7-Eleven says Couche-Tard takeover still under consideration
The Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven said Tuesday that a buyout bid from a Canadian convenience store rival was still on the table despite a report that it planned to reject the multibillion-dollar offer.Seven & i, which operates some 85,000 convenience stores worldwide, last year rebuffed an offer worth nearly $40 billion from Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) that would have been the biggest foreign buyout of a Japanese firm.The Yomiuri daily reported Tuesday that a special committee scrutinising ACT’s sweetened offer of reportedly around $47 billion has decided to say no to that too.Antitrust concerns were one reason for the decision, the daily said, given Seven & i and ACT’s overlapping store networks in the United States.But Seven & i did not confirm the report when contacted by AFP.”The company remains committed to exploring all opportunities to unlock value for shareholders and continues to assess a full range of strategic alternatives, including the proposal from ACT,” it said in a statement.Seven & i said its “special committee is engaging constructively with ACT to determine if an actionable proposal can be achieved that addresses the serious US antitrust challenges that any such transaction would face”.Seven & i shares, which have been highly volatile since ACT’s approach was first announced, shed as much as 10 percent after the Tokyo market opened Tuesday following the report.Its shares were down 7.8 percent in afternoon trade.The Yomiuri reported the decision to reject the acquisition offer would be made soon at a board meeting.Board members would also replace CEO Ryuichi Isaka with outside director Stephen Hayes Dacus, it said, echoing reports in other outlets.Dacus has previously worked for Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing and US retail giant Walmart, and would be Seven & i’s first foreign chief.Seven & i, which last week said its founding family had failed to put together sufficient financing for a buyout to fend off ACT’s offer, on Monday said “no decision has been made” regarding management changes.Now the world’s biggest convenience store brand, 7-Eleven began in the United States, but it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.ACT, which began with one store in Quebec in 1980, runs nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide including the Circle K chain.
Trump to pledge new ‘American dream’ in Congress speech
Donald Trump will promise a “renewal of the American dream” on Tuesday in his first address to Congress since returning to office, laying out a vision of extended presidential power and a reshaped world order.The Republican president’s speech comes after a whirlwind first six weeks in office, in which the United States has been roiled by a radical bid led by billionaire Trump advisor Elon Musk to overhaul the federal government by closing down agencies and firing many workers.The 78-year-old Trump has also caused turmoil on the global stage, pausing military aid for Ukraine as he pivots toward Russia, vowing to “own” Gaza and unleashing tariffs against US allies.The White House said the theme of the speech at 9:00 pm (0200 GMT Wednesday) would be “the renewal of the American dream,” in social media posts linking to a story on Fox News, the administration’s preferred outlet.Fox said Trump would cover four areas: his second term’s achievements so far at home and abroad, the economy, a push for Congress to pass border funding and Trump’s plans for “peace around the globe.””President Trump is the greatest orator we’ve ever had in the Oval Office. Every time he’s done one of these addresses, Americans have been overwhelmingly blown away,” his Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told reporters on Monday.”It’s an opportunity for President Trump, as only he can, to lay out the last month of record-setting, record-breaking unprecedented achievements and accomplishments that have made this the most successful opening to any presidency.” Trump himself promised in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday that the address to Congress “WILL BE BIG” and vowed that “I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!”In a sign of Musk’s influence in Trump’s administration, the world’s richest person will reportedly attend the joint session of the House and Senate.- Economic pressure -Trump’s address at the US Capitol comes just over four years after his supporters stormed the building following his 2020 election defeat.Trump is likely to strike a triumphant tone as he returns to a Republican-controlled Congress, determined to exert more executive power than any president in decades.Trump, who notoriously painted a picture of “American carnage” when he was inaugurated for his first term, is expected to tout the record blitz of executive orders he has signed since his return to the White House.Together with Musk, Trump has shown his intent to push through his “Make America Great Again” agenda — even if it means testing the constitutional limits of his authority or straining ties with allies.Trump has moved to unilaterally dismantle federal agencies, fired thousands of government workers, ended diversity programs and begun holding undocumented migrants at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as part of his crackdown on foreigners without papers.On the world stage, Trump will discuss his efforts to redefine US foreign policy.He said on Monday that he would “let you know” during the speech about progress towards resolving the Ukraine conflict, after freezing military aid to Kyiv and stunning the world by starting talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.His speech will come just four days after an extraordinary clash in the Oval Office with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, which left US support for Kyiv hanging in the balance.Trump’s presidential offensive has left the Democrats, already stunned by their 2024 election defeat, flailing for ways to counter him and his hogging of the news cycle.But with his poll numbers softening, Trump will also know he faces pressure to deal with stubborn issues facing Americans — most importantly inflation.Trump’s tariffs threaten to weigh on the economy, with US stocks closing sharply lower on Monday after he confirmed the levies would come into effect one minute into Tuesday against major trading partners Mexico and Canada.
