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Musk should stay out of politics, US Treasury Secretary Bessent says

Musk should stay out of politics, US Treasury Secretary Bessent says

Straits Times2 days ago
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Treasury chief Scott Bessent (left) told CNN on July 6 that billionaire Elon Musk, who is setting up a political party, should stick to running his companies.
WASHINGTON - A day after Elon Musk escalated his feud with Donald Trump and announced the formation of a new US political party, the president's Treasury secretary said Mr Musk should stick to running his companies.
And investment firm Azoria Partners, which had planned to launch a fund tied to Mr Musk's automaker Tesla, said it was delaying the venture because the party's creation posed 'a conflict with his full-time responsibilities as CEO'.
Mr Musk said on July 5
he was establishing the 'America Party' in response to Mr Trump's tax-cut and spending Bill, which Mr Musk claimed would bankrupt the country.
Speaking on CNN on July 6, Treasury chief Scott Bessent said the boards of directors at Mr Musk's companies – Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX – likely would prefer him to stay out of politics.
'I imagine that those boards of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,' Mr Bessent said.
Mr Musk, who served as a top adviser to the White House on trimming the size of government during the first few months of Mr Trump's presidency, said his new party would in 2026's midterm elections look to unseat Republicans in Congress who backed the 'big, beautiful Bill'.
Mr Musk spent millions of dollars underwriting Mr Trump's re-election effort and for a time, regularly showed up at the president's side in the Oval Office and elsewhere. Their disagreement over the spending Bill led to
a falling out that Mr Musk briefly tried unsuccessfully to repair.
The Bill, which cuts taxes and ramps up spending on defence and border security,
passed last week on party-line votes in both chambers. Critics argue it will damage the economy by significantly adding to the federal budget deficit.
Mr Trump has said Mr Musk is unhappy because the Bill, which Mr Trump
signed into law on July 4, takes away green-energy credits for Tesla's electric vehicles. The president has threatened to pull billions of dollars Tesla and SpaceX receive in government contracts and subsidies in response to Mr Musk's criticism.
Mr Bessent suggested Mr Musk holds little sway with voters who, he said, liked his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) more than him.
'The principles of Doge were very popular,' Mr Bessent said. 'I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not.'
Investor rebuke
Mr Musk's announcement immediately brought a rebuke from Azoria Partners, which said on July 5 it will postpone the listing of its Azoria Tesla Convexity exchange-traded fund. Azoria was set to launch the Tesla ETF this week.
Azoria CEO James Fishback posted on X several critical comments about the new party and reiterated his support for Mr Trump.
'I encourage the Board to meet immediately and ask Elon to clarify his political ambitions and evaluate whether they are compatible with his full-time obligations to Tesla as CEO,' Mr Fishback said.
On July 6, Mr Fishback added on X, 'Elon left us with no other choice.'
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Mr Musk's announcement, but Mr Stephen Miran, the chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, defended the Bill on ABC's This Week.
'The one, big, beautiful Bill is going to create growth on turbo charge,' Mr Miran said. REUTERS
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How US buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban
How US buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban

