Tag - manufacturing

 
 

MANUFACTURING

With U.S. protectionism hindering Chinese electric vehicle makers' overseas expansions, Japanese giants like Honda are poised to capitalize.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 24, 2024
Japan is poised to fill an EV gap left by China
A new Honda facility in Canada shows that Asia’s auto industry is ready to meet North American needs.
Home electric vehicle chargers during the Montreal Electric Vehicle Show in Quebec, Canada, on Friday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is offering more tax breaks to automotive firms to put their electric vehicle factories in Canada.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2024
Honda nears deal with Canada to boost electric vehicle capacity
The auto sector is particularly important to Ontario, Canada’s largest province by population and home to assembly plants.
Ukrainian service members fire a multiple launch rocket system toward Russian troops. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, arms manufacturers have experienced something of a reversal of fortune.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 20, 2024
Defense companies are luring Germany’s struggling autoworkers
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, arms manufacturers have experienced something of a reversal of fortune.
Resistance to adopting digital technologies, restrictive EU regulations, and energy-price shocks are potential explanations for Europe's lagging productivity.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2024
Why is Europe losing the productivity race?
A forthcoming report from Mario Draghi will recommend removing barriers to competition, which would intensify the pressure on firms to innovate.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at the Scranton Cultural Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2024
Biden seeks higher tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum
The president was set to reiterate that United States Steel should remain American-owned.
Hideyuki Sakamoto, executive vice president for manufacturing and supply chain management at Nissan, speaks during a media briefing at the company's plant in Yokohama on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2024
Nissan looks to Tesla’s style of carmaking to build cheaper EVs
The carmaker will use machines with about 6,000 tons of force to make the rear floors of EVs to be sold from fiscal 2027 onward.
Max Lange, 19, a plant mechatronics engineering trainee from Oederan, stands next to a solar panel rolling off the assembly line as part of the last production of solar modules at the Meyer Burger Technology AG plant, due to an announced closure of the plant, in Freiberg, Germany, on March 12.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2024
Lacking support in battle with China, European solar firms head to U.S.
This week the European Commission has launched a voluntary charter for governments and companies to sign in support of solar manufacturing plants.
Despite being the home of TSMC’s new factory, the Kyushu region is facing hurdles toward expanding its semiconductor-related transactions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2024
Developing Kyushu's chip supply chain still a challenge for TSMC
The issue partially stems from the high barrier of entry into the key semiconductor industry.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2024
How the U.S. Steel takeover became about Biden and swing states
The turmoil threatens to strain U.S. relations with Japan while underscoring how the politics of winning swing-state voters influences business.
Shin-Etsu Chemical is among the world's leading makers of photoresists and silicon wafers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 9, 2024
Shin-Etsu Chemical to build new chip materials plant in Gunma
The plant, slated to be completed by 2026, will make photoresists, including extreme ultraviolet resists used for generative AI systems.
The TSMC plant in Phoenix, Arizona. The chipmaker's projects in Arizona have become increasingly entwined with U.S. President Joe Biden’s campaign message on revitalizing the economy.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 9, 2024
TSMC gets $11.6 billion in U.S. grants and loans for chip plants
TSMC’s projects in Arizona have become increasingly entwined with Biden’s campaign message on revitalizing the economy.
Towa’s compression molding equipment. The firm commands two-thirds of the world’s chip molding equipment market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2024
AI demand spurs 390% surge in Kyoto chip company’s stock price
A growing demand for AI technology has been a boon for Towa, a little-known company that makes an essential component.
A lone Tesla charges in the basement of a commercial property in Tokyo. One of Japan’s biggest obstacles to electric vehicles is subpar charging infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2024
How three high-tech countries became laggards in electric vehicles
Japan's slow adoption traces back to a decade-old bet on hydrogen fuel-cell technology, while U.S. and South Korea have hit bottlenecks.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his visit to TSMC's new plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Saturday
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 7, 2024
TSMC’s first Japan plant to hit 60% local procurement by 2030
Japanese officials are hoping TSMC’s arrival will help boost local suppliers’ technology and business.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen meets China's Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Guangdong Zhudao Guest House, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2024
U.S. and China to start new talks on balanced growth, Yellen says
The top priority of her four day visit to China was to persuade Beijing to rein in excess production capacity for clean energy technology.
An Ariens Company employee works on the assembly line at the company's plant in Brillion, Wisconsin.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 5, 2024
U.S. employment boom leaves factory workers behind
There is a stark contrast between U.S. factory employment and the four-year boom in the wider job market
Japan will provide ¥590 billion in additional subsidies to chip venture Rapidus.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024
Japan approves extra ¥590 billion in aid to chip startup Rapidus
The additional funding will help Rapidus buy chipmaking equipment and also develop advanced back-end chipmaking processes.
Akira Amari, a senior Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, says Nippon Steel’s acquisition of United States Steel would help counter China’s dominance in steel-making.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2024
Japanese lawmaker says U.S. steel deal would help counter China risks
The $14.1 billion deal would be a win-win for both companies and both economies, said former minister Akira Amari.
Employees work at a factory that produces LED displays in Huaian, in eastern China's Jiangsu province, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 31, 2024
China factory activity expands for first time in six months
The official manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 50.8 from 49.1 in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement Sunday.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Works facility is seen in Braddock, Pennsylvania. A group of automakers have warned that a deal by steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs for U.S. Steel could "drive up the cost of both steel and e-steel, and ultimately increase the cost of finished vehicles (including EVs) for American consumers."
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 30, 2024
Automakers urge White House to oppose U.S. Steel sale to Cleveland-Cliffs
Cleveland-Cliffs has said it would consider another bid for U.S. Steel if the deal with Nippon Steel — opposed by President Joe Biden — falls apart.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores