2025-05-30 12:57
Volkswagen in US tariff talks, flags more investments CEO Blume: talks are "fair" and "constructive" Blume hopes for quick deal BERLIN/FRANKFURT, May 30 (Reuters) - Volkswagen wants to make more big investments in the United States, CEO Oliver Blume said in an interview with a German newspaper on Friday, adding that tariff talks with the U.S. government were "fair" and "constructive". Several foreign companies have announced U.S. investments in response to President Donald Trump's import tariffs, but German carmakers have been more cautious about committing more resources to what is their biggest export market. Sign up here. Volkswagen's Audi brand, which has no production in the United States, is planning to produce some models in there, although the brand has said that the plan pre-dates the Trump administration. "So far, we have had absolutely fair, constructive discussions," Blume told Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "I was in Washington myself and we have been in regular dialogue ever since." Blume, who also leads Porsche AG (P911_p.DE) , opens new tab as CEO, said Volkswagen's main contact in Washington was U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, adding he had agreed to keep any details of the discussions confidential. Sources told Reuters earlier this week that German carmakers including Volkswagen were in talks with Washington over a possible import tariff deal, seeking to use their U.S. investments and exports as leverage to soften any blow. Trump's trade war has cost companies more than $34 billion in lost sales and higher costs, according to a Reuters analysis of corporate disclosures, with companies pursuing various strategies to cope. Most of the tariffs were blocked by a U.S. trade court this week, but a federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated them to consider the Trump administration's appeal against the trade court's ruling. The 25% tariff imposed on auto imports earlier this year has not been affected by the rulings. UNCERTAINTY WORSE THAN TARIFFS In a recent survey by Germany's Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers Association (VDMA), nearly three quarters of participants said uncertainty over U.S. trade policy had a strong impact on companies' competitiveness, while just 43% said the same for the 10% tariffs slapped on goods from most U.S. trading partners. "The uncertainty surrounding the U.S. tariffs is causing more problems in our sector than the tariffs themselves," Andrew Adair, VDMA's trade policy adviser for North America, told Reuters. "Uncertainty causes customers to delay purchasing decisions—including American companies that are motivated to purchase machinery to ramp up their local production." Asked what Blume was offering in the talks, which aim to reduce the 25% autos levy, he said: "The Volkswagen Group wants to invest further in the USA. We have a growth strategy." Blume said the Volkswagen Group already employed over 20,000 people directly and over 55,000 people indirectly in the United States, and highlighted a $5.8 billion investment in U.S. company Rivian (RIVN.O) , opens new tab. "We would build on this with further, massive investments," Blume said. Such investments should be factored into any decisions regarding tariffs, added Blume, who said he hoped Brussels and Washington would reach a broad deal for all industries. Blume declined to say when a deal with Washington could be struck, when asked about BMW (BMWG.DE) , opens new tab CEO Oliver Zipse's assessment that tariffs would likely fall from July. "Of course, I also want it to happen quickly. But it depends on many factors and I can't promise anything." https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-fair-talks-with-washington-tariffs-ceo-tells-newspaper-2025-05-30/
2025-05-30 12:49
May 30 (Reuters) - Shale producer EOG Resources (EOG.N) , opens new tab said on Friday it would acquire U.S. oil and gas firm Encino Acquisition Partners for $5.6 billion, including debt, to bolster its Utica assets. The deal signed with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) and Encino Energy will give EOG access to additional 675,000 net core acres and expand its multi-basin portfolio to more than 12 billion barrels of oil equivalent net resource. Sign up here. Houston, Texas-based Encino Acquisition, which is majority-owned by CPP, operates in the Utica shale basin of Ohio and is one of the largest privately owned oil and gas exploration and production companies in the United States. The deal comes amid a downturn in mergers and acquisitions activity in the U.S. energy sector following a series of blockbuster takeovers by oil and gas majors in recent years, which culminated in a record $192 billion worth of transactions done in 2023. Deal activity is expected to be tepid this year due to weak commodity prices and limited shale acreage. EOG expects to fund the acquisition, likely to close in the second half of this year, through $3.5 billion of debt and $2.1 billion of cash on hand. The deal is expected to increase EOG's 2025 EBITDA by 10%, and cash flow from operations and free cash flow by 9%. Goldman Sachs is the financial adviser of EOG. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eog-resources-buy-encino-acquisition-partners-56-billion-2025-05-30/
2025-05-30 12:49
LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Hedge funds that trade on big macroeconomic market swings have become a top pick for investors, according to a Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) , opens new tab survey of 322 firms, against a backdrop of global markets roiled by tariff uncertainty and stop-start trade wars. Half of the respondents polled said they would consider putting their money into discretionary global macro hedge funds in the next 12 months, the SocGen survey conducted between November 2024 and May 15 showed. Sign up here. The private survey was sent to investors on Wednesday and was seen by Reuters on Friday. The number of respondents expressing interest in putting money into macro hedge funds rose by around 9% compared with the bank's last survey in autumn 2024, the report said. According to hedge fund research firm PivotalPath, global discretionary macro managers, not using systematic trading to come up with trade ideas, posted a return of around 7% on investment through April in 2025, compared with a flat performance by the wider universe of hedge funds. Investor interest in equity market-neutral funds also grew roughly 10% since SocGen's autumn survey, the report showed. These hedge funds trade a balance of stocks, trying to maintain a portfolio which neither positions them long nor short stock markets as a whole. A short bet expects an asset value to decline. While global macro hedge funds taking discretionary bets often top this survey, the investors queried by SocGen expressed their highest enthusiasm for the strategy in two years, the bank data showed. Crypto hedge funds garnered the least intent to invest from those surveyed, with just 6% of investors wishing to allocate to the strategy, the lowest proportion in two years. Interest in multi-strategy hedge funds ticked up, with roughly around a third of investors surveyed interested in systematic and fundamental multi-strategy funds, up 5% and 4% respectively since the same time last year. Multi-strategy hedge funds trade many different kinds of markets under one brand. https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/hedge-flow-hedge-fund-investors-want-managers-who-trade-macro-says-socgen-survey-2025-05-30/
2025-05-30 12:21
LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Friday that she had nominated the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility Richard Hughes to serve a second five-year term. The OBR prepares twice yearly forecasts of British economic growth and public borrowing and assesses whether Reeves is on track to meet her budget goals. Sign up here. Hughes' reappointment is subject to approval by the House of Commons' Treasury Committee. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-finance-minister-nominates-budget-watchdog-chief-second-term-2025-05-30/
2025-05-30 12:16
BERLIN, May 30 (Reuters) - Germany's IG Metall union sees more than 20,000 jobs at risk at Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) , opens new tab, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday, three days after the conglomerate announced plans to sell minority stakes in three divisions as part of a wider overhaul. "The plans could see more than 20,000 employees' positions slashed," said Juergen Kerner, deputy chairman of IG Metall and Thyssenkrupp supervisory board member, told the newspaper. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/german-union-fears-20000-job-cuts-thyssenkrupp-newspaper-reports-2025-05-30/
2025-05-30 12:16
BEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) - China banned the imports of poultry and related products from Brazil over an avian influenza outbreak, the customs administration said in a notice released on its website dated May 29. Brazil, the world's largest chicken exporter, confirmed its first outbreak of bird flu on a commercial poultry farm in its southernmost state earlier this month, triggering a slew of international trade bans. Sign up here. The Brazilian government had previously asked top buyer China to restrict its embargo to poultry products just from the city where the outbreak occurred. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/china-bans-brazilian-poultry-imports-over-avian-influenza-2025-05-30/