Straits Times

time21 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

How US buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The flag of China is placed next to the elements of gallium and germanium on a periodic table, in this illustration picture taken on July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo BEIJING - Unusually large quantities of antimony - a metal used in batteries, chips and flame retardants - have poured into the United States from Thailand and Mexico since China barred U.S. shipments last year, according to customs and shipping records, which show at least one Chinese-owned company is involved in the trade. China dominates the supply of antimony as well as gallium and germanium, used in telecommunications, semiconductors and military technology. Beijing banned exports of these minerals to the U.S. on December 3 following Washington's crackdown on China's chip sector. The resulting shift in trade flows underscores the scramble for critical minerals and China's struggle to enforce its curbs as it vies with the U.S. for economic, military and technological supremacy. Specifically, trade data illustrate a re-routing of U.S. shipments via third countries - an issue Chinese officials have acknowledged. Three industry experts corroborated that assessment, including two executives at two U.S. companies who told Reuters they had obtained restricted minerals from China in recent months. The U.S. imported 3,834 metric tons of antimony oxides from Thailand and Mexico between December and April, U.S. customs data show. That was more than almost the previous three years combined. Thailand and Mexico, meanwhile, shot into the top three export markets for Chinese antimony this year, according to Chinese customs data through May. Neither made the top 10 in 2023, the last full year before Beijing restricted exports. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Ram Ben Tzion, co-founder and CEO of digital shipment-vetting platform Publican, said that while there was clear evidence of transshipment, trade data didn't enable the identification of companies involved. "It's a pattern that we're seeing and that pattern is consistent," he told Reuters. Chinese companies, he added, were "super creative in bypassing regulations." China's Commerce Ministry said in May that unspecified overseas entities had "colluded with domestic lawbreakers" to evade its export restrictions, and that stopping such activity was essential to national security. It didn't respond to Reuters questions about the shift in trade flows since December. The U.S. Commerce Department, Thailand's commerce ministry and Mexico's economy ministry didn't respond to similar questions. U.S. law doesn't bar American buyers from purchasing Chinese-origin antimony, gallium or germanium. Chinese firms can ship the minerals to countries other than the U.S. if they have a license. Levi Parker, CEO and founder of U.S.-based Gallant Metals, told Reuters how he obtains about 200 kg of gallium a month from China, without identifying the parties involved due to the potential repercussions. First, buying agents in China obtain material from producers. Then, a shipping company routes the packages, re-labelled variously as iron, zinc or art supplies, via another Asian country, he said. The workarounds aren't perfect, nor cheap, Parker said. He said he would like to import 500 kg regularly but big shipments risked drawing scrutiny, and Chinese logistics firms were "very careful" because of the potential repercussions. BRISK TRADE Thai Unipet Industries, a Thailand-based subsidiary of Chinese antimony producer Youngsun Chemicals, has been doing brisk trade with the U.S. in recent months, previously unreported shipping records reviewed by Reuters show. Unipet shipped at least 3,366 tons of antimony products from Thailand to the U.S. between December and May, according to 36 bills of lading recorded by trade platforms ImportYeti and Export Genius. That was around 27 times the volume Unipet shipped in the same period a year earlier. The records list the cargo, parties involved, and ports of origin and receipt, but not necessarily the origin of the raw material. They don't indicate specific evidence of transshipment. Thai Unipet couldn't be reached for comment. When Reuters called a number listed for the company on one of the shipping records, a person who answered said the number didn't belong to Unipet. Reuters mailed questions to Unipet's registered address but received no response. Unipet's parent, Youngsun Chemicals, didn't respond to questions about the U.S. shipments. The buyer of Unipet's U.S. shipments was Texas-based Youngsun & Essen, which before Beijing's ban imported most of its antimony trioxide from Youngsun Chemicals. Neither Youngsun & Essen nor its president, Jimmy Song, responded to questions about the imports. China launched a campaign in May against the transshipment and smuggling of critical minerals. Offenders can face fines and bans on future exports. Serious cases can also be treated as smuggling, and result in jail terms of more than five years, James Hsiao, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm White & Case, told Reuters. The laws apply to Chinese firms even where transactions take place abroad, he said. In cases of transshipment, Chinese authorities can prosecute sellers that fail to conduct sufficient due diligence to determine the end user, Hsiao added. Yet for anyone willing to take the risk, big profits are available overseas, where shortages have sent prices for gallium, germanium and antimony to records. The three minerals were already subject to export licensing controls when China banned exports to the U.S. China's exports of antimony and germanium are still below levels hit before the restrictions, according to Chinese customs data. Beijing now faces a challenge to ensure its export-control regime has teeth, said Ben Tzion. "While having all these policies in place, their enforcement is a completely different scenario," he said. REUTERS

China's gig economy booms as blistering heat leaves workers exposed
China's gig economy booms as blistering heat leaves workers exposed

