Japanese and U.S. business leaders on Thursday agreed that supply chains for critical products need more diversification among like-minded nations as the coronavirus pandemic exposed vulnerabilities.

After two days of talks, the business councils of both countries said cooperation among allies, as well as between the public and private sectors, is required to build “resilient and trusted” supply chains and mitigate risks to businesses.

The pandemic has laid bare the vulnerabilities of supply chains for a range of products from semiconductors to vaccines against COVID-19. The global chip crunch and shortages of parts due to factory shutdowns in Southeast Asia have clouded the outlook for a sustained economic recovery led by manufacturers.

The councils said in a joint statement that “onshoring,” or bringing production back home, is “neither realistic nor desirable,” adding that the key to building robust supply chains is their diversification among different nations, especially like-minded ones.

The leaders also called for the governments of Japan and the United States to support efforts made by companies to address human rights abuses, including forced labor, in global supply chains, an issue that has gained attention amid concerns over human rights conditions in the Uyghur Muslim minority in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang.

The Japanese and U.S. governments seek to deepen cooperation to strengthen supply chains for critical products such as computer chips and batteries. The move comes amid an intensifying rivalry between the United States and China as they vie for technological superiority.

The business leaders urged their governments to promote and join “high-standard” trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

China and Taiwan are both seeking to join the free trade pact that came into force in 2018 without the United States, which pulled out as then President Donald Trump prioritized bilateral deals. Japan is a member of the 11-nation framework.

Around 60 corporate executives from Japan and the United States discussed various topics, including coping with the impact of the pandemic to attaining decarbonization during the virtual meeting organized by the Japan-U.S. Business Council and the U.S.-Japan Business Council.

They said vaccine certificates are key to an early resumption of cross-border travel and urged both nations to create a road map for “step-by-step” lifting of entry restrictions.

“We encourage governments to remove obstacles to private-sector collaboration by facilitating a globally consistent regulatory framework for international travel that establishes common standards and science-based reciprocal easing of entry restrictions, such as recognizing accepted vaccination documentation issued in the other country,” the statement said.

On decarbonization, a key theme that would affect businesses in coming years, the councils welcomed both commitments made by their governments to attaining carbon neutrality.

Climate goals set by the governments should be “achievable, durable” and developed in close coordination with the private sector, the statement said.

The business leaders called for clarifying policies to attain their desired energy mix so companies can boost investments in innovative technologies.

Both Japan and the United States aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions — which are blamed for global warming — and attain carbon neutrality by 2050.

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KEYWORDS

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© Provided by Xinhua

People in Afghanistan are looking for the return of peace and normal life amid a period of uncertainty.

KABUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — Afghans are expecting peace and harmony, and wish everything to get back on track after the pullout of the last U.S. troops from the country.

“The Taliban firing shots into the air woke me up at midnight. Then I found it was the celebratory firing after the U.S. troops pullout. However, I could not go back to sleep as I was thinking about the loss of my assets in recent days,” money exchanger Najibullah told Xinhua.

“I had a big loss in changing money in recent days. I lost a lot of afghanis and foreign currencies, the afghani is not stable, the exchange rate is rising and falling in hours due to the current political and economic problems,” he said.

Najibullah said he was concerned about the fast changing of afghani to U.S. dollars rate. Currency devaluation directly affected the daily life of the Afghan people, with prices of goods skyrocketing.

The final evacuation flight was conducted in the last hours of Monday night, airlifting the last U.S. military and non-military personnel back home, one day before the Aug. 31 deadline set by U.S. President Joe Biden.

“The United States had withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan after two decades, but the Americans left a mess in our country,” said Khoja Wahid, a Kabul resident, who runs a small factory producing Afghan traditional cloths.

© Provided by Xinhua

“The United States is defeated and it is badly defeated,” said the 42-year-old man.

