FILE – The Activision Blizzard Booth during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, June 13, 2013. The European Union has on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 launched an investigation into Microsoft’s planned takeover of video game giant Activision Blizzard, fearing the $69 billion deal would distort fair competition in the market. Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, first announced the agreement to buy the California-based game publisher in January. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Tag: Consumer product manufacturing
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Reformers take 6 of 14 UAW board seats, could win majority
DETROIT — Reform-minded candidates won several races as members of the United Auto Workers union voted on their leaders in an election that stemmed from a federal bribery and embezzlement scandal involving former union officials.
In unofficial results posted early Sunday on a federal court-appointed monitor’s website, challengers took six of 14 seats on the union’s International Executive Board. They could win as many as eight, including the presidency, and control a majority, depending on the outcome of three runoff elections.
The reform candidates, most part of a slate called UAW Members United, campaigned on taking a more confrontational stance in bargaining with Detroit’s three automakers. They want to rescind concessions made to companies in previous contract talks, restoring cost-of-living pay raises and eliminating a two-tier wage and benefit system.
The adversarial stance is likely to raise costs for General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which almost certainly would be passed on to consumers. Even without the election, costs likely would have gone up as workers seek a bigger share of billions of dollars in profits.
In the race for president, incumbent Ray Curry defeated challenger Shawn Fain by 614 votes. Curry had 38.2% of the vote to Fain’s 37.6%. But neither got a majority in the five-candidate field, so there will be a runoff election in January.
Mike Booth and Rich Boyer, both from Members United, took two of three vice president slots. Two vice president candidates from Curry’s Solidarity Team slate, incumbent Chuck Browning and Tim Bressler, will compete in a runoff for the third vice president slot.
Members United candidate Margaret Mock ousted current Secretary-Treasurer Frank Stuglin. Reform-minded candidates took three regional director slots, with another headed for a runoff.
Winners will be sworn in on Dec. 12. Ballots for the runoff elections will be mailed Jan. 12 with a Feb. 28 deadline to return them. Votes will be counted starting March 1, according to the website of Monitor Neil Barofsky.
In an interview, Fain said the election puts the companies on notice “to get ready. We’re coming for you.” He said companies are making billions of dollars and have closed or spun off plants and failed to give the Stellantis plant in Belvidere, Illinois, a new vehicle to build after it stops making its current model.
“It’s just a fact that over the years our leadership has become way too close to management,” he said.
Curry’s slate said in a statement that it is fighting for all active and retired members. “Our member expectations are high, and our team has the experience and proven track record to both build coalitions for the fight and deliver results,” it said.
Curry, elected by a vote of the International Executive Board in 2021 to replace retiring Rory Gamble, said at a September candidates’ forum that he has put financial safeguards and reforms in place and has plans to bring union members “back into greater days.” He said the union also has plans to recruit new members.
“We don’t just make false demands and deliver false hopes,” he said.
Turnout in the election for the 372,000-member union was low. Of about 1 million ballots mailed to active members and retirees, only 10.5% were returned.
The 2023 contract talks come at a critical juncture for the union, which faces a transition from internal combustion vehicles to those that run on batteries. With fewer moving parts, fewer people will be needed to make electric vehicles, and jobs making engines and transmissions could be shifted to battery assembly plants that might not be unionized.
The election came after union members last December decided to directly vote on leaders for the first time instead of having them picked by delegates to a convention.
Under the old system, convention delegates were picked by local union offices. But the new slate of officers was selected by the current leadership, and there was rarely any serious opposition.
The voting happened after 11 union officials and a late official’s spouse pleaded guilty in the corruption probe, including the two former presidents, Gary Jones and Dennis Williams. Both were sentenced to prison. The first criminal charges in the probe were filed in 2017.
To avoid a federal takeover, the union agreed to reforms and Barofsky’s appointment to oversee the UAW and elections of the executive board.
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GM venture to invest additional $275M at Tennessee plant
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A joint venture between General Motors and South Korean battery company LG Energy Solution announced Friday that it will invest an additional $275 million to expand a Tennessee battery cell factory for electric vehicles.
Officials with the companies had already pledged to spend $2.3 billion to build a battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The additional investment is anticipated to result in 40% more battery cell output when the plant is fully operational. Production at the 2.8-million-square-foot facility is expected to begin in late 2023.