Le géant TSMC augmente ses investissements aux Etats-Unis sous le patronage de Trump
Le géant taïwanais des semiconducteurs TSMC a annoncé lundi à la Maison Blanche qu’il allait investir 100 milliards de dollars aux Etats-Unis, amenant Taipei à exiger que “ses processus de fabrication les plus avancés” restent dans l’île pour ne pas affaiblir sa position face aux menaces d’invasion de la Chine.”Ils investiront au moins 100 milliards de dollars aux Etats-Unis à court terme pour construire des usines à la pointe en matière de production de semiconducteurs”, a déclaré le président américain Donald Trump, prenant la parole avant le PDG de TSMC, C.C. Wei.Cet investissement permettra “de créer des milliers d’emplois”, “très bien payés”, a-t-il salué.M. Wei a souligné que son entreprise était déjà en train d’investir 65 milliards de dollars pour la construction de trois usines en Arizona.L’investissement total, a-t-il expliqué, s’élèvera désormais à 165 milliards, pour trois autres usines de fabrication et deux sites de conditionnement, toujours en Arizona. Un centre de recherche et développement est également prévu.Donald Trump a placé la technologie au premier plan de son second mandat, en faisant figurer des magnats du secteur en bonne place lors de son investiture et en annonçant des investissements importants dans les infrastructures liées à l’intelligence artificielle (IA).Il a aussi appelé les entreprises étrangères à créer des emplois dans l’industrie aux Etats-Unis, soulignant que cela leur permettrait d’échapper aux droits de douane qu’il met en place. Depuis février, il fait notamment planer la menace de droits de douane de 25% sur les semiconducteurs.Les entreprises “viennent ici investir beaucoup d’argent parce qu’elles veulent être dans le plus grand marché du monde, et elles veulent éviter les droits de douane qu’elles subiraient si elles n’étaient pas installées ici”, a mis en avant le ministre américain du Commerce, Howard Lutnick, également présent lundi à la Maison Blanche.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) subit depuis longtemps des pressions pour déplacer une plus grande partie de sa production hors de Taïwan, où se trouve la majeure partie de ses usines.- “Bouclier de silicone” -Un investissement de cette taille est soumis au feu vert des autorités taïwanaises.Le gouvernement veillera auprès de TSMC à ce que “ses processus de fabrication les plus avancés restent à Taïwan”, a averti la porte-parole de la présidence, Karen Kuo.TSMC produit des semiconducteurs utilisés dans tous les domaines technologiques, des iPhones d’Apple aux équipements d’intelligence artificielle de pointe de Nvidia.Le géant taïwanais est à l’avant-garde de la révolution de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) générative, produisant les puces les plus avancées du monde, nécessaires pour alimenter les produits conçus par la Silicon Valley.Mais TSMC est aussi au coeur des tensions géopolitiques entre les Etats-Unis et la Chine. Pékin revendique la souveraineté sur Taïwan, qui est soutenue par Washington, et menace de recourir à la force pour en reprendre le contrôle.Dans ce contexte, une délocalisation massive de la production de semiconducteurs de pointe pourrait affaiblir le “Bouclier de silicone” dont jouit Taïwan en raison des bouleversements qu’impliquerait une guerre pour le marché mondial de la tech, selon l’expert Yifan Chen.”Taïwan sans industrie des semiconducteurs et de la tech, c’est comme l’Ukraine sans armes nucléaires”, souligne cet enseignant à la Tamkang University de Taïwan.”Il est important que nous maintenions notre position clé dans la chaîne industrielle internationale et que nous soyons à la pointe des technologies-clés”, a déclaré pour sa part à la presse le Premier ministre Cho Jung-tai.Le ministre taïwanais de la Défense, Wellington Koo, s’est toutefois dit “convaincu que les Etats-Unis n’abandonneront pas” la région Asie-Pacifique.”Les Etats-Unis ne peuvent pas se retirer (de la région) car il en va de leur intérêt premier”, a-t-il déclaré dans des propos rapportés mardi et ce “que ce soit d’un point de vue économique, géopolitique ou de sécurité militaire”.Interrogé pour savoir si l’implantation de l’entreprise taïwanaise aux Etats-Unis permettrait de “minimiser” les conséquences pour les Etats-Unis d’une invasion de l’île par la Chine, Donald Trump a répondu qu’il “ne pouvait pas dire +minimiser+, ce serait évidemment un événement catastrophique”.Mais l’investissement de TSMC “nous placerait au moins dans une position où nous aurions, pour cette activité très, très importante, une très grosse partie de cette activité aux Etats-Unis”, a-t-il souligné.