“Most of my costumers were Afghans living in the United States and Europe. No people came to buy traditional cloths from my shop and I had to dismiss my workers. I was worried about them,” he said.

Wahid said that he was very happy that with the U.S. troops withdrawal, peace would return to Afghanistan. However, the latest security incidents have shocked him.

“I had never thought that bomb blasts and explosions still occurred,” he said.

He referred to a U.S. drone strike against a house in the west of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Sunday, which killed at least 10 civilians, including five children. The U.S. military announced the target was suicide car bomber of an ISIS-K, a local affiliate of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

On Aug. 26, an ISIS-K claimed suicide bomb explosion and the ensuing gun firing killed at least 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, and injured nearly 200 others at a gate of the airport, when huge crowds were waiting to board evacuation flights.

© Provided by Xinhua

“Kabul started a normal day on Tuesday, the main business hub Mandawi was open. There was traffic jam in central part of the city. The main exchange market was still closed, many exchangers and vendors were doing small business and changing money on the road outside the market,” another money changer Yar Mohammad told Xinhua.

“I came here to pass time, I am the bread earner of a family of eight. It is difficult to earn money,” Mohammad said.

“Banks are still closed, only government and private bank’s main branches are open,” he said.

“I put my money in a bank before Taliban came to Kabul but now I cannot withdraw my money back,” Mohammad said.

“At this difficult time, I wish the Taliban would urgently form a new government. And I hope the Taliban stand on their commitments for creating a broad and inclusive government as soon as possible to end the uncertainty in Afghanistan,” he said.

Although thousands of Afghan experts and highly educated people have left Afghanistan, the young generation is still determined to stay in the country if peace returns and their safety and security are ensured, he said.

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A lobbying group representing the interests of Apple has joined a coalition of corporate titans and industry organizations in a concerted effort to derail portions of President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion economic agenda.

The Business Roundtable, a group of U.S. business leaders that counts Apple CEO Tim Cook as a board member, is preparing to oppose corporate tax increases designed to fuel the Democratic spending initiative, reports The Washington Post.

Biden proposed a hike in corporate tax rates from 21% to 28%, while placing heftier burdens on profits earned overseas. Democratic lawmakers are hoping to push the laws through as a reconciliation bill, a procedure that allows Congress to pass legislation with a simple majority. Passage is not guaranteed by the 117th Congress, however, as Democrats enjoy only narrow control over both houses, a precarious position potentially vulnerable to intense lobbying.

Business Roundtable’s concerns are part of a wider effort that targets key sections of Biden’s budget plan. A “lobbying blitz” is being organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which seeks support from all corners to fight the economic package, including its cost, policy scope and tax demands, according to the report.

In a statement, Business Roundtable spokesperson Jessica Boulanger said the group is engaged in “a significant, multifaceted campaign” to fight tax increases, adding that it would “continue to ramp up our efforts in the coming weeks.”

Organizations taking part in the strategy are expected to lean on traditional lawmaker lobbying as well as more modern maneuvering like advertising campaigns, sources told the publication. Companies and lobbying groups have committed to or are already running ads against the reconciliation package.

In addition to Business Roundtable, the RATE Coalition is also at odds with the Democrats’ tax agenda. RATE Coalition includes members Disney, FedEx and Lockheed Martin. Broader opposition might also be mounted by the National Association of Manufacturers, a major advocacy group representing more than 14,000 members. NAM’s board includes executives from Dow Inc., Exxon, Caterpillar and Johnson & Johnson. A parallel effort from the pharmaceuticals industry targets drug pricing proposals.

Guided by Biden’s spending proposals, Democrats are crafting legislation that will expand Medicare coverage, combat climate change, increase access to education, introduce broad subsidies for low- and medium-income families and more.

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Nike shut down its global headquarters for a week and ordered thousands of office workers to down tools in an effort to mitigate burnout from the pandemic.

The American sportswear giant’s corporate employees were encouraged to “unwind, destress and spend time with your loved ones” last week. “Do not work,” one manager wrote on LinkedIn.

Executives at the group sought to send a “clear message” by temporarily closing offices across its vast international base on the outskirts of Portland.

Matt Marrazzo, senior manager for global market science, stressed that the move was more than a “week off” for staff. It amounted to “an acknowledgment that we can prioritize mental health and still get work done”, he wrote. “Support your people. It’s good business but it’s

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This Feb. 24, 2021 photo shows a Johnson & Johnson logo on the exterior of a first aid kit in Walpole, Mass. A potential HIV vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson did not provide protection against the virus in a mid-stage study, the drugmaker said Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.

AP Photo/Steven Senne, file

A potential HIV vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson did not provide protection against the virus in a mid-stage study, the drugmaker said Tuesday.

J&J plans to end that study, which involved young women in sub-Saharan Africa. But researchers will continue a separate, late-stage trial involving a different composition of the vaccine in men and transgender people.

The study in sub-Saharan Africa involved about 2,600 women who were deemed to be at high risk of acquiring HIV, which causes AIDS. Participants were randomly selected to receive either the vaccine or a placebo, and researchers found that the vaccine was only 25% effective at preventing HIV.

“HIV is a unique and complex virus that has long posed unprecedented challenges for vaccine development because of its ability to attack, hijack and evade the human immune system,” J&J Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Stoffels said in a statement.

J&J said its other study of the potential vaccine is being conducted in Europe and the Americas, where different strains of HIV are circulating.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson also makes one of the three vaccines approved by U.S. regulators for the prevention of COVID-19. J&J also is developing vaccines for sepsis and respiratory syncytial virus.

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The rest of the world needs to listen to the Haitian people as the country recovers from a devastating earthquake and a presidential assassination, said Daive Dunkley, a University of Missouri professor who studies the Caribbean and its history.

Dunkley is associate professor in the Department of Black Studies, adjunct professor in the Department of History and director of the Peace Studies program at MU.

President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated on July 7. On Aug. 14, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country, with more than 2,000 dead so far and more than 12,000 injured.

One must look at Haiti’s history to put its present situation in perspective, Dunkley said.

“If we look at the longer history of Haiti, it led the charge against colonialism and slavery,” Dunkley said. “It was the first to abolish slavery. Haiti has received a good deal of backlash from Western countries. Haiti was diplomatically and politically isolated for most of the 19th century.”

Haiti was in debt from its beginning, he said.

“Haiti owed reparations to France for slavery, which is absurd,” Dunkley said.

The island nation’s isolation benefited it at one point in the 1800s, Dunkley said. When the rest of the world was experiencing outbreaks of cholera, Haiti was untouched.

Substituting for development and infrastructure projects has been international aid, he said.

“The aid work is so disorganized,” Dunkley said of international organizations. “They do this work and it makes very little difference to the country as a whole.”

While Haiti is recovering from an earthquake, the attention of the United States and the rest of the world has been diverted to the pandemic, Afghanistan and Hurricane Ida.

“I’m not sure we can blame Afghanistan or the pandemic,” Dunkley said.

There’s nothing sustainable in the aid being provided, he said. What’s needed is infrastructure to withstand earthquakes.

Former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton established The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund to respond to a 2010 earthquake. If it was useful, there would not be so much destruction now, Dunkley said.

“What sustainable work was done?” Dunkley asked of the 2010 effort. “Where is the evidence? We need to see the evidence.”

The U.S. has a history of intervening in Haiti, Dunkley said.

U.S. Marines occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. U.S. business allies benefited, Dunkley said.

“The U.S. occupation exacerbated economic inequality,” he said.

The U.S. military intervened again in 1994 to restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power after a coup. Another coup in 2004 ousted him again, with Aristide claiming it was orchestrated by the U.S. government.

The assassination of the president is part of the country’s history of political instability, Dunkley said.

“Again we are seeing historical continuity rather than change,” he said.

