Category: 3. Business

TOKYO — Japan’s global exports rose 3.7% in October from a year earlier while imports from the world edged up 0.6%, according to government data released Friday.

Exports to the U.S. dipped 3.1%, marking the seventh straight month of year-on-year declines mainly due to higher U.S. tariffs, Finance Ministry data showed.

President Donald Trump announced a trade framework with Japan in July, placing a 15% tax on goods imported from that nation. That’s lower than the 25% rate Trump initially said would kick in starting in August. Previously, tariffs on most goods stood at 2.5%.

It’s a heavy burden for an export dependent nation that is a major U.S. ally, but shipments to the rest of Asia are helping to offset those lost sales.

Japan’s soybean imports from around the world surged 37.3% from a year earlier, while imporyts of iron and steel products dipped 17.1%.

Imports from the U.S. jumped 20.9% in October from a year earlier, mainly petroleum and food such as grains.

Exports of computer parts and other machinery and buses and trucks to the U.S. declined.

Japan’s exports to China climbed 2.1% last month from a year earlier. Exports to Hong Kong surged 19.2%, while those to Taiwan were up 17.7%.

As a result, Japan narrowed its overall trade deficit to 231.77 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in October, down from 499.95 billion yen a year earlier.

New worries have emerged recently over trade with China after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the nation’s first female leader, made comments about Taiwan that have angered China,. That prompted Beijing to issue an advisory against travel to Japan.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

November 21, 2025

NTT DATA Group Corporation

The agreement will enable the exploration and implementation of cutting-edge technologies — namely, advanced innovations that transform the industry and address global challenges, such as artificial intelligence and advanced connectivity networks, among others — with a focus on safety, sustainability, and the development of new capabilities.

Tokyo, November 20, 2025. – NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and technology services, and Codelco (National Copper Corporation of Chile), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) marking the beginning of a strategic alliance aimed at driving future mining. The agreement seeks to integrate emerging technologies and advanced solutions that strengthen automation, safety, and sustainability in the operations of the world’s leading copper producer.

From left: Yutaka Sasaki, President and CEO, NTT DATA; Máximo Pacheco, Chairman of CODELCO’s Board of Directors; and Miguel Teixeira, CEO, NTT DATA IBIOL.

This agreement was signed at NTT DATA’s global headquarters in Tokyo by Máximo Pacheco, Chairman of CODELCO’s Board of Directors, and Miguel Teixeira, CEO Iberia, International Organisations, LATAM and Consulting in Benelux and France at NTT DATA, Inc.

Yutaka Sasaki, President and CEO of NTT DATA, attended the signing as a witness to acknowledge the collaboration between both parties. The MoU encompasses a wide range of collaboration areas, including advanced connectivity and digital infrastructure (5G/6G, photonic and satellite networks), generative artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, autonomous operations, and clean technologies, among others.

Potential joint initiatives will be implemented progressively through a cooperation model that promotes knowledge transfer, open innovation, and the creation of shared value between both organizations, combining NTT DATA’s global cutting-edge experience and capabilities to transform industrial processes with Codelco’s mining expertise.

“The future of mining is built through alliances that allow us to learn, innovate, and adopt cutting-edge technologies to maintain our leading role globally. Every step we take in innovation serves a greater purpose: to strengthen Codelco as a pillar of sustainable development in Chile and the world,” highlighted Máximo Pacheco, Chairman of Codelco’s Board of Directors.

“This alliance with Codelco represents a unique opportunity to combine our technological experience with the leadership of one of the world’s most important mining companies. Together, we will drive a new era of innovation and efficiency in global mining,” emphasized Miguel Teixeira, CEO Iberia, International Organisations, LATAM and Consulting in Benelux and France at NTT DATA, Inc.

“Improving safety and productivity within the mining industry is fundamental. NTT DATA will help address these challenges by providing a comprehensive R&D framework that incorporates generative AI, autonomous control of robots, operational understanding through digital twins, and process productivity improvement using quantum computing,” added Yutaka Sasaki, President and CEO, NTT DATA. “We look forward to collaboratively advancing the product.”

The agreement includes a governance structure with strategic committees and technical coordination teams responsible for evaluating challenges and opportunities, as well as prioritizing and overseeing the execution of programs and projects.