Le géant TSMC augmente ses investissements aux Etats-Unis sous le patronage de Trump
Le géant taïwanais des semiconducteurs TSMC a annoncé lundi à la Maison Blanche qu’il allait investir 100 milliards de dollars aux Etats-Unis, amenant Taipei à exiger que “ses processus de fabrication les plus avancés” restent dans l’île pour ne pas affaiblir sa position face aux menaces d’invasion de la Chine.”Ils investiront au moins 100 milliards de dollars aux Etats-Unis à court terme pour construire des usines à la pointe en matière de production de semiconducteurs”, a déclaré le président américain Donald Trump, prenant la parole avant le PDG de TSMC, C.C. Wei.Cet investissement permettra “de créer des milliers d’emplois”, “très bien payés”, a-t-il salué.M. Wei a souligné que son entreprise était déjà en train d’investir 65 milliards de dollars pour la construction de trois usines en Arizona.L’investissement total, a-t-il expliqué, s’élèvera désormais à 165 milliards, pour trois autres usines de fabrication et deux sites de conditionnement, toujours en Arizona. Un centre de recherche et développement est également prévu.Donald Trump a placé la technologie au premier plan de son second mandat, en faisant figurer des magnats du secteur en bonne place lors de son investiture et en annonçant des investissements importants dans les infrastructures liées à l’intelligence artificielle (IA).Il a aussi appelé les entreprises étrangères à créer des emplois dans l’industrie aux Etats-Unis, soulignant que cela leur permettrait d’échapper aux droits de douane qu’il met en place. Depuis février, il fait notamment planer la menace de droits de douane de 25% sur les semiconducteurs.Les entreprises “viennent ici investir beaucoup d’argent parce qu’elles veulent être dans le plus grand marché du monde, et elles veulent éviter les droits de douane qu’elles subiraient si elles n’étaient pas installées ici”, a mis en avant le ministre américain du Commerce, Howard Lutnick, également présent lundi à la Maison Blanche.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) subit depuis longtemps des pressions pour déplacer une plus grande partie de sa production hors de Taïwan, où se trouve la majeure partie de ses usines.- “Bouclier de silicone” -Un investissement de cette taille est soumis au feu vert des autorités taïwanaises.Le gouvernement veillera auprès de TSMC à ce que “ses processus de fabrication les plus avancés restent à Taïwan”, a averti la porte-parole de la présidence, Karen Kuo.TSMC produit des semiconducteurs utilisés dans tous les domaines technologiques, des iPhones d’Apple aux équipements d’intelligence artificielle de pointe de Nvidia.Le géant taïwanais est à l’avant-garde de la révolution de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) générative, produisant les puces les plus avancées du monde, nécessaires pour alimenter les produits conçus par la Silicon Valley.Mais TSMC est aussi au coeur des tensions géopolitiques entre les Etats-Unis et la Chine. Pékin revendique la souveraineté sur Taïwan, qui est soutenue par Washington, et menace de recourir à la force pour en reprendre le contrôle.Dans ce contexte, une délocalisation massive de la production de semiconducteurs de pointe pourrait affaiblir le “Bouclier de silicone” dont jouit Taïwan en raison des bouleversements qu’impliquerait une guerre pour le marché mondial de la tech, selon l’expert Yifan Chen.”Taïwan sans industrie des semiconducteurs et de la tech, c’est comme l’Ukraine sans armes nucléaires”, souligne cet enseignant à la Tamkang University de Taïwan.”Il est important que nous maintenions notre position clé dans la chaîne industrielle internationale et que nous soyons à la pointe des technologies-clés”, a déclaré pour sa part à la presse le Premier ministre Cho Jung-tai.Le ministre taïwanais de la Défense, Wellington Koo, s’est toutefois dit “convaincu que les Etats-Unis n’abandonneront pas” la région Asie-Pacifique.”Les Etats-Unis ne peuvent pas se retirer (de la région) car il en va de leur intérêt premier”, a-t-il déclaré dans des propos rapportés mardi et ce “que ce soit d’un point de vue économique, géopolitique ou de sécurité militaire”.Interrogé pour savoir si l’implantation de l’entreprise taïwanaise aux Etats-Unis permettrait de “minimiser” les conséquences pour les Etats-Unis d’une invasion de l’île par la Chine, Donald Trump a répondu qu’il “ne pouvait pas dire +minimiser+, ce serait évidemment un événement catastrophique”.Mais l’investissement de TSMC “nous placerait au moins dans une position où nous aurions, pour cette activité très, très importante, une très grosse partie de cette activité aux Etats-Unis”, a-t-il souligné.
