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On April 3, James Surowiecki, a famous financial journalist, wrote that he had just figured out where these false tariff rates in the United States came from. They dont actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers as they say. Instead, for each country, they just divide the US trade deficit with that country by the countrys exports to the United States. So the United States has a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia, and its exports to the United States are $28 billion, $17.9/$28 = 64% (the United States imposes a 32% reciprocal tariff on Indonesia), and Trump claims that this is the tariff rate imposed by Indonesia on the United States. What a ridiculous thing. Netizens found that similar calculations apply to the European Union and Vietnam.According to a CNN interview: U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessant said that other countries are advised not to retaliate against U.S. tariffs to avoid (tariff) escalation.April 3, recently, Loongson 2K3000 (3B6000M) completed preliminary function and performance surveys, and all indicators met expectations. Loongson 2K3000 and Loongson 3B6000M are different packaging versions based on the same silicon wafer, targeting industrial control applications and mobile terminals respectively. The successful tape-out of 2K3000/3B6000M indicates that after more than 20 years of accumulation, Loongson Zhongke has systematically mastered the key core technologies of general-purpose processors, graphics processors, AI processors and their basic software design. Loongson processor research and development has entered a new era of vigorously developing AI processors on the basis of consolidating general-purpose processors and graphics processors, and has reached a new level on the road to building the foundation of an independent information technology system. With the successful tape-out of Loongson 2K3000/3B6000M, Loongson general-purpose CPU has formed a complete series of three lines of products: desktop, server and terminal, which can provide high-performance and cost-effective CPU chip products for different fields.Guatemalan government: The tariffs announced by the United States violate the provisions of the Central American Free Trade Agreement.Japans five-year government bond yield fell 9.5 basis points to 0.98%, the lowest level since February 10.

Herbert Diess, Volkswagen's main disruptor, runs out of gas

Aria Thomas

Jul 25, 2022 11:18

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Herbert Diess, a former BMW executive, took over Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG p) AG four years ago, when the German automaker was in crisis and under pressure to make substantial changes to its strategy and corporate culture. Diess contributed a new perspective.


Diess left Volkswagen on September 1, three years before his contract was supposed to expire, with many of the goals he established as chief disruptor of the German auto giant still unmet and uncertain.


Diess's intention to build CARIAD, a software business based in Germany, within Volkswagen and Porsche's projected public market offering to help fund VW's electrification expenses are among the most prominent.


Diess was different from past Volkswagen CEOs in both company strategy and personality. He appeared to be the right leader in 2018 to move Volkswagen away from the Dieselgate scandal.


Diess was more interested in pleasing Volkswagen's investors than its labor unions. He thought that large future investments should be made in electric automobiles. He built a hilarious social media presence, and he positioned Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) as Volkswagen's benchmark, as opposed to conventional competitors like Toyota Motor Corp or General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM).


Diess's risky product and technology approach, as well as his penchant for expressing his opinions, alienated VW constituencies.


He also occasionally missed the mark.


Diess appeared to invoke a Nazi-era phrase in 2019 when he stated "EBIT makes you free" to emphasize the automaker's earnings potential. Later, he apologized for the comments and stressed that he had no intention of equating them to the Nazi-era slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei," which was displayed on the gates of Auschwitz during the Holocaust.


Diess may be known in the United States as the CEO who reintroduced the famous Volkswagen microbus as an electric car and rejuvenated the Scout truck brand. Volkswagen dealers in the United States were enraged by Diess' remarks about selling Scouts directly to consumers.


Diess openly admired Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, who offered Diess the role of CEO at Tesla prior to his decision to join Volkswagen in 2015.

TOOK ON TOUGH TASKS

Diess, who is 63 years old, has held a variety of tough positions throughout his tenure at Volkswagen, including reducing expenses at the company's high-volume Volkswagen brand. Diess was charged by former CEO Martin Winterkorn with lowering the brand's yearly expenditures by €5 billion ($6 billion) within two years, a job that would certainly provoke tension with German labor unions. Diess joined VW in 2015 as head of the Volkswagen brand.


Diess negotiated an agreement to cut 30,000 employees through natural attrition, putting Volkswagen's profitability behind that of its rivals.


Diess appears to have moved too rapidly for some board members and not swiftly enough for others.


Volkswagen's labor leaders, who control fifty percent of the automaker's supervisory board votes, repeatedly fought with him.


However, key stockholders from the Porsche and Piech dynasties were concerned that Diess' multibillion-euro investments in electric vehicles and software development were not generating results rapidly enough.


In May, Volkswagen's board of directors demanded that management present a more robust strategy for the software subsidiary CARIAD. The team's leader told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung earlier this month that the procedure must be streamlined in order to move more rapidly.


Volkswagen's share price implies that investors shared similar concerns. Since Diess assumed leadership in 2018, Volkswagen shares have remained steady and are down 24 percent for the year.


In the past four years, Tesla's market worth has increased from its 2018 level to $844 billion, which is comparable to 10 Volkswagens.


Volkswagen's board of directors has chosen Porsche CEO Oliver Blume, a seasoned VW executive, to succeed Diess. According to some observers, this decision represents a return to the basics and less ambitious intentions to transform the vehicle industry into a technology company.


"His perspective extended well beyond the automobile. Clearly, this resulted in some friction." Silicon Valley venture capitalist Evangelos Simoudis said of Diess:


"When I see Blume enter, I see a car guy once more."