Millions of households will see a slight rise in gas and electricity prices at the height of winter, after regulator Ofgem outlined its next price cap.

The 0.2% increase from the current cap will take effect at the start of January, and affect those on variable tariffs in England, Wales and Scotland.

However, prices will be slightly lower than the same period the previous year.

Gas and electricity bills remain relatively high, and the sudden drop in temperature has brought the costs to the forefront of people’s minds.

“While wholesale energy costs are stabilising, they still make up the largest portion of our bills which leaves us open to volatile prices,” said Tim Jarvis, from Ofgem.

But Dame Clare Moriarty, from Citizens Advice, said: “With bills still drastically higher than before the energy crisis, and due to rise again from April, it’s high time for decisions about the longer term.”

The cap sets the maximum price that can be charged for each unit of gas and electricity, not the total bill – so those who use more energy, pay more.

The Ofgem cap is illustrated with a household using a “typical” amount of 11,500 kWh of gas and 2,700 kWh of electricity a year with a single bill for gas and electricity, settled by direct debit.

This illustrative household would see a £3 rise in its annual bill from £1,755 to £1,758.

However, the amount used varies significantly between households, so the best way to calculate the change is to work out the percentage change from your own usual annual bill.

Charities say they are seeing people owing increasing levels of unpaid bills and charges to suppliers.

The total amount owed has reached a record £4.4bn, prompting plans from Ofgem to ensure energy companies write off some of that debt.

Up to £500m could be knocked off the total under plans that the regulator wants to take effect early next year.

Dhara Vyas, chief executive of Energy UK, which represents suppliers, said anyone facing difficulties paying should contact their energy provider as soon as possible.

“We know that far too many people are struggling to pay for the energy they need to use,” she said.

But she added that suppliers could help with efficient appliances, tailoring the tariff to customers’ needs or ensuring people were on the correct benefits.

The government has hinted at extra cost-of-living support in the Budget on 26 November.

One option said to be under consideration is removing VAT from energy bills, which would cut approximately £80 from annual bills.

Energy Minister Martin McCluskey said: “We know that energy bills remain too high. That is why we are taking immediate action, with millions more families receiving £150 off their bills through the expanded Warm Home Discount scheme this winter.”

However, analysts say the main driver of energy bills is shifting from sky-high wholesale prices to the cost of overhauling and maintaining the country’s energy networks.

In the meantime, as the cold weather sets in, various tips are available to keep people warm while controlling costs, including clothing, insulation and heating rooms people are in rather than the whole home.

The UK government borrowed more than expected in October, official figures show, in the final snapshot of the public finances before Rachel Reeves’s crunch budget.

The Office for National Statistics said the government borrowed £17.4bn last month. That was lower than the same month last year, but still marked the third highest October deficit in the public finances on record. It is also higher than the £15bn City economists had forecast.

In the fiscal year so far, borrowing is running at £116.8bn – 8.4% higher than the same period in 2024, the ONS added, underlining the challenge facing Reeves in balancing the books.

The chancellor will deliver her second budget next Wednesday against a difficult political background, after the Treasury floated and then ditched plans to raise income tax.

She is expected to raise taxes significantly, in response to a downgrade in economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

More details soon …

Google will confront the U.S. government’s latest attempt to topple its internet empire in federal court on Friday as a judge considers how to prevent the abusive tactics that culminated in parts of its digital ad network being branded as an illegal monopoly.

The courtroom showdown in Alexandria, Virginia, will pit lawyers from Google and the U.S. Department of Justice against each other in closing proceedings focused on the complex technology that distributes millions of digital ads across the internet each day.

After a lengthy trial last year, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled in April that pieces of Google’s ad technology had been rigged in a way that made it an illegal monopoly. That set up another 11-day trial earlier this fall to help Brinkema determine how to remedy its anti-competitive practices.

Friday’s closing arguments will give both Google and the Justice Department a final chance to sway Brinkema before she issues a ruling that probably won’t come until early next year.

The Justice Department wants Brinkema to force Google to sell some of the ad technology that it has spent nearly 20 years assembling, contending a breakup is the only way to rein in a company that the agency’s lawyers condemned as a “recidivist monopolist” in filings leading up to Friday’s hearing.