Asian stocks tumble after Trump tariffs
Asian markets tumbled on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese imports and warned that levies on Mexico and Canada could not be averted.Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng saw the biggest drop, falling more than two percent and 1.5 percent respectively.It comes after the White House said on Monday that Trump had signed an executive order to increase a previously imposed 10 percent tariff on China to 20 percent.Trump also stressed that Canada and Mexico would not avoid being hit with 25 percent levies, causing US stocks to fall sharply on Monday. The new levies came into effect soon after midnight.Canada responded on Monday by putting 25 percent tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods.Beijing also warned that it was “strongly dissatisfied” and would be taking countermeasures to safeguard its “rights and interests”, a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.Fears that the retaliatory tariffs could escalate into a full-blown trade war drove markets down across Asia.Japanese automakers with Mexican factories in their supply chains suffered, with Nissan, Toyota and Honda among the major losers and all down more than two percent.Exchanges across Asia mirrored the downward trajectory, with Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan dropping around one percent.Equities also fell in the Philippines, Malaysia and South Korea, where a second stock exchange named Nextrade was opened on Tuesday.”The spectre of a full-blown trade war is once again looming, threatening to choke global economic growth just as investors were starting to regain confidence,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.Investors are hoping China will announce a huge stimulus package at its key parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, the National People’s Congress, to stimulate the economy.”In the upcoming National People’s Congress, Chinese policymakers could provide more pro-growth measures including announcing a larger budget deficit target and maintaining a five percent growth target for this year,” said MUFG Bank’s Lloyd Chan.Trump expressed outrage on Monday over the weakening of certain currencies, accusing Beijing and Tokyo of using it as a trade strategy, although the Japanese government fiercely refuted the claim.The oil market also saw sharp declines, with West Texas Intermediate crude falling to $68 per barrel, and Brent crude from the North Sea dropping to $71.06 per barrel at around 0200 GMT.Bitcoin’s price plunged nearly 10 percent on Monday as concerns of an escalating trade war pushed investors to seek safer investments.Bitcoin and similar digital assets had surged over the weekend after Trump suggested creating a national cryptocurrency reserve.”Everything is getting sold,” Forexlive manager Adam Button said. “There’s a de-risking that’s unfolding” among crypto investors, he said.- Key figures around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.84 percent at 37,090.72 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 22,706.40Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,310.14Euro/dollar: UP at 1.0485 from $1.0419 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2694 from $1.2612 Dollar/yen: DOWN 149.32 from 150.28 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.60 pence from 82.62 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.42 percent at $68.08 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.66 percent at $71.15 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.5 percent at 43,191.24 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,809.74 (close)
Trump pauses aid to Ukraine after Zelensky clash
US President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine on Monday, a White House official said, sharply escalating pressure on Kyiv to agree to peace negotiations with Russia.The move comes just days after a stunning public clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, who is seeking a rapid end to the war. Trump earlier on Monday had declined to rule out a pause when quizzed by reporters, but any disruption in the flow of US arms to the front line would rapidly weaken Ukraine’s chance of beating back Russia’s invasion.”The President has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well,” a White House official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.”We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” the official added. Congressional Democrats immediately condemned the pause as dangerous and illegal. “My Republican colleagues who have called Putin a war criminal and promised their continued support to Ukraine must join me in demanding President Trump immediately lift this disastrous and unlawful freeze,” said Gregory Meeks, top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Trump also warned he would “not put up” much longer with Zelensky’s defiance, and said Ukraine’s leader should be “more appreciative” of US support.Speaking at the White House, Trump said Zelensky “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.The pause has gone into effect immediately and impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.Zelensky for his part said Monday he was seeking for the war to end “as soon as possible.”The comment came after Zelensky accused Russia — which invaded Ukraine in 2014 and greatly expanded the conflict in 2022 — of not being serious about peace.He insisted tough security guarantees were the only way to end the war.But Trump’s stance has upended US support for Ukraine, and Washington’s allies more broadly, and stoked concern about Washington pivoting to Russia.- European support -After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure” — potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.Zelensky said discussions were still focusing on the “first steps,” adding: “An agreement on ending the war is very, very far away” — a comment that angered Trump.Zelensky added in a video statement that “real, honest peace” would only come with security guarantees for Ukraine, which agreed to denuclearize in 1994 only in exchange for protection provided by the United States and Britain.”It was the lack of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago that allowed Russia to start with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, then the lack of security guarantees allowed Russia to launch a full-scale invasion,” Zelensky said.Russia dismissed the comments, accusing him of not wanting peace — echoing US criticism after he was shouted down Friday in the Oval Office.On the ground, Ukrainian officials reported fatalities from a Russian missile strike on a military training facility some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the front line.A respected military blogger said between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed and 90 more wounded in the attack near Dnipro on Saturday.- ‘Deliberate’ escalation? -Trump has previously called Zelensky, president since 2019, a “dictator” for not holding elections, even though martial law precludes any vote because of the war. Zelensky dismissed calls for him to resign, repeating his pledge to do so only if Ukraine were given NATO membership, which Russia — and now the United States under Trump — opposes.In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Zelensky for Friday’s blow-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying he “demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic abilities.””He doesn’t want peace,” Peskov told reporters.On Monday Vance told broadcaster Fox News he was confident Zelensky would “eventually” agree to peace talks with Moscow.”I think Zelensky wasn’t yet there, and I think, frankly, now still isn’t there,” Vance said. “But I think he’ll get there eventually. He has to.”But Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the astonishing White House clash was a “deliberate escalation” by Trump.US and Russian officials have held talks on ending the war, enraging Kyiv and Europe for being sidelined, and prompting fears that any deal could threaten Ukraine’s future.