MNCs in the News-2018-09-14

China

Reacting to United States (US) President Donald Trump’s plan to impose an additional USD $267 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods, Apple informed US trade officials the tariffs “would affect prices for a ‘wide range’ of Apple products.” Trump later tweeted “‘Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on China—but there is an easy solution where there would be ZERO tax…Make your products in the United States instead of China. Start building new plants” (“Trump Tell Apple to Make Products in the U.S. to Avoid China Tariffs,” Reuters, September 9, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-apple/trump-tells-app...)

Sixteen members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to Google to express their concerns about Google’s plan to develop a censored search engine for China that blocked some websites and search terms. The letter also queried “if Google would ‘ensure that individual Chinese citizens or foreigners living in China, including Americans, will not be surveilled or targeted through Google applications.’” Google’s “search platform has been blocked since 2010” and others have expressed concerns about Google’s planned move (David Separdson and Paresh Dave, “Google’s China Plan Spurs Inquiry from U.S. Lawmakers, Staff Departures,” Reuters, September 14, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-google-lawmakers/googles-china-...)

Japan

Japanese automaker Toyota is preparing to share its hybrid technology with China in an attempt to boost sales and catch-up with rivals. As part of its plan to reduce the country’s reliance on imported oil and reach its environmental goals, China has placed more focus on “pure electric vehicles” and has promoted them through subsidies and tax breaks. Thus, Chinese officials asked Toyota to share its hybrid-car engine technology to help its local companies meet stricter emission targets (“Toyota ready to share hybrid secrets with China to advance in world’s largest auto market,” The Japan Times, September 13, 2018, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/09/13/business/corporate-business...)

Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and Singapore state-backed investment company Temasek Holdings’ subsidiary Surbana Jurong plan to spend $2.5 billion over the next five years on urban projects across Southeast Asia and beyond. With plans to recruit other partners, their ambitious agenda includes transportation infrastructure, housing, shopping centers, hospitals, and other project. Pursuant to their 50-50 joint venture (JV), the two companies will undertake projects in Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka (Yohei Muramatsu, “Temasek unit and Mitsubishi partner on urban development projects,” Nikkei Asian Review, September 14, 2018, https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Temasek-unit-and-Mitsubishi-p...)

South Korea

At the Indonesia-Korea Business and Investment Forum in Seoul, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, as a part of his “Making Indonesia 4.0” campaign, urged Korean tech companies to partner with Indonesia in order to develop the technologies that are set to lead the fourth Industrial Revolution. In response, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on New Southern Policy reiterated Moon’s support for stronger business ties with Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries and lobbied Indonesia’s Widodo to consider joint projects with Korean companies (Cho Chung-un, “Indonesian leader calls for partnerships on emerging technologies,” The Korea Herald, September 10, 2018, http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20180910000671)

Korean state-run natural gas company the Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) has become a global energy firm, operating two dozen projects in 13 countries. The company currently is exploring Cyrus, East Timor, and Indonesia for underwater gas reserves while developing and producing gas from overseas fields in Iraq, Canada, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, and Myanmar. KOGAS will continue to export its “world-leading technologies and knowhow in its natural gas businesses” as well as make “aggressive bids for natural gas infrastructure projects in emerging markets” (Nam Hyun-woo, “KOGAS emerging as global energy firm,” The Korea Times, September 13, http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2018/09/693_255502.html)