International News

US, China still haggling over ‘how to enforce currency pact’

Bloomberg The US and China haven’t yet agreed on the critical issue of enforcement in a proposed currency deal that would ensure Beijing lives up to its promise to not depreciate the yuan, four people familiar with the matter said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin touted currency pact as the strongest ever, though he offered no details, following two days of ...

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US corn, poultry ‘on table’ during China talks, Perdue says

Bloomberg China is expected to make its next round of American soybean purchases “relatively quickly,” while corn, ethanol, beef and poultry also have been part of trade discussions between the two countries, according to US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. China committed to buying an additional 10 million metric tons of US soybeans, a sign of progress on trade talks between ...

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Weak economy hits Korea’s oldest ‘chaebol’

Bloomberg South Korea’s oldest chaebol is finding that being a big conglomerate in a weak economy can be difficult. Shares of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. slid as much as 9.9 percent in Seoul, its lowest since August 2004, after it announced that its affiliate Doosan Engineering & Construction Co. plans to issue 420 billion won of new shares ...

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Huawei chair rejects notion it helps China open ‘back doors’

Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co. would deny any Chinese government request to open up “back doors” in foreign telecommunications networks because they aren’t legally obliged to do so, the company’s chairman says. Liang Hua said the company had received an independent legal opinion about its obligations under Chinese law and said there is nothing forcing companies to create what he called ...

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‘China coal delays not unprecedented’

Bloomberg Blowouts in Australian coal processing times at Chinese ports are not unprecedented and the government is working with officials in Canberra and Beijing to clarify reasons for the current round of delays, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said. Processing times for Australian coal shipments have expanded to close to 40 days from about 25 days at some ports, he told ...

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Threat of jail caps a long fall for Indian billionaire

Bloomberg Indian billionaire Anil Ambani has spent years fending off creditors and suing critics of his debt-saddled business empire. But his moment of reckoning may have arrived, as he races to pay debts or face a possible jail sentence. On February 20, India’s Supreme Court said that the Reliance Group’s phone unit had disobeyed a ruling to pay about $77 ...

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British Steel may face $130mn hit from Brexit carbon hitch

Bloomberg British Steel Ltd. may face a financial hit of 100 million pounds ($130 million) or more in three weeks’ time if Prime Minister Theresa May is unable to secure a Brexit deal, two people familiar with the matter said. The costs relate to the private equity-owned steelmaker’s carbon pollution bill for 2018, which is due for payment by March ...

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VW sees robust year despite mounting economic challenges

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG expects to boost revenue and maintain profitability this year even as the German manufacturer said it’ll face more challenging economic conditions, costly new tests on emissions and tougher competition. The world’s biggest carmaker, reporting annual earnings that met expectations, repeated its 2018 goal for an adjusted operating return on sales of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent for ...

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Microsoft workers call on company to cancel $480mn US army contract

Bloomberg A group of Microsoft Corp. employees are demanding that the company abandon a $480 million contract with the US Army to build versions of its HoloLens augmented reality headsets for the battlefield, the latest in a series of protests from workers at technology companies objecting to certain uses of the products they’re building. “We are alarmed that Microsoft is ...

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Anthem, Cigna joust for billions in court clash over failed deal

Bloomberg There’s no dispute that a $48.9 billion merger announced in 2015 between health insurers Anthem Inc. and Cigna Corp. imploded two years later over antitrust concerns. Now, the question is whether one owes the other billions for the deal’s failure. A Delaware judge will start the process of deciding that pricey dispute on Monday in a trial of dueling ...

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