Former President Donald J. Trump on Friday blasted the CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan law aimed at reducing America’s reliance on Asia for semiconductors by providing billions in subsidies to encourage companies to manufacture more chips in the United States. “That chip deal is so bad,” Mr. Trump said …
Read More »China Tightens Its Hold on Minerals Needed to Make Computer Chips
The vise-tight grip that China wields over the mining and refining of rare minerals, crucial ingredients of today’s most advanced technologies, is about to become even stronger. In a series of steps made in recent weeks, the Chinese government has made it considerably harder for foreign companies, particularly semiconductor manufacturers, …
Read More »Opinion | Democrats Finally Did What Sherrod Brown Asked For. It Might Be Too Late.
Twelve years ago, Senator Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat, took the stage at his election night party in Columbus to celebrate winning a second term. Barack Obama had just carried Ohio for the second time, after emphasizing his administration’s rescue of the auto industry. Mr. Brown wanted to proclaim that …
Read More »Alabama Prison Labor Program Faces Legal Challenges
In the back of a nondescript industrial park on the outskirts of Montgomery, Ala., past the corner of Eastern Boulevard and Plantation Way, there is a manufacturing plant run by Ju-Young, a car-part supplier for Hyundai. On a Tuesday in May, about half of the workers there — roughly 20 …
Read More »The White House Bet Big on Intel. Will It Backfire?
At an annual gathering of tech executives and billionaires in Sun Valley, Idaho, this past July, Gina Raimondo commandeered a table near a duck pond and tried to exert her influence as the U.S. secretary of commerce to help rescue an ailing national champion. As media moguls and business luminaries …
Read More »Boeing and Union Leaders Reach New Proposal to End Strike
Leaders of Boeing’s largest union said on Saturday that they had reached a “negotiated proposal” for a new contract and would put it up for a vote to end a long and expensive strike. In a post on its website on Saturday, the union said that “with the help of …
Read More »Halloween’s Mutation: From Humble Holiday to Retail Monstrosity
On Nov. 1, 1876, The New York Times declared Halloween “departed,” destined for the grave. In 2024, consumers are expected to spend $11.6 billion celebrating the holiday, up from $3.3 billion in 2005. Perhaps it is time to eat some crow. Halloween, steeped in tradition, has transformed from a pagan …
Read More »Electric Vehicles May Be Struggling. G.M.’s Leader Is Still a Believer.
Electric vehicles have had a hard year. Sales have been disappointing. Former President Donald J. Trump has regularly disparaged them. And even many environmentally conscious car buyers have been choosing hybrids instead. Yet the chief executive of General Motors, Mary T. Barra, says the company is still committed to doing …
Read More »Opinion | What China’s Leaders Grasp About Another Trump Term
At the beginning of the Biden presidency, many of us serving in the National Security Council gathered to read the intelligence and reached a key conclusion: The 2020s would be what we called the “decisive decade” in U.S. competition with China. Beijing seeks to displace the United States from its …
Read More »The Secretive Dynasty That Controls the Boar’s Head Brand
In May 2022, the chief financial officer of Boar’s Head, the processed meat company, was asked a simple question under oath. “Who is the C.E.O. of Boar’s Head?” “I’m not sure,” he replied. “Who do you believe to be the C.E.O. of Boar’s Head?” the lawyer persisted. The executive, Steve …
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