The Tennessee plant is one of three lithium-ion battery factories being built by the joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC. The other two are in Michigan and Ohio. A fourth is also expected, but the site has not yet been named.
“We’re here because we know we can be successful with your partnership,” said Tom Gallagher, Ultium Cells vice president for operations, noting that GM already has employees training in Poland to start at the plant. “It’s an exciting journey that we’re on.”
Overall the three plants are expected to create up to 6,000 construction jobs and 5,100 operations jobs when completed.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said the plants will help strengthen the nation’s energy independence and support President Joe Biden’s goal of having electric vehicles make up half of all vehicle sales in the United States by 2030. The Department of Energy has also made a conditional commitment to lend $2.5 billion to Ultium Cells to help build the plants.
Last year Toyota announced it would build a $1.3 billion battery plant in North Carolina. Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has said it will build two battery plants in North America. Ford is currently building three plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Tennessee officials announced plans last month to invest $3.2 billion to develop a cathode materials plant for electric vehicle batteries.
The manufacturing facility will be built in Clarksville and create more than 850 jobs, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the state of Tennessee and South Korea-based LG Chem.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee touted the investments in Tennessee, saying, “We are now a state that’s the center of future of the automotive industry.”
GM has set a goal of selling only electric passenger vehicles by 2035. The company plans to roll out 30 electric vehicles globally by 2025 and has pledged to invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through that same year.
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GM venture to invest additional $275M at Tennessee plant
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A joint venture between General Motors and South Korean battery company LG Energy Solution announced Friday that it will invest an additional $275 million to expand a Tennessee battery cell factory for electric vehicles.
Officials with the companies had already pledged to spend $2.3 billion to build a battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The additional investment is anticipated to result in 40% more battery cell output when the plant is fully operational. Production at the 2.8-million-square-foot facility is expected to begin in late 2023.
The Tennessee plant is one of three lithium-ion battery factories being built by the joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC. The other two are in Michigan and Ohio. A fourth is also expected, but the site has not yet been named.
“We’re here because we know we can be successful with your partnership,” said Tom Gallagher, Ultium Cells vice president for operations, noting that GM already has employees training in Poland to start at the plant. “It’s an exciting journey that we’re on.”
Overall the three plants are expected to create up to 6,000 construction jobs and 5,100 operations jobs when completed.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said the plants will help strengthen the nation’s energy independence and support President Joe Biden’s goal of having electric vehicles make up half of all vehicle sales in the United States by 2030. The Department of Energy has also made a conditional commitment to lend $2.5 billion to Ultium Cells to help build the plants.
Last year Toyota announced it would build a $1.3 billion battery plant in North Carolina. Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has said it will build two battery plants in North America. Ford is currently building three plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Tennessee officials announced plans last month to invest $3.2 billion to develop a cathode materials plant for electric vehicle batteries.
The manufacturing facility will be built in Clarksville and create more than 850 jobs, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the state of Tennessee and South Korea-based LG Chem.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee touted the investments in Tennessee, saying, “We are now a state that’s the center of future of the automotive industry.”
GM has set a goal of selling only electric passenger vehicles by 2035. The company plans to roll out 30 electric vehicles globally by 2025 and has pledged to invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through that same year.
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Reform candidates lead in UAW races with 68% of vote counted
DETROIT — Members of the United Auto Workers union appeared on Thursday to favor replacing many of their current leaders in an election that stemmed from a federal bribery and embezzlement scandal involving former union officials.
Reform-minded candidates, many part of the UAW Members United slate, are leading or close in multiple key races with about 68% of the vote counted. Many challengers campaigned on rescinding concessions made to companies in previous contract talks, including cost-of-living pay raises, elimination of a two-tier wage and benefit system, and other items.
That could raise costs for Detroit’s three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — and almost inevitably will drive up already expensive auto prices.
With tallies from six of nine UAW regions counted, incumbent President Ray Curry had a slim lead over Shawn Fain, an international union official who started at a Stellantis plant in Kokomo, Indiana, in a five-candidate race.
Curry had 38.6% of the vote, while Fain was second with 38%. There likely will be a runoff election early next year between Fain and Curry since neither had a majority of the votes.
In the race for three vice presidents, Rich Boyer and Mike Booth, both Members United candidates, are first and second in an eight-candidate field, followed by incumbent Vice President Chuck Browning. A runoff could happen there, too.
Margaret Mock, the Members United candidate for secretary-treasurer, had 62.6% of the vote to lead incumbent Frank Stuglin at 37.4%. Where tallies have been completed, candidates who campaigned on reforming the union also won three of nine regional director positions, with another heading to a runoff.
It wasn’t clear when the vote count would be finished. The ballots are being counted by a company hired by a court-appointed monitor who is overseeing the election and the union.
Fain led the Members United ticket, which campaigned on reforming the 372,000-member UAW after the scandal. The election also has broad implications for contract talks with the Detroit auto companies that start next year.
Fain has advocated for more of a confrontational stance and has accused union leadership of complacency. He has said the UAW has had a philosophy for 40 years of viewing automakers as partners rather than adversaries.
He said it’s too early to declare a winner but said in an interview Thursday that the early vote totals are “a loud and clear message to the companies and the businesses to get ready, we’re coming for you.”
The automakers, he said, are making making the best profits in their history, yet are closing factories and costing union jobs. He gave General Motors’ 2019 closure of its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant as an example, plus a lack of new vehicles for Stellantis’ Belvidere, Illinois, plant, which he said has lost 3,000 workers.
At a candidates’ forum in September, Fain said union leaders should have reversed concessions made starting in 2007 and should have won job security guarantees.
“We’ve had at least 10 years with perfect conditions for regaining and improving what was lost during the Great Recession,” he said.
The contract talks come at a critical juncture for the union, which faces a transition from internal combustion vehicles to those that run on batteries. With fewer moving parts, fewer people will be needed to make electric vehicles, and jobs making engines and transmissions could be shifted to battery assembly plants that might not be unionized.
The election came after union members last December decided to directly vote on leaders for the first time instead of having them picked by delegates to a convention.
Under the old system, convention delegates were picked by local union offices. But the new slate of officers was selected by the current leadership, and there was rarely any serious opposition.
A company hired by Monitor Neil Barofsky mailed out about 1 million ballots to active and retired union members. But only 106,790, roughly 10.7%, were returned.
The voting happened after 11 union officials and a late official’s spouse pleaded guilty in the corruption probe since 2017, including the two former presidents, Gary Jones and Dennis Williams. Both were sentenced to prison.
To avoid a federal takeover, the union agreed to reforms and Barofsky’s appointment to oversee elections of the 14-member executive board.
Curry, appointed in 2021 to replace retiring Rory Gamble to lead the union, said he has put financial safeguards and reforms in place and has plans to bring union members “back into greater days.” He said at the candidates’ forum that the union also has plans to recruit new members.
“We don’t just make false demands and deliver false hopes,” he said.
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This story has been corrected to show that 68% of the vote has been counted, not 73%.
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Reform candidates lead in UAW races with 73% of vote counted
DETROIT — Members of the United Auto Workers union appeared on Thursday to favor replacing many of their current leaders in an election that stemmed from a federal bribery and embezzlement scandal involving former union officials.
Reform-minded candidates, many part of the UAW Members United slate, are leading or close in multiple key races with about 73% of the vote in. Many challengers campaigned on rescinding concessions made to companies in previous contract talks, including cost-of-living pay raises, elimination of a two-tier wage and benefit system, and other items.
That could raise costs for Detroit’s three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — and almost inevitably will drive up already expensive auto prices.
With tallies from six of nine UAW regions counted, incumbent President Ray Curry had a slim lead over Shawn Fain, an international union official who started at a Stellantis plant in Kokomo, Indiana, in a five-candidate race.
Curry had 38.6% of the vote, while Fain was second with 38%. There likely will be a runoff election early next year between Fain and Curry since neither had a majority of the votes.
In the race for three vice presidents, Rich Boyer and Mike Booth, both Members United candidates, are first and second in an eight-candidate field, followed by incumbent Vice President Chuck Browning. A runoff could happen there, too.
Margaret Mock, the Members United candidate for secretary-treasurer, had 62.6% of the vote to lead incumbent Frank Stuglin at 37.4%. Where tallies have been completed, candidates who campaigned on reforming the union also won three of nine regional director positions, with another heading to a runoff.
It wasn’t clear when the vote count would be finished. The ballots are being counted by a company hired by a court-appointed monitor who is overseeing the election and the union.
