Charter Communications, which operates the Spectrum brand of digital telecommunications services, has agreed to pay $34.5 billion to merge with Cox Communications.
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT – May 20 2025
SHIPPERS, PORTS BRACE FOR 90-DAY RUSH AS TRUMP CUTS CHINA TARIFF
Ports and ocean freight carriers are bracing for a wave of rushed business after Donald Trump temporarily cut China’s tariff rate from 145 percent to 30 percent for 90 days.
SPOTLIGHT: THE SHRINKING LUXURY INDUSTRY
Burberry, purveyor of $390 tank tops and $2,000 handbags, lost £3 million in the fiscal year ending 29 March, compared to a £418-million profit the year before.
SPOTLIGHT: THE GLOBAL AUTO INDUSTRY IN FLUX
During this year’s first quarter, registrations of new all-electric vehicles (EVs) shot up 28 percent across Europe and the U.K. due in particular to a jump in Germany, where sales more than doubled, the trade group ACEA reported.
U.K. NOW OWNS MORE U.S. TREASURY SECURITIES THAN CHINA
In March, China continued reducing its portfolio of U.S. treasury securities, dropping it behind the U.K. as the largest foreign owner of U.S. debt.
CHINA PLANTS ITS FLAG IN LATIN AMERICA
China is aggressively asserting its presence in Latin America, hoping to secure political friends and allies—as well as lucrative economic deals and contracts for resource development—in a region the U.S. has long viewed more as trouble than as opportunity.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
The economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that will profoundly affect the business community this year.
WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS, JOBS GO WITH IT
Federal job cuts continue under Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency with the Federal Reserve planning to cut 10 percent of its workforce (approximately 2,000 people) over the next few years through a voluntary deferred resignation program.