How can Haiti solve its problems?

“The people of Haiti have always known what Haiti needs,” Dunkley said. “Organizations need to work with the government.”

The efforts must be coordinated with the people, he said.

“When we look at the history of the Caribbean, we need to see through the eyes of the people,” Dunkley said. “They understand the landscape. They understand the politics and culture. But nobody listens to them.”

rmckinnney@columbiatribune.com

573-815-1719

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Published August 31, 2021 1:36PM

by Belinda Mackay, Gisborne Chamber of Commerce president

Belinda Mackay

This weekend, while contemplating the move to Level 3, I happened upon a podcast by Spinoff contributor, Bernard Hickey. In the face of businesses throughout Aotearoa being given half a billion dollars within two days of the wage subsidy version 2021 being available, Hickey made some very salient points. It got us thinking; should businesses, and this includes Tairawhiti businesses, while they qualify for the subsidy during lockdown, take it?

When we went into lockdown last year the landscape looked very different. We didn’t know what our economy would look like when we came out of lockdown and things looked very scary. This time around, while there is concern, there is not the same uncertainty.

Last year, the wage subsidy worked well. Some may argue it worked too well and is moving our country into a period of inflation. What can’t be disputed is that at the time it saved jobs and stimulated economic activity.

We know that some businesses (including local businesses) did very well after lockdown, particularly construction. Of the top five businesses that received the largest subsidy pay-out (Air New Zealand, Fletcher Building, The Warehouse Group, Downer & Fulton Hogan), one could argue that this time around only Air NZ would truly have a case for claiming an additional wage subsidy. The remainder of those businesses all reported strong profit at the end of their financial year, some paid shareholder dividends. Did those businesses pay back the subsidy in the face of strong profit? Well, The Warehouse paid back the money after they took the subsidy, made staff redundant and then reported a full year profit of $44.5m, and Fulton Hogan paid back $1m. I’m sure that this happened locally too.

Many businesses that took the subsidy, in hindsight, didn’t need it, generated profit, made people redundant, paid out dividends and did not pay the money back. All parties would argue that “at the time they thought they needed it and they received it within the parameters of the scheme”.

Another point Hickey makes in his podcast, which I agree with, is that while government agencies are not concerned with getting money back from business, they have been litigating to ensure beneficiaries pay back the money they owe. This says, “it’s OK for business to keep, say, the $33m that Fulton Hogan got but if you’re a beneficiary, watch out”.

Hickey suggests the Government should have taken the $14 billion that businesses received and distributed that instead amongst our team of 5 million, so each of us received $2800 each. Imagine the impact for the people of Tairawhiti.

For some of us, that would mean spending money with local businesses affected by lockdown. For others, it would mean the ability to help feed, heat and clothe their family which would also benefit local business. Any which way you look at it, that payment would generate economic activity and would help lower-income families, who have not been positively affected by the post-2020 Covid lockdown boom.

The horse has bolted on this idea this time but until we’re a well-vaccinated country, lockdown will continue to be a tool used to deal with Delta.

So, for any future lockdowns, perhaps, before business approaches the Government for yet another wage subsidy, us business owners should ask, “just because our business can qualify, does that mean we should?” And because lockdowns may well continue to occur until we are a well-vaccinated country, the Government should look at the scheme and ask themselves if there is a better way.

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The zoo in suburban Detroit says its gorillas, chimpanzees, tigers and lions are getting a vaccine developed by Zoetis, a veterinary drug company, and authorized by the U.S. Agriculture Department. Other animals will follow.

The zoo’s chief life sciences officer, Scott Carter, says: “We’re both thankful and relieved a special vaccine is now available to protect against COVID-19. The animals routinely get other vaccinations.”

The zoo says no coronavirus infections have been found in its animals.

ATLANTA — Coronavirus infections and COVID-19 hospitalizations in Georgia are nearing the peaks set in January.

