexico are still under active consideration, and there’s no intention to walk away from the plan, the people said.

CATL is also weighing the need to establish a North America site alongside the potential impact of a US legislative package being brokered between Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin, the people said.

A key piece of that legislation requires EV makers to source a portion of battery minerals from — or processed in — a country with which the US has a free trade agreement, in order for their vehicles to qualify for consumer incentives. The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement went into effect in July 2020.

(By Eric Martin, Ed Ludlow and Gabrielle Coppola, with assistance from Keith Naughton)