Fain led the Members United ticket, which campaigned on reforming the 372,000-member UAW after the scandal. The election also has broad implications for contract talks with the Detroit auto companies that start next year.
Fain has advocated for more of a confrontational stance and has accused union leadership of complacency. He has said the UAW has had a philosophy for 40 years of viewing automakers as partners rather than adversaries.
He hasn’t declared victory but said in an interview Thursday that the early vote totals are “a loud and clear message to the companies and the businesses to get ready, we’re coming for you.”
The automakers, he said, are making making the best profits in their history, yet are closing factories and costing union jobs. He gave General Motors’ 2019 closure of its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant as an example, plus a lack of new vehicles for Stellantis’ Belvidere, Illinois, plant, which he said has lost 3,000 workers.
At a candidates’ forum in September, Fain said union leaders should have reversed concessions made starting in 2007 and should have won job security guarantees.
“We’ve had at least 10 years with perfect conditions for regaining and improving what was lost during the Great Recession,” he said.
The contract talks come at a critical juncture for the union, which faces a transition from internal combustion vehicles to those that run on batteries. With fewer moving parts, fewer people will be needed to make electric vehicles, and jobs making engines and transmissions could be shifted to battery assembly plants that might not be unionized.
The election came after union members last December decided to directly vote on leaders for the first time instead of having them picked by delegates to a convention.
Under the old system, convention delegates were picked by local union offices. But the new slate of officers was selected by the current leadership, and there was rarely any serious opposition.
A company hired by Monitor Neil Barofsky mailed out about 1 million ballots to active and retired union members. But only 106,790, roughly 10.7%, were returned.
The voting happened after 11 union officials and a late official’s spouse pleaded guilty in the corruption probe since 2017, including the two former presidents, Gary Jones and Dennis Williams. Both were sentenced to prison.
To avoid a federal takeover, the union agreed to reforms and Barofsky’s appointment to oversee elections of the 14-member executive board.
Curry, appointed in 2021 to replace retiring Rory Gamble to lead the union, said he has put financial safeguards and reforms in place and has plans to bring union members “back into greater days.” He said at the candidates’ forum that the union also has plans to recruit new members.
“We don’t just make false demands and deliver false hopes,” he said.
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EPA seeks to mandate more use of ethanol and other biofuels
MINNEAPOLIS — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed increasing the amount of ethanol and other biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supplies over the next three years, a move welcomed by renewable fuel and farm groups but condemned by environmentalists and oil industry groups.
“This proposal supports low-carbon renewable fuels and seeks public input on ways to strengthen the program,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. “With this proposal, EPA seeks to provide consumers with more options while diversifying our nation’s energy mix.”
The proposal also includes new incentives to encourage the use of biogas from farms and landfills, and renewable biomass such as wood, to generate electricity to charge electric vehicles. It’s the first time the EPA has set biofuel targets on its own instead of using numbers from Congress. The agency opened a public comment period and will hold a hearing in January.
The goal of the existing Renewable Fuel Standard is to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, expand the country’s fuel supply, strengthen energy security and reduce fuel prices for consumers. Ethanol is a key part of the economy in many Midwest states, consuming about 40% of the nation’s corn supply.
But environmentalists argue that it’s a net ecological and climate detriment because growing all that corn fosters unsustainable farming practices, while the oil industry says ethanol mandates constrain free market forces and limit consumer choice, and that higher blends can damage older vehicles.
Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, told reporters on a conference call that the EPA’s plan creates a “clear pathway for sustainable growth for our industry when it comes to the production and use of low-carbon fuels like ethanol.” He said it also bolsters the industry’s push for year-round sales of gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend, as well as sales of the 85% ethanol blend E85.
“As the administration is working to address climate change, we’ve long known that biofuels will play an important role in reducing greenhouse gases while having the added benefit of providing expanded opportunities for farmers,” National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said in a statement.
But environmental groups said the plan offers false solutions to climate change.
“This is a toxic plan directly at odds with the Biden Administration’s commitment to Environmental Justice,” Sarah Lutz, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. “Charging electric vehicles with forests and factory farms should be a non-starter.”
Geoff Moody, senior vice president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers said the Renewable Fuel Standard was meant to be a liquid fuels program, not an electric vehicle program. He urged the EPA to go back as it develops the final rule and reject “yet another massive regulatory subsidy for electric vehicle manufacturers.”
