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☆ Mining Giant BHP Makes $39 Billion Bid for Rival Anglo American
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BHP Group, the world’s largest mining company, has proposed a takeover of its rival Anglo American, in a deal that has the potential to shake up the industry at a time when demand for copper is soaring. BHP said on Thursday that it had approached Anglo with a bid valued at 31.1 billion pounds, or $39 billion, in what would be one of the most significant deals in the industry in years. If successful, the acquisition would create the world’s largest miner of copper at a time of growing global hunger for the metal, which is essential to the green-energy transition. Anglo confirmed that it had received an “unsolicited, nonbinding and highly conditional combination proposal from BHP” and that its board was reviewing the offer with its advisers. In the United States, President Biden’s signature climate and energy law, the Inflation Reduction Act, contains hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits to help companies switch to low-carbon energy sources.

Organizations: BHP Group, BHP, BHP ” Locations: United States

☆ Why Germany Can’t Break Up With China
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, took office in 2021, he pledged that his government would shift his country’s relationship with China away from one of economic dependence. Three years later, talk of scaling back reliance on China has been replaced with calls for equal access to China’s market for foreign firms. The U.S. Treasury secretary, Janet L. Yellen, has talked about imposing trade restrictions on China. The chief executives of several leading multinational companies based in Germany joined Mr. Scholz on his three-day tour of China, which included a meeting with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, in Beijing on Tuesday. All of the company leaders oversee large operations in China that they are eager not only to maintain, but in many cases to expand.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Janet L, Scholz, Xi Jinping Organizations: Treasury, Mr Locations: China, United States, U.S, Germany, Beijing

☆ Germany’s Leader Walks a Fine Line in China
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Alexandra Stevenson | Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany tried to strike a delicate balance on a trip to China this week, promoting business ties with his country’s biggest trading partner while criticizing its surge of exports to Europe and its support for Russia. Mr. Scholz met with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Tuesday, the culmination of a three-day visit with a delegation of German officials and business leaders. Throughout his trip, Mr. Scholz promoted the interests of German companies that are finding it increasingly hard to compete in China. And he conveyed growing concern in the European Union that the region’s market is becoming a dumping ground for Chinese goods produced at a loss. It was Mr. Scholz’s first visit to China since his government adopted a strategy last year that defined the Asian power as a “partner, competitor and systemic rival,” calling on Germany to reduce its dependency on Chinese goods.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Germany, Scholz, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Scholz’s Organizations: European Union Locations: China, Europe, Russia, Diaoyutai, Beijing, Ukraine, United States, European, Germany

☆ German Business Is Tangled in Red Tape
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Markus Wingens created the position of “energy manager” for the metal heat-treatment company he runs in southwestern Germany, his idea was to increase energy efficiency and attract customers interested in sustainability. But the job has become as much a task of filling out paperwork and studying seemingly ever-changing laws as it is ensuring that the firm, Technotherm Heat Treatment Group, is meeting energy requirements. Last year, four new laws and 14 amendments to existing ones governing energy use took effect, each bringing fresh demands for data to be reported and forms to be submitted — in many cases to prove the same standards that the company has already been certified as reaching since 2012, Mr. Wingens said. “We have the Renewable Energy Act, we have the Energy Efficiency Act, we have the Energy Financing Act, and each comes with an administrative burden,” he said. “It’s madness.”

Persons: Markus Wingens, ”, Wingens, “ Organizations: Renewable Energy, Energy Locations: Germany

☆ Inflation Cools in Eurozone, Nearing Central Bank’s Target
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The annual inflation rate across most economies in Europe eased for the third month in a row, nearing the target set by the European Central Bank. The rate was slightly lower than economists expected and brought overall inflation closer to the 2 percent target set by the E.C.B., which will hold its next meeting to set interest rates on April 11. The central bank also keeps a close eye on core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices. That dipped to 2.9 percent in the year through March in the eurozone, ticking below the 3-percent mark for the first time since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine broke out in February 2022, driving up energy prices. Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, saw consumer prices rise at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in March, its slowest inflation since June 2021.

Organizations: European Central Bank, Consumer, European Union, Ukraine Locations: Europe, Germany

☆ Germany’s Solar Panel Industry, Once a Leader, Is Getting Squeezed
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Before China came to dominate the solar panel industry, Germany led the way. It was the world’s largest producer of solar panels, with several start-ups clustered in the former East Germany, until about a decade ago when China ramped up production and undercut just about everyone on price. Now as Germany and the rest of Europe try to reach ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the demand for solar panels has only increased. Some of the last remaining manufacturers in Germany’s solar industry are not ready to give up. They argue that Europe’s high standards for the origin of materials and shorter supply chains make production in Germany more environmentally friendly and reliable.

Locations: China, Germany, East Germany, Europe, Berlin

☆ Tesla’s Troubles Raise Questions About Its Invincibility
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“They can’t stop us,” Mr. Musk, the company’s chief executive, told workers in a giant tent beside the plant. But there are proliferating signs that Tesla may not be as unstoppable as it once seemed. Chinese automakers and established brands like BMW and Volkswagen are flooding the market with electric cars. Mr. Musk’s many outside ventures, and his penchant for making polarizing political statements and attacking people he disagrees with, have raised questions about how focused he remains on managing Tesla. Wall Street is increasingly concerned about the company: Tesla’s share price has lost one-third of its value this year even as major stock indexes have hit record highs.

Persons: Elon Musk, ” Mr, Musk, Tesla Organizations: BMW, Volkswagen Locations: Tesla’s, Berlin

☆ Let Tesla Expand? Germans Vote No.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The NewsResidents in the German community where Tesla has its only assembly plant in Europe overwhelming rejected the company’s plan to expand its facilities, dealing a blow to the U.S. automaker and local supporters. Sixty-five percent of citizens in Grünheide who voted opted against Tesla’s proposal to clear 250 acres of forest near its plant to build a rail yard, warehouses and a day care center. The vote was nonbinding, but local officials said they would honor it by heading back to the drawing board to try to find an acceptable solution. “That is the big challenge for the community,” Arne Christiani, the mayor of Grünheide and a supporter of the expansion, told public broadcaster Inforadio rbb on Wednesday. But the company defended its plans in local media, while acknowledging “that the citizens of Grünheide have concerns in connection with the planned expansion of the site.”

Persons: Tesla, ” Arne Christiani, Inforadio rbb, “, ” Organizations: News Residents, U.S ., Inforadio Locations: Europe, Grünheide

☆ Small Businesses Sound Alarm Over Weakening German Economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Thousands of the small and midsize companies that form the backbone of the German economy warned this week that the country was losing its edge, as the country’s central bank signaled the threat of a recession would loom over Germany in the first three months of 2024. “Every day, Germany is losing its ability to remain internationally competitive,” read an open letter to the government signed by 18 associations representing the businesses, in industries ranging from technology to trucking to taxi companies. But the sweeping statement ticked off a list of concerns facing businesses, including high energy prices, labor shortages, slow efforts to digitize the bureaucracy and high taxes. Those strains are reflected in a report released on Monday by Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, which said that the country’s economy, Europe’s largest, was poised to shrink in the first three months of the year. After a contraction of 0.3 percent in the final months of 2023, a second consecutive decline would land the country in a technical recession.

Organizations: Germany’s Locations: Germany, “

☆ Let Tesla Expand? Three German Teens Have a Few Thoughts.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Tesla’s hulking assembly plant outside Berlin, which opened two years ago in a community known for its forests and lakes, still rubs many residents the wrong way. They worry it threatens the quality of their water and air, and has disrupted the peacefulness that drew them to the area. Mr. Schorcht and many of his neighbors are determined to make sure that doesn’t happen. “We say, ‘enough is enough,’” Mr. Schorcht said. Their resistance campaign includes weekly hikes through the endangered forest and knocking on doors.

Persons: Tesla’s, Steffen Schorcht, Tesla, Schorcht, ’ Locations: Berlin

☆ Boeing Finds More Problems with 737 Max, Risking Delivery Delays
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Boeing said that a new problem with the fuselages of some unfinished 737 jets would force the company to rework about 50 planes, potentially delaying their delivery and raising further concerns about quality control at the manufacturer and its suppliers. Stan Deal, the chief executive of Boeing’s commercial plane unit, said in a memo to employees on Sunday that a supplier last wee had identified that “two holes may not have been drilled exactly to our requirements.” It did not name the supplier. The issue was “not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737s can continue operating safely,” Mr. Deal said. He added that all 737s currently in use could continue flying. The new problems were another setback for Boeing, which has been under pressure from regulators, investors and its airline customers since Jan. 5, when a panel on a 737 Max 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines blew out mid-flight, forcing an emergency landing and the grounding of Max 9s in the United States.

Persons: Stan Deal, ”, Deal, Max Organizations: Boeing, Alaska Airlines Locations: United States

☆ Eurozone Inflation Dips at Start of Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Why It Matters: The timing of interest rate cuts depends on dataInvestors are watching for signs that the European Central Bank will lower interest rates, which policymakers last week held at a record high of 4 percent. The numbers released on Thursday could raise expectations that rates may come down sooner rather than later. Core inflation, the rate of inflation that excludes the volatile prices of food and energy, continued its downward trend, cooling to 3.3 percent in January from 3.4 percent in December. That figure is crucial to the E.C.B., as it reflects underlying trends in prices across the eurozone. will remain cautious, he said, “and will not contemplate any rate cut before June.”

Persons: Christine Lagarde, “, Peter Vanden Houte, ” Organizations: European Central Bank, ING Locations: midyear, Germany, Europe’s

☆ Germany, Once a Powerhouse, Is at an Economic ‘Standstill’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Germany started the year with Berlin’s streets choked with tractors and farmers blaring horns in furious protest of proposed budget cuts. Then train engineers walked off the job to demand better pay, stranding commuters and carloads of freight and leaving the country angry and gridlocked. The same could be said for the state of the German economy. “The economy is at a standstill in Germany,” said Siegfried Russwurm, the president of the Federation of German Industries. “We don’t see any chance of a rapid recovery in 2024.”Since it was rebuilt after World War II, Germany has been Europe’s main driver of economic growth, becoming an industrial powerhouse known for vast factories and fine-tuned engineering.

Persons: ”, Siegfried Russwurm Organizations: Federation of German Industries Locations: Germany

An emergency landing on Friday of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet in Portland, Ore., led the Federal Aviation Administration to order some U.S. airlines to stop using some Max 9 planes until they are inspected. The order affects about 171 planes owned by Alaska, United and other airlines. The episode also raised troubling new questions about the safety of a workhorse aircraft design dogged by years of problems and multiple deadly crashes. No one was seriously injured in Friday’s incident. The jetliner returned to the airport in Portland shortly after a chunk of the body of the plane broke off in midair, leaving a door-size hole in the side of the aircraft.

Persons: jetliner Organizations: Alaska Airlines Boeing, Max, Federal Aviation Administration Locations: Portland ,, Alaska, United, Portland

☆ Tesla Sues Swedish Transport Agency in Dispute Over License Plates
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla sued Sweden’s Transport Agency on Monday over a strike by postal workers that has blocked delivery of license plates for Tesla cars, the latest escalation of a widening battle between Sweden’s labor unions and the U.S. manufacturer of electric vehicles. A month ago, mechanics at seven Tesla-owned repair shops in Sweden walked off their jobs. Dockworkers, electricians, painters and postal employees have all joined the strike, refusing to provide the company with their services. Last week, some 50 metalworkers at a factory that produces aluminum parts for Tesla’s factory in Germany walked off the job. On Nov. 20, postal workers joined the action, refusing to deliver any mail or packages to Tesla’s facilities, including the license plates.