The condemnation refers not only to Google’s practices in digital advertising but also to the illegal monopoly that it unleashed through its dominant search engine. Federal prosecutors also sought a breakup in the search monopoly case, but the judge handling that issue rejected a proposal that would have required Google to sell its popular Chrome web browser.

Although Google is still being ordered to make reforms that it’s resisting, the outcome in the search monopoly case has been widely seen as a proverbial slap on the wrist. The belief that Google got off easy in the search case is the main reason the market value of its parent company Alphabet surged by about $950 billion, or 37%, to nearly $3.5 trillion since U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta’s decision came out in early September.

That setback hasn’t discouraged the Justice Department from arguing for a breakup of an ad tech system that handles 55 million requests per second, according to estimates provided by Google in court filings.

The huge volume of digital ads priced and distributed through Google’s technology is one of the main reasons that the company’s lawyers contend it would be too risky to force a dismantling of the intricate system.

“This is technology that absolutely has to keep working for consumers,” Google argues in documents leading up to Friday’s hearing. The company’s lawyers blasted the Justice Department’s proposal as a package of “legally unprecedented and unsupported divestitures.”

Besides arguing that its own proposed changes will bring more price transparency and foster more competition, Google is also citing market upheaval triggered by artificial intelligence as another reason for the judge to proceed cautiously with her decision.

In his decision in the search monopoly case, Mehta reasoned that AI was already posing more competition to Google.

But the Justice Department urged the judge to focus on the testimony from a litany of trial witnesses who outlined why Google shouldn’t be trusted to change its devious behavior.

The witnesses “explained how Google can manipulate computer algorithms that are the engine of its monopolies in ways too difficult to detect,” the Justice Department argued in court papers.

News Releases.

The services, prices of products and services, specifications, telephone numbers, etc. for inquiries and other information included in news releases are the data available on the day of the release. This information may be changed at any time without notice. In certain circumstances, due to various risks or unexpected occurrences, actual results may also be different from the plans or projections in news releases.

Carlsberg is committed to sourcing all our electricity from new renewable assets. We are now strengthening this commitment with new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) across the Nordics.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — OpenAI and Taiwan electronics giant Foxconn have agreed to a partnership to design and manufacture key equipment for artificial intelligence data centers in the U.S. as part of ambitious plans to fortify American AI infrastructure.

Foxconn, which makes AI servers for Nvidia and assembles Apple products including the iPhone, will be co-designing and developing AI data center racks with OpenAI under the agreement, the companies said in separate statements on Thursday and Friday.

The products Foxconn will manufacture in its U.S. facilities include cabling, networking and power systems for AI data centers, the companies said. OpenAI will have “early access” to evaluate and potentially to purchase them.

Foxconn has factories in the U.S., including in Ohio and Texas. The initial agreement does not include financial obligations or purchase commitments, the statements said.

The Taiwan contract manufacturer has been moving to diversity its business, developing electric vehicles and acquiring other electronics companies to build out its product offerings.

“This partnership is a step toward ensuring the core technologies of the AI era are built here,” Sam Altman, CEO of San Francisco-based OpenAI, said in the statement. “We believe this work will strengthen U.S. leadership and help ensure the benefits of AI are widely shared.”

OpenAI has committed $1.4 trillion to building AI infrastructure. It recently entered into multi-billion partnerships with Nvidia and AMD to expand the extensive computing power needed to support its AI models and services. It is also partnering with US chipmaker Broadcom in designing and making its own AI chips.

But its massive spending plans have worried investors, raising questions over its ability to recoup its investments and remain profitable. Altman said this month that OpenAI, a startup founded in 2015 and maker of ChatGPT, is expected to reach more than $20 billion in annualized revenue this year, growing to “hundreds of billions by 2030.”

Foxconn’s Taiwan-listed share price has risen 25% so far this year, along with the surge in prices for many tech companies benefiting from the craze for AI.

The Taiwan company’s net profit in the July-September quarter rose 17% from a year earlier to just over 57.6 billion new Taiwan dollars ($1.8 billion), with revenue from its cloud and networking business, including AI servers, contributing the most business.

“We believe the importance of the AI ​​industry is increasing significantly,” Liu said during Foxconn’s earnings call this month.

“I am very optimistic about the development of AI ​next year, and expect our cooperation with major clients and partners to become even closer,” said Liu.

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Chan reported from Hong Kong