Straits Times

time21 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

China's gig economy booms as blistering heat leaves workers exposed

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox While eligible by law to receive a "heat wave allowance", many food delivery drivers have never received them. On a scorching morning in Beijing, Mr Hao and a dozen other food delivery drivers sweltered outside a hot-pot restaurant. They smoked. They swiped through videos. They waited for the next round of lunch orders from people wise enough to stay indoors. Mr Hao, like most of China's 200 million gig workers, is eligible by law to receive a 'heat wave allowance,' or danger money for those required to work for hours in extreme heat conditions. Mr Hao should be paid at least 180 yuan (S$32) per month when the heat crosses 35 deg C . The city had already breached that, with the mercury heading fast toward 40 deg C that week. But he has not seen a penny. 'I've never heard of a company benefit for working in a heat wave,' said Mr Hao, who has been clocking 10 hour days on his scooter for five years now. He declined to use his full name for fear of reprisals from his employer. Mr Hao is not alone – most drivers have never received a payment. When the sun turns cities like Beijing into gridded ovens, demand for deliveries spike. The hotter it gets, the more orders pour in. For platforms like Alibaba's Meituan and – some of China's largest food delivery sites – the math is simple: sweating riders equal happy customers. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Asia Why Japan and South Korea are on different paths in the latest US trade salvo World Trump says steep copper tariffs in store as he broadens his trade war Opinion Hyper-competitive classrooms feed the corporate world's narcissist pipeline Opinion Is Donald Trump unstoppable? Singapore Keep citizens at the centre of public service, Chan Chun Sing tells civil servants Business 'It's our grandfather's company, we won't sell', says Wong family as shareholders reject GE delisting bid Singapore Police officer taken to hospital after motorcycle accident on PIE Asia Ex-Malaysian PM Najib's wife Rosmah awarded $30,000 in suit against TikToker For their part, the companies say they do support workers. is offering full-time riders a hot weather allowance, the firm said, without elaborating on the details. Meituan is taking measures including the use of heatstroke prevention insurance from this month. did not respond to a request for comment, though has previously implemented programmes that provided drivers with 'summer cooling supplies '. For Mr Hao and millions like him, the rush of orders means he maybe earns an extra yuan per hour. It is not even enough for a cold bottle of water. Heat wave allowances are only given by companies that are willing to comply with the law, and with China's slowing economy pushing more than one in five workers to gig work, competition for jobs is fierce and few are willing to negotiate for better benefits. By contrast, employees at government agencies and state-owned enterprises often jump online to boast of their own 'heatstroke prevention subsidies' – cash bonuses, early leave, even vacations in state-run seaside resorts. There is no hiding the irony that China's gig workers, a growing group of mostly younger people, are some of the least protected in the biggest communist country in the world. 'Those who 'enjoy' the heat waves don't enjoy allowances, and those who enjoy allowances don't taste the heat waves,' one user quipped on Weibo, one of China's most used social media sites. The haves and haves-nots story is not new, but climate change is making it starker and deadlier. In 2024, China recorded its hottest year on record. The three previous years were all among the top five for highest annual temperatures since the 1960s. According to The Lancet, yearly heat wave-related deaths in China have now nearly doubled compared with 1986 to 2005, with more than 37,000 deaths in 2023 alone, the most recent full-year data. The risk, however, is not equally shared. Delivery drivers, street vendors, and construction workers bear the brunt. When they collapse, few safety nets catch them. A study published in 2024 analysing 1,200 food drivers and 580,000 meal orders found that during heat waves, gig workers saw a 9 per cent increase in hourly orders, worked 6 per cent longer hours, and earned only one yuan more per hour – in part because of an increase in penalties from delayed deliveries. Meanwhile, their out-of-pocket health costs to treat heatstroke and other harms, like worsening pre-existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, averaged over 500 yuan during the summer peak. 'Most couriers don't realise the health costs until they're sick and hospitalised , without medical insurance,' said Dr Susan Feng Lu, co-author of the study and professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. 'Consumers benefit from staying protected indoors, yet the burden of health risks falls heavily on gig workers,' she added. The human cost is growing harder to ignore. At least 51 workers died of heatstroke in the last three years, according to analysis by a platform that focuses on China's labour data and news. But that is likely only a tiny fraction of the true total, partly due to difficulties attributing heat as a cause of death as well as efforts by authorities to restrict data. By law, outdoor work is supposed to be limited to less than six hours when temperatures cross 37 deg C and suspended when it hits 40 deg C . But enforcement is largely limited to those in formal employment. Gig workers fall through the legal cracks. Just like ride hailing and food delivery apps the world over, Chinese gig work employers pitch their jobs as flexible, entrepreneurial, empowering. But freedom, critics argue, is just a euphemism for exclusion: no benefits and virtually no labour protections. Almost half of China's platform workers do not have any social insurance coverage, and fewer than a third of the total working population have insurance for work-related injuries, research shows. Under criticism from lawmakers, the platforms have been adding some benefits. Meituan previously committed to 'gradually contribute to social insurance for full-time and stable part-time delivery drivers' from the second quarter of this year, and said in its statement that it has a 'high-temperature care fund' that attaches an extra delivery fee to each eligible order. has begun to offer additional assistance to full-time drivers and is 'committed to ensuring our riders' wellbeing during this period of hot weather,' the firm said. But some say that does not go far enough. 'What workers give and what they receive are not equal,' said Mr Han Dongfang, a renowned labour activist for Chinese workers. 'If they were paid fairly, they would be able to take better care of themselves during heat waves.' While climate and public health experts call for a stronger system to raise public awareness of the risks of heatstroke, employers and state media often glorify a Soviet-style hard-working spirit, implying heat waves are a challenge that workers must confront. A national television segment in 2023 aired a glowing feature about construction workers 'fighting the temperature' at a sweltering site, where a thermometer reading showed one surface had reached 68 deg C . The workers, the report implied, were heroes. Although China's lawmakers have floated proposals for expanding social protections for gig workers, and local governments trumpet initiatives to safeguard health each summer, little actually changes. China's top communist party cadres, government employees, and military officers, meanwhile, escape the heat to seaside towns like Beidaihe, a summer retreat destination once popular with leaders including Chairman Mao Zedong. Hundreds of hotels and sanatoriums are exclusive to government workers, who spend their summers at the cool town when the heat turns Beijing into a furnace. Delivery drivers can expect more performative – and vastly smaller – luxuries from employers. A bottle of cold tea. A bowl of mung bean soup. A slice of watermelon. 'Who needs a cup of cold tea at a station 10km away on a hot day?' Mr Han, the labour activist said. 'What you need is a functional labour union that protects workers' rights.' The temperature in Beijing climbed another degree. Mr Hao climbed back onto his scooter. The next order was ready. Someone wanted a cold bubble tea. BLOOMBERG