The EPA proposes to set the total target for all kinds of renewable fuels at 20.82 billion gallons for 2023, including 15 billion gallons from corn ethanol. The target would grow to 22.68 billion gallons for 2025, including 15.25 billion gallons of corn ethanol. The plan also calls for growth in cellulosic biofuels — which are made from fibrous plant materials — biomass-based diesel and other advanced biofuels.
Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, the country’s top corn and ethanol producing state, said in a statement that the EPA should have gone further to require even more use of advanced biofuels to move freight, which he said would help lower prices for consumer goods.
Cooper said there’s probably no way to meet the proposed higher targets without more use of E15 and E85 instead of the conventional 10% ethanol mix. That makes it important to eliminate regulations that block summertime sales of E15, he said.
So, he predicted, the EPA’s proposal should bolster prospects for legislation introduced this week by Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, and GOP Sen. Deb Fischer, of Nebraska, to allow year-round sales of E15 nationwide. E15 sales are usually prohibited between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures.
Eight Midwest governors asked the EPA in April to allow year-round sales of E15 in their states. But Cooper said the new bill would provide a “nationwide fix” that even the American Petroleum Institute considers preferable to the current patchwork of temporary waivers and ad hoc solutions.
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EU warns Musk to beef up Twitter controls ahead of new rules
LONDON — A top European Union official warned Elon Musk on Wednesday that Twitter needs to beef up measures to protect users from hate speech, misinformation and other harmful content to avoid violating new rules that threaten tech giants with big fines or even a ban in the 27-nation bloc.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for digital policy, told the billionaire Tesla CEO that the social media platform will have to significantly increase efforts to comply with the new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, set to take effect next year.
The two held a video call to discuss Twitter’s preparedness for the law, which will require tech companies to better police their platforms for material that, for instance, promotes terrorism, child sexual abuse, hate speech and commercial scams.
It’s part of a new digital rulebook that has made Europe the global leader in the push to rein in the power of social media companies, potentially setting up a clash with Musk’s vision for a more unfettered Twitter. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said Wednesday that an investigation into Musk’s $44 billion purchase was not off the table.
Breton said he was pleased to hear that Musk considers the EU rules “a sensible approach to implement on a worldwide basis.”
“But let’s also be clear that there is still huge work ahead,” Musk said, according to a readout of the call released by Breton’s office. “Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising.”
After Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” bought Twitter a month ago, groups that monitor the platform for racist, antisemitic and other toxic speech, such the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, say it’s been on the rise on the world’s de facto digital public square.
Musk has signaled an interest in rolling back many of Twitter’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation, most recently by abandoning enforcement of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. He already reinstated some high-profile accounts that had violated Twitter’s content rules and had promised a “general amnesty” restoring most suspended accounts starting this week.
Twitter didn’t respond to an email request for comment. In a separate blog post Wednesday, the company said “human safety” is its top priority and that its trust and safety team “continues its diligent work to keep the platform safe from hateful conduct, abusive behavior, and any violation of Twitter’s rules.”
Musk, however, has laid off half the company’s 7,500-person workforce, along with an untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation. Many others have resigned, including the company’s head of trust and safety.
In the call Wednesday, Musk agreed to let the EU’s executive Commission carry out a “stress test” at Twitter’s headquarters early next year to help the platform comply with the new rules ahead of schedule, the readout said.
That will also help the company prepare for an “extensive independent audit” as required by the new law, which is aimed at protecting internet users from illegal content and reducing the spread of harmful but legal material.
Violations could result in huge fines of up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue or even a ban on operating in the European Union’s single market.
Along with European regulators, Musk risks running afoul of Apple and Google, which power most of the world’s smartphones. Both have stringent policies against misinformation, hate speech and other misconduct, previously enforced to boot apps like the social media platform Parler from their devices. Apps must also meet certain data security, privacy and performance standards.
Musk tweeted without providing evidence this week that Apple “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.” Apple hasn’t commented.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walked back her statements about whether Musk’s purchase of Twitter warrants government review.
“I misspoke,” she said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, referring to a CBS interview this month where she said there was “no basis” to review the Twitter purchase.
The Treasury secretary oversees the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency committee that investigates the national security risks from foreign investments in American firms.
