CNN Business (August 14)
In the U.S., “businesses have been eating Trump’s tariffs. That’s starting to change.” Wholesale inflation “picked up steam last month, with prices rising by the fastest monthly pace since June 2022.” The Producer Price Index (PPI) “jumped 0.9% from June, lifting the annual rate to 3.3%.” With costs “sharply on the rise for producers and manufacturers in July,” it looks like “higher prices could soon filter down to American consumers.”
Tags: $3, Businesses, Consumers, Costs, Higher, July, Manufacturers, PPI, Prices, Producers, Tariffs, Trump, U.S., Wholesale inflation
Washington Post (May 29)
“A pair of courtroom defeats has blown a hole in President Donald Trump’s plan to use historically high tariffs to reshape global trade, raise hundreds of billions of dollars in new tax revenue and boost the fortunes of domestic manufacturers.”
Tags: Blown, Boost fortunes, Courtroom defeats, Domestic, Global trade, Hole, Manufacturers, Plan, Reshape, Tariffs, Tax revenue, Trump
Wall Street Journal (February 10)
Trump’s first-term “levies hurt consumers and U.S. manufacturers.” The “truth” about his past steel tariffs is that they “made U.S. manufacturers less globally competitive and prompted retaliation that hurt American businesses.” The tariffs ultimately “created uncertainty for U.S. manufacturers and boomeranged on steel and aluminum companies.” Second-term Trump just “gave the economy another jolt of uncertainty… when he signed executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.” Is his “strategy to harm U.S. manufacturers and workers?” His tariffs are “political rent-seeking at its most brazen” and benefit “the few at the expense of the many.”
Tags: Aluminum, Boomeranged, Brazen, Businesses, Competitive, Consumers, Harm, Levies, Manufacturers, Rent-seeking, Retaliation, Steel tariffs, Trump, Truth, U.S., Uncertainty
Reuters (December 18)
“If only M&A solved everything. Japan’s Nissan Motor and Honda Motor certainly need help.” A merger, possibly involving Mitsubishi Motors as well, could potentially achieve cost cuts, “but as Stellantis’s woes show, tie-ups alone don’t create great manufacturers.”
Tags: Cost cuts, Honda, Japan, M&A, Manufacturers, Merger, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Stellantis, Tie-ups, Woes
Wall Street Journal (August 17)
“Volkswagen, GM and other big brands are losing their grip on a once-lucrative market as Chinese consumers embrace homegrown electric vehicles.” The issue is broad ranging. “Manufacturers from China’s Asian neighbors aren’t faring better… Toyota’s Chinese JV income fell 73% in the quarter through June compared with the same period of 2023, while Honda’s equity income was all but wiped out.” China is turning into “a money pit for foreign automakers.”
Tags: Big brands, China, Consumers, Equity, EVs, GM, Homegrown, Honda, Income, JV, Manufacturers, Market, Money pit, Once-lucrative, Toyota, Volkswagen
Wall Street Journal (July 29)
The “post-covid factory boom Is running out of steam,” leaving U.S. manufacturers to rethink “their plans as they brace for an extended slump in demand.” Compounding factors include “higher interest rates, rising operating costs, a strengthening U.S. dollar and lower selling prices for commodities” as more executives forecast “challenging business conditions for the remainder of the year.”
Tags: Commodities, Demand, Dollar, Executives, Extended slump, Factory boom, Interest rates, Manufacturers, Operating costs, Plans, Post-Covid, Rethink, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (November 20)
“America’s spendthrift relationship with electric vehicles has lost some spark. It will take new generations of products to rekindle the romance on tighter budgets…. Whether or not adoption of EVs in the U.S. is actually stalling—the jury is out—it is clearly weaker than manufacturers were anticipating.” Average prices of EVs fell to “about $52,000 in October, down from around $65,000 a year ago” with U.S. sales levelling out at “around the 100,000-a-month mark.”
Tags: $52, 000, 65%, EVs, https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/are-americans-falling-out-of-love-with-evs-2c7e6a1a?page=1 U.S., Manufacturers, October, Sales, Spendthrift, Stalling, Tighter budgets, U.S.
Star Tribune (February 21)
Hit by higher costs for barley, a can shortage and soaring shipping costs, “even the world’s largest beer manufacturers are passing on their higher costs to consumers.” Up to now, “consumers have taken it in stride. Just as higher grocery bills are offset by dining out less, a bigger tab at liquor stores is being absorbed by a lack of travel and entertainment expenses.” Even so, there are worries we may be reaching a turning point where consumption will fall.
Tags: Barley, Beer, Can, Consumers, Dining out, Entertainment, Groceries, Higher costs, Manufacturers, Shipping, Shortage, Soaring, Travel, Turning-point
Reuters (September 13)
“Shortages of metals, plastics, wood and even liquor bottles are now the norm.” As these “hobble” the U.S. economy, “new challenges continue to arise, including hurricane disruptions to U.S. oil refineries.” Supply lines present additional challenges. “With so many manufacturers rushing to build supplies at the same time, the containers, ships, and trucks needed to move the goods often aren’t available, and have soared in cos…. That has disrupted some of the mechanisms that normally help keep supplies, and prices, in check.”
Tags: Basic materials, Bottles, Containers, Disruptions, Economy, Hobble, Hurricane, Liquor, Manufacturers, Metals, Oil refineries, Plastics, Ships, Shortages, Supply lines, Trucks, U.S., Wood
Wall Street Journal (September 12)
“Joby Aviation, which plans to begin an electric air taxi service in 2024, is worth more than Lufthansa, EasyJet or JetBlue…. Earlier this year, Tesla was worth more than the next nine car manufacturers combined, though now only the next six. Beyond Meat, made with pea protein, is worth more than the entire market for peas eaten globally…. Do fundamentals even matter?”
Tags: Beyond Meat, Car, EasyJet, Electric air taxi, Fundamentals, JetBlue, Joby Aviation, Lufthansa, Manufacturers, Market, Pea protein, Tesla