The state Department of Public Health says Georgia’s seven-day rolling average for cases was just below 9,591 Saturday, close to the high of 9,635 reached Jan. 11. About 5,600 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized Monday, just short of the 5,715 set Jan. 13.

Also on Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order calling up as many as 1,500 more National Guard soldiers to help short-staffed hospitals with nonmedical jobs. He previously authorized 1,000.

Also, teachers and state employees insured by the state health plan will qualify for a cash incentive to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

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The largest independent physicians group in Illinois is notifying more than 600,000 patients whose information may have been compromised in a recent breach, DuPage Medical Group said in a statement today.

Through an investigation, the company determined that a July network outage was caused by unauthorized actors gaining access to its network, the statement says. 

Patient information that may have been compromised includes names, addresses, dates of birth and diagnoses, according to the statement. Financial account numbers were not included, but social security numbers for a “small subset of individuals” may have been affected. 

DuPage Medical says it’s offering free credit monitoring and identify theft protection to those potentially affected by the incident.

The Chicago Tribune first reported the breach earlier today.

A surge in cyberattacks on health care organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI and the Department of Health & Human Services last October to issue a warning “of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and health care providers.”

Meanwhile, Metro Infectious Disease Consultants reported a breach affecting More than 170,000 individuals to the Department of Health & Human Services on Aug. 16.

The practice recently said in a statement that an unauthorized third party gained access to some employees’ email accounts, which contained personal information like names, addresses, dates of birth, prescription information and social security numbers.

Metro Infectious Disease Consultants is notifying potentially impacted individuals and has arranged for complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services for those whose social security numbers or driver’s license numbers were impacted.

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HOUSTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) — With stranded people waiting for rescue on damaged roofs, flooded roads blocked by downed trees and power lines, and over one million people without power through Monday morning, Hurricane Ida has wreaked widespread havoc since its landfall in southern U.S. state of Louisiana on Sunday.

The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm over southwestern Mississippi on early Monday morning, about 16 hours after striking the state as a Category 4 hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

However, it continues to leave a path of damage. There are four flash flood emergencies in place for portions of southeastern Louisiana through late Monday morning, according to a CNN report.

A tornado watch has been issued for portions of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that is in effect through Monday afternoon.

PowerOutage.US reported that the hurricane had triggered a massive blackout across the region, leaving at least 1 million customers in Louisiana and 80,000 more in Mississippi without power as of early Monday morning.

Hundreds of boats, high-water vehicles and helicopters headed out on Monday across southern Louisiana in search of residents trapped on rooftops as floods overwhelmed their neighborhoods.

In Slidell, Louisiana, Mayor Greg Cromer said there is water in “every neighborhood in town” and local officials had to deploy boats to rescue 15 residents off their home roofs early Monday morning.

“In about a three hour period, we had probably five to six foot rise in the bayou and the lake estuary system that pushed water into a number of people’s homes on the south side of our community,” Cromer said.

At least one person was confirmed dead due to a fallen tree on his home in Prairieville, Louisiana, Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday night. The 60-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards told MSNBC on Monday that he “fully expects the death count will go up considerably throughout the day” as search and rescue efforts get underway in the wake of Ida.

Almost all of southeast Louisiana is without power and that all eight major transmission lines that feed electricity into the greater New Orleans area have failed, said the governor.

Road and debris cleanup alone “is going to be a fairly long ordeal,” he said.

Some New Orleans officials said it could be “weeks” before the power supply is restored, according to local media reports.

“The full extent of damage is yet to be seen,” Louisiana state police said in a Facebook post on Monday, noting that search and rescue workers are still not able to access certain impacted areas.

U.S. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Louisiana and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts in the Ida-hit areas, the White House said on Sunday.

“Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the White House said.

Ida landed on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s strike, tying with 2020’s Hurricane Laura and the Last Island Hurricane of 1856 as the strongest ever to hit Louisiana.

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