Persons: Tesla Organizations: Sweden’s Transport Agency, IF Metall Locations: U.S, Sweden, Tesla’s, Germany

☆ Germany to Override Debt Limit, Again, to Resolve Budget Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged lawmakers on Tuesday to override Germany’s borrowing limits for a fourth consecutive year, allowing his government to take on billions of euros in fresh debt to modernize his country’s economy despite a budget crisis triggered a constitutional court ruling. “It would be a grave, unforgivable mistake to neglect the modernization of our country in the face of all these acute challenges,” Mr. Scholz told Parliament, citing persistently high energy prices and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Afterward, a powerful leader of the opposition Christian Democrats signaled he may be wiling to accept Mr. Scholz’s plan, a sign that the fiscal crisis that has gripped Germany for two weeks and threatened to fracture the government’s three-party coalition may begin to ease. Germany’s highest court on Nov. 15 threw out a special fund set up by the government that shifted credits approved in 2020 to combat the coronavirus pandemic to instead finance environmental projects and green technology. The court ruled that credits taken out in a given year for a specific purpose had to be spent within that time, and for the designated purpose.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, ” Mr, Scholz, Scholz’s Organizations: Democrats Locations: Ukraine, Germany

☆ Germany Announces Special Budget to Avert Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

How We Got Here: A court ruling put spending plans into disarray. The move came after days of uncertainty triggered by the ruling from the country’s highest court that declared elements of the 2023 budget invalid because of a rule that limits borrowing. Mr. Lindner, who leads the fiscally conservative Free Democrats party, has vowed to abide by the borrowing limits for the 2023 budget. “No new debt will be taken on, but the funds already used to overcome the crisis will be placed on a secure legal basis,” Mr. Lindner said in a statement on Thursday. Economists and business leaders, as well as some lawmakers from Mr. Scholz’s three-party coalition, demanded Mr. Lindner take action to clarify spending plans for 2023 to ensure stability and clear the way for lawmakers to approve a budget for 2024.

Persons: Lindner, Mr, Olaf Scholz, Scholz’s Organizations: Free Democrats Locations: Ukraine

☆ Unions in Sweden Expand Blockade Against Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla does not produce any vehicles in Sweden, but runs several facilities where the cars are serviced. So far this year, the Tesla Model Y is the best-selling new car in Sweden, with more than 14,000 registrations through October, according to Mobility Sweden, an industry group. Unions representing cleaners have also refused to service Tesla facilities, and the postal workers’ union stopped any deliveries from reaching the company’s sites. Both IF Metall and the Transport Workers’ Union have acknowledged that Tesla has found ways around the strikes. Tesla appeared to be bringing in other mechanics to staff its facilities and bringing new vehicles into Sweden by truck, they said.

Persons: Tesla, ’, Dockworkers, ” Dirk Schulze, ” Mr, Schulze, IF Metall Organizations: Tesla, Mobility Sweden, Swedish Transport Workers ’ Union, IF Metall, Transport Workers ’ Union, IG Metall, Metall, IF, Hydro Extrusions Locations: Sweden, Swedish, Sweden’s, Germany, Berlin, Brandenburg

☆ German Court Says Government Cannot Shift Covid Funds to Climate Projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It Matters: A Restraint on Germany’s Green Ambitions. The Climate Transformation Fund has €212 billion dedicated to projects from 2024 to 2027. The court ruled that it must now be reduced by €60 billion, the money added from unused pandemic funds. Heart of the Issue: Germany’s ‘Debt Brake’Germany is the only leading industrial economy to have a so-called debt brake written into its constitution. “The circumvention of the debt brake is becoming increasingly absurd,” said Marcel Fratzscher, head of the German Institute for Economic Research, a Berlin-based think tank.

Persons: ”, Marcel Fratzscher, — Organizations: €, German Institute for Economic Research, Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats Locations: Germany, Berlin, Ukraine

Siemens Energy is a key player in Germany’s energy transition and employs some 26,000 people in the country. The company’s difficulties have served as a warning that financial problems weighing on makers of renewable energy equipment could be growing more severe. Siemens Energy is the parent company of Siemens Gamesa, one of the world’s leading wind turbine makers. What Happens Next: Siemens Energy opens its books. On Wednesday, Siemens Energy will announce its earnings for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30.

Persons: Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Siemens Gamesa, Denmark’s Orsted Organizations: Siemens Energy, Germany, Siemens, Air Liquide Locations: Berlin, French, Denmark, Spain, New Jersey, United States, Frankfurt

Dockworkers said they would expand their blockade of the automaker’s shipment to all ports in Sweden next week, after launching the action at four key locations. The electricians’ union said its members would stop servicing Tesla charging stations when they needed a repair, and maintenance workers said they wouldn’t clean Tesla facilities. On Monday, the IF Metall trade union, which represents 300,000 workers across the country including the Tesla mechanics, said its talks with company representatives had ended without resolution. Tesla, which entered Sweden in 2013, did not respond to requests for comment. The company told Sweden’s TT News Agency that it followed Swedish labor market rules but had chosen not to sign a collective agreement.

Persons: Tesla, Dockworkers Organizations: IF, Sweden’s TT News Agency Locations: Sweden, Swedish

☆ Job Action Against Tesla Puts Sweden’s Unions in Spotlight
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than a week after Tesla mechanics in Sweden began a strike to compel the U.S. automaker to accept a collective labor agreement, union officials said Tesla representatives would meet with the union on Monday. Tesla doesn’t make cars in Sweden, and the country is a relatively small market for the automaker. But the job action by dozens of mechanics is beginning to reverberate. Since the union called the strike on Oct. 27, dozens of the mechanics who are union members have been staying home, disrupting service appointments for some Tesla drivers. Not all of the union members have taken part, said Jesper Pettersson, a spokesman for IF Metall, acknowledging reports that some service facilities appeared largely unaffected.

Persons: Tesla, Dockworkers, Jesper Pettersson Organizations: U.S, IF Metall Locations: Sweden, Teslas

☆ A New Place to Learn Civics: The Workplace
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A peaceful end to the war in Ukraine. That was the wish behind a post that Simge Krüger made on LinkedIn in March. In response, people began posting their wishes that her husband, father and brother be killed in combat. “I was just talking about peace and I’m suddenly a Nazi,” Ms. Krüger, a Turkish citizen who lives in Hamburg, said in an interview. Weeks later, sitting in a workshop led by a pro-democracy organization, she came to understand what happened in that dizzying moment.

Persons: Krüger, “, I’m, ” Ms, Weeks Organizations: LinkedIn, Nazi Locations: Ukraine, Germany, Turkish, Hamburg

☆ Birkenstock, German Maker of Iconic Sandals, Files for I.P.O. in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Melissa Eddy | More About Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In recent years, the brand has introduced its sandals made with non-animal materials and a dizzying array of styles and colors. But the shoes’ appeal reaches across generations, making them as popular with millennials as they are with the boomer generation. Potential Risks: The trick of taking tradition publicBirkenstock’s statement said the company would face a number of risks in going public. Among them are the dangers posed by counterfeit products, it said, along with the “intense competition” from established companies and newcomers in the shoe market. “The transition from a historically family-owned German company to a publicly held company listed on a U.S. stock exchange may negatively impact our reputation,” the statement said.

Persons: Oliver Reichert, “, Mr, Reichert, “ Barbie, ”, Barbie, Christian Dior, Manolo Blahnik, Stüssy, Valentino Garavani Organizations: U.S, Birkenstocks Locations: Germany, New York, Milan, €, U.S

The European Union will begin an investigation into Chinese subsidies of electric vehicles, the bloc’s top official announced Wednesday, in a move that highlights Europe’s growing industrial and geopolitical competition with China. The inquiry could lead to trade restrictions, such as import tariffs on Chinese vehicles. Chinese automakers have gained a dominant position in the global electric vehicle industry and see Europe as a key potential market. “Europe is open for competition, not for a race to the bottom,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, speaking in Strasbourg, France. “We must defend ourselves against unfair practices.”She announced the initiative during her annual state of the European Union address, which sets the tone for the year ahead.

Persons: ”, Ursula von der Leyen, “ Organizations: European Union, European Commission Locations: China, Europe, Beijing, “ Europe, Strasbourg, France

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