Wednesday December 29 2010

Resources

Tensions between China, India Rising - India Digs in Its Heels as China Flexes Its Muscles

NEW DELHI "” It has been the season of geopolitical hugs in India "” with one noticeable exception. One after the other, the leaders of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have descended on India, accompanied by delegations of business leaders, seeking closer ties with this rising South Asian giant. The Indian media, basking in the high-level attention, have nicknamed them the "P-5."

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain got a warm reception last summer. Then President Obama wowed a skeptical Indian establishment during his November visit. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France signed nuclear deals in early December, while President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia departed last week with a fistful of defense contracts after winning praise for Moscow as a "special partner."

China Cuts Rare Earth Mineral Export Quotas by 11 Percent in 2011

China cut its export quotas for rare earths by 11 percent in the first round of permits for 2011, threatening to extend a global shortage of the minerals needed for smartphones, hybrid cars and guided missiles.

The government allotted 14,446 metric tons of rare earth exports split among 31 companies, the Ministry of Commerce said today in a statement. That compares with the first round this year of 16,304 tons and the second round of 7,976 tons, according to previous ministry statements. The government usually issues two rounds of export quotas every year.

Where Are the Jobs? For Many Companies, Overseas

Corporate profits are up. Stock prices are up. So why isn't anyone hiring?

Actually, many American companies are "” just maybe not in your town. They're hiring overseas, where sales are surging and the pipeline of orders is fat.

More than half of the 15,000 people that Caterpillar Inc. has hired this year were outside the U.S. UPS is also hiring at a faster clip overseas. For both companies, sales in international markets are growing at least twice as fast as domestically.

China's Vehicle Exports Surge 68.52 Percent in Jan-Nov

Shanghai - Automobile exports in China reached 483,300 units in the January to November period, up 68.52 percent from a year earlier, the Beijing News reported Monday, citing data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). In November alone, the country's automobile exports fell by 2.23 percent from the previous month to 48,900 units, of which exports of passenger vehicles declined 7.67 percent on the month and rose 21.84 percent on the year to 25,100 units, while exports of commercial vehicles went up 4.27 percent month on month and 35.47 percent year on year to 23,800 units.

Renault Trucks to Start Manufacturing in Russia

Renault Trucks is planning to start production of its models in Russia through a contract manufacturing arrangement with Automobiles and Motors of the Urals (AMUR), according to an Itar-TASS news agency report. Production of around 300 units will begin at the factory in March/April next year as Renault looks to add Russian production capacity in order to gain a share of the country's improving market.

EC Urged to Halt its Promotion of Environmentally Damaging Biofuels

The European Commission (EC) is under increasing pressure to review its energy policy after mounting evidence that links biofuel production to environmental damage.

Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies urged a review of the policy at a meeting of the European Parliament's Environment Committee. "I was an enthusiast for biofuels," he says. "However, reports now suggest that biofuels result in habitat destruction. If we are making a mistake can we look at this again?"

China Increases Interest Rates to Curb Its Fastest Inflation in Two Years

Today's People's Daily editorial contrasts with remarks made by China's Premier Wen Jiabao, seen here, who said in a speech in August that economic achievements were in danger of being lost without more political reform.

People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in Washington on Oct. 10. It may take two years for the inflation rate to fall below 3 percent, from a 22-month high of 3.5 percent in August. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg

China raised interest rates for the second time since mid-October to counter the fastest inflation in more than two years and more moves may follow.

Dodging Repatriation Tax Lets Companies Bring Home Cash

At the White House on Dec. 15, business executives asked President Obama for a tax holiday that would help them tap more than $1 trillion of offshore earnings, much of it sitting in island tax havens.

The money -- including hundreds of billions in profits that U.S. companies attribute to overseas subsidiaries to avoid taxes -- is supposed to be taxed at up to 35 percent when it's brought home, or "repatriated."Executives including John T. Chambers of Cisco Systems Inc. say a tax break would return a flood of cash and boost the economy.

What nobody's saying publicly is that U.S. multinationals are already finding legal ways to avoid that tax. Over the years, they've brought cash home, tax-free, employing strategies with nicknames worthy of 1970s conspiracy thrillers -- including "the Killer B"and "the Deadly D."

Tata Enters Thailand's Heavy-Duty Market

Tata Motors will jump into Thailand's highly competitive heavy-duty truck market, which Japanese and European players now dominate.

About 20,000 heavy-duty trucks are sold in the local market annually, with Hino and Isuzu together taking the lion's share.

Tata's plan follows a recent announcement in Bangkok by Prakash Telang, the managing director for Indian operations, that more vehicle models would be added to the company's existing line-up in Thailand over the next three years.

From: 
Email:  
To: 
Email:  
Subject: 
Message: