11/08/2025

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | AUG 11, 2025

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UK clears Boeing takeover of Spirit AeroSystems

US jobs report confirms ‘signs of fragility’: Fed official WASHINGTON: A recent US employment report confirmed “signs of fragility” in the labour market, a senior central bank official said on Saturday, backing three interest rate cuts this year to guard against further weakening. In prepared remarks to a summit in Colorado, Federal Reserve vice-chairman for supervision Michelle Bowman called for a “proactive approach” in lowering the benchmark lending rate. Doing so “would help avoid a further unnecessary erosion in labour market conditions” and reduce the chance that the Fed’s rate-setting committee will need to make a larger cut if the jobs market worsened further, she said. Bowman also made the case that price increases from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs this year will likely represent “a one-time effect”. She expects inflation will return to the Fed’s 2% target after the tariff effects dissipate. “It is appropriate to look through temporarily elevated inflation readings and therefore remove some policy restraint to avoid weakening in the labour market.” Bowman was one of two Fed governors to dissent at the central bank’s July policy meeting, a rare occurrence even as officials voted to hold rates steady for a fifth straight gathering. Her latest remarks underscore growing divisions among Fed policymakers about when the independent central bank should begin slashing rates again. On the day that the Labour Department released July’s jobs report, which showed cracks in the market with employment in May and June revised down significantly by 258,000 jobs, Trump ordered the firing of the commissioner of labour statistics. Without providing evidence, he accused commissioner Erika McEntarfer of manipulating data for political reasons. – AFP Designer says regrets Adidas ‘appropriated’ Mexican footwear MEXICO CITY: US fashion designer Willy Chavarria said on Saturday he regrets that sandals he created together with Adidas “appropriated” a traditional design from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Local authorities had complained that the Oaxaca Slip-On sandals were a “reinterpreted” model of huarache sandals, particularly one found uniquely in the area, which has one of the highest indigenous populations in the country. Mexico’s government said on Friday it was seeking compensation from Adidas. “I deeply regret that this design has appropriated the name and was not developed in direct and meaningful partnership with the Oaxacan community,” Chavarria, who is of Mexican heritage, said in a statement. Chavarria acknowledged that the sandals “did not live up to the respect and collaborative approach” deserved by the community of Villa Hidalgo Yalalag, from where the original design is said to have come. The Mexican government said Adidas had agreed to meet with Oaxaca authorities. “It’s collective intellectual property. There must be compensation,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said. The controversy is the latest instance of Mexican officials denouncing major brands or designers using unauthorised indigenous art or designs from the region, with previous complaints raised about fast fashion giant Shein, Spain’s Zara and high-end label Carolina Herrera. – AFP

Buccino said the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Wichita-based Spirit Aero also said it reached a deal to sell its Malaysian facility in Subang to Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM) for US$95.3 million (RM405 million). CTRM would supply Boeing’s 737 and 787 programmes and Airbus’s A220, A320 and A350 as a result of the deal, Spirit said in a statement. Last year, Boeing agreed to buy back Spirit in a US$4.7 billion all-stock deal to streamline its operations and improve quality control, years after spinning off the supplier. In July, Boeing also agreed to take over a portion of Spirit’s operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from Europe’s Airbus, which in April had finalised a deal to buy several of Spirit’s facilities tied to its aircraft programmes. – Reuters

initial statement, but said the investigation would not go to a “phase 2” stage based on available data. The full text of its decision will be published shortly, it said. The watchdog began its initial investigation in June and had a deadline of Aug 28 for a decision. “We’re pleased with the outcome and continue to work through the remaining regulatory processes,” Boeing said in a statement. The deal, which marks an end to nearly two decades of independence for Spirit AeroSystems – the world’s largest standalone aerostructures company, would still need approval by the European Commission and US Federal Trade Commission. Spirit AeroSystems spokesperson Joe

LONDON: Britain’s competition regulator said it has cleared Boeing’s planned acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems after deciding against an in-depth investigation into whether the deal would be anti-competitive. The news is likely to reassure investors after a series of crises depleted Boeing’s finances, strained employee morale and damaged public trust. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) did not provide details in its o Aerostructures company to sell Malaysian facility for US$95.3 million

Airplane fuselages bound for Boeing’s 737 Max production facility sit in storage at the Spirit AeroSystems headquarters in the American city of Wichita. – REUTERSPIC

Harvard patents targeted by Trump administration WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s administration last week ordered a comprehensive review of Harvard University’s federally funded research programmes, and threatened to take title to or grant licences from the school’s lucrative portfolio of patents. through taxpayer dollars, a senior administration official said. “The Commerce Department places immense value on the groundbreaking scientific and technological advancements that emerge from the Government’s partnerships with institutions like Harvard,” Lutnick wrote. dozens of countries. The letter ratchets up White House pressure on Harvard, which it has accused of civil rights violations for failing to address antisemitism on campus. Harvard sued in April after the

administration began stripping or freezing billions of dollars of federal research money. Lutnick demanded that Harvard provide by Sept 5 a list of all patents stemming from federally funded research grants, including how the patents are used and whether any licencing requires “substantial US manufacturing”. As of July 1, 2024, Harvard held more than 5,800 patents, and had more than 900 technology licenses with over 650 industry partners, according to a university website. – Reuters

In a letter to university president Alan Garber and obtained by Reuters, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick accused Harvard of breaching its legal and contractual requirements tied to the research programmes and patents. Lutnick also said the Commerce Department has begun a “march-in” process under the federal Bayh-Dole Act that could let the government take ownership of the patents or grant licences. Signed in 1980, that law ensures that Americans benefit from inventions funded

The secretary said that carried a “critical responsibility” for Harvard to ensure that its intellectual property derived from federal funding is used to maximise benefits to the American people. Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump has made bolstering the country’s manufacturing and economic competitiveness a priority of his second White House term, including by raising tariffs on imports from