From 'fantastic' to 'spoiled': How Japan's trade effort to woo Trump backfired, World News
From 'fantastic' to 'spoiled': How Japan's trade effort to woo Trump backfired, World News

AsiaOne

time30 minutes ago

  • AsiaOne

From 'fantastic' to 'spoiled': How Japan's trade effort to woo Trump backfired, World News

TOKYO — When Japanese Premier Shigeru Ishiba first met Donald Trump in February, his plan to placate the protectionist president's long-held frustration with Tokyo on trade was a promise to invest US$1 trillion (S$1.28 trillion) in the United States. It appeared to work. The pledge was hailed by Trump, who said at the time he did not expect "any problem whatsoever" in reaching a trade deal with Japan, citing their "fantastic relationship". In the months since, Tokyo's trade negotiators stuck to that strategy to avoid lowering barriers for imports of politically-sensitive products such as rice ahead of a dicey July 20 election, said four Japanese government sources with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But despite showing early signs of promise, the efforts backfired spectacularly, leaving negotiators with little time and few palatable options left to avert levies set to strain the world's fourth largest economy, the sources added. After calling Japan "spoiled" in social media posts last week that accused Tokyo of reluctance to buy US rice, Trump notified Ishiba on Monday that Washington would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on Japanese imports from Aug 1. "It's a sign of Trump's frustration," said Kazuhiro Maeshima, a specialist in American government and foreign policy at Tokyo's Sophia University. "Japanese companies will need to find ways to manage their businesses in a way that does not depend on the United States." A spokesperson for Japan's cabinet office, which oversees US tariff matters, declined to comment on Reuters' specific questions related to negotiations. Tokyo will continue to seek a pact with the United States "that benefits both countries, while protecting Japan's national interests" Ishiba told a cabinet meeting in televised remarks on Tuesday. [[nid:719963]] The US embassy in Japan referred questions on tariffs to the White House, which could not immediately be reached for comment. 'Dense fog' Japan, the largest foreign investor in the United States and one of its biggest trade partners, was among the first countries to engage Washington in tariff negotiations after Trump announced sweeping trade duties on April 2. Led by one of Ishiba's closest confidants, Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa, Tokyo's negotiators pledged investments in sectors such as energy and steel during seven visits to Washington between April and June, the sources said. In return, they aimed to get Washington to drop tariffs on the automotive sector, which employs one in ten of Japan's workers and accounts for a fifth of overall exports. They also hoped it would head off any US demands for Japan to drop its own levies on agricultural products such as rice, moves opposed by rural voters as an election loomed. Polls show Ishiba's ruling coalition is at risk of losing its majority in the upper house vote, which could cast doubt over his shaky government and his own political future, analysts say. [[nid:719965]] Tokyo's negotiators believed they were making progress and had found a sympathetic ear in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, with whom Akazawa regularly spoke in Washington and by telephone. In his public remarks, Akazawa repeatedly said the two sides aimed for a deal by the time Ishiba and Trump were due to meet for a second time on the sidelines of the G7 meeting at Kananaskis in the Canadian Rockies, from June 15 to 17. But as the date neared, his optimism appeared to wane. "It feels like we're still in a dense fog," he told reporters on June 10, shortly before he left for Washington. When the leaders met in Canada, Trump appeared tired and disinterested and neither spoke much about trade, deferring to their cabinet ministers, said a source with knowledge of the meeting. Afterwards, Ishiba told reporters the meeting had confirmed "discrepancies in our understanding". Two weeks later, Trump took to Truth Social in frustration. "To show people how spoiled countries have become with respect to the United States of America, and I have great respect for Japan, they won't take our rice, and yet they have a massive rice shortage," he said. Some Japanese officials believe Tokyo will have to change tack and consider lowering barriers on farm imports to appease Trump. Others, including Tokyo's top trade negotiator Akazawa, have said Washington must reduce tariffs on Japan's vital automotive sector if a broader deal is to be reached. But first Ishiba must face his public, some of whom are growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress. "Given the tariffs number that we got, frankly it makes me wonder what all the past negotiations were for," said Hidetoshi Inada, 64, speaking outside Tokyo's Shimbashi station on his way home from his office job for a telecoms firm. "The outcome is everything," he said. [[nid:719915]]

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