“If there are such risks, it would be appropriate for the Treasury to have a look,” Yellen told The New York Times.
She declined to confirm whether CFIUS is currently investigating Musk’s Twitter purchase.
Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is, through his investment company, Twitter’s biggest shareholder after Musk.
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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein in Washington and Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed.
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EU warns Musk to beef up Twitter controls ahead of new rules
LONDON — A top European Union official warned Elon Musk on Wednesday that Twitter needs to beef up measures to protect users from hate speech, misinformation and other harmful content to avoid violating new rules that threaten tech giants with big fines or even a ban in the 27-nation bloc.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for digital policy, told the billionaire Tesla CEO that the social media platform will have to significantly increase efforts to comply with the new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, set to take effect next year.
The two held a video call to discuss Twitter’s preparedness for the law, which will require tech companies to better police their platforms for material that, for instance, promotes terrorism, child sexual abuse, hate speech and commercial scams.
It’s part of a new digital rulebook that has made Europe the global leader in the push to rein in the power of social media companies, potentially setting up a clash with Musk’s vision for a more unfettered Twitter. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said Wednesday that an investigation into Musk’s $44 billion purchase was not off the table.
Breton said he was pleased to hear that Musk considers the EU rules “a sensible approach to implement on a worldwide basis.”
“But let’s also be clear that there is still huge work ahead,” Musk said, according to a readout of the call released by Breton’s office. “Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising.”
After Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” bought Twitter a month ago, groups that monitor the platform for racist, antisemitic and other toxic speech, such the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, say it’s been on the rise on the world’s de facto digital public square.
Musk has signaled an interest in rolling back many of Twitter’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation, most recently by abandoning enforcement of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. He already reinstated some high-profile accounts that had violated Twitter’s content rules and had promised a “general amnesty” restoring most suspended accounts starting this week.
Twitter didn’t respond to an email request for comment. In a separate blog post Wednesday, the company said “human safety” is its top priority and that its trust and safety team “continues its diligent work to keep the platform safe from hateful conduct, abusive behavior, and any violation of Twitter’s rules.”
Musk, however, has laid off half the company’s 7,500-person workforce, along with an untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation. Many others have resigned, including the company’s head of trust and safety.
In the call Wednesday, Musk agreed to let the EU’s executive Commission carry out a “stress test” at Twitter’s headquarters early next year to help the platform comply with the new rules ahead of schedule, the readout said.
That will also help the company prepare for an “extensive independent audit” as required by the new law, which is aimed at protecting internet users from illegal content and reducing the spread of harmful but legal material.
Violations could result in huge fines of up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue or even a ban on operating in the European Union’s single market.
Along with European regulators, Musk risks running afoul of Apple and Google, which power most of the world’s smartphones. Both have stringent policies against misinformation, hate speech and other misconduct, previously enforced to boot apps like the social media platform Parler from their devices. Apps must also meet certain data security, privacy and performance standards.
Musk tweeted without providing evidence this week that Apple “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.” Apple hasn’t commented.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walked back her statements about whether Musk’s purchase of Twitter warrants government review.
“I misspoke,” she said at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, referring to a CBS interview this month where she said there was “no basis” to review the Twitter purchase.
The Treasury secretary oversees the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency committee that investigates the national security risks from foreign investments in American firms.
“If there are such risks, it would be appropriate for the Treasury to have a look,” Yellen told The New York Times.
She declined to confirm whether CFIUS is currently investigating Musk’s Twitter purchase.
Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is, through his investment company, Twitter’s biggest shareholder after Musk.
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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein in Washington and Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island contributed.
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Ford recalls over 634K SUVs due to fuel leaks and fire risk
DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. is recalling over 634,000 SUVs worldwide because a cracked fuel injector can spill fuel or leak vapors onto a hot engine and cause fires.
The recall covers Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs from the 2020 through 2023 model years. All have 1.5-liter, three-cylinder engines.
The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker said Thursday it’s not recommending that owners stop driving the vehicles or park them outdoors because fires are rare and generally don’t happen when the engines are off.
But Ford said it has received 20 reports of fires, including three that ignited nearby structures. The company also said it has four claims of fires that were noticed less than five minutes after the engines were turned off. Ford also has four injury claims not involving burns, and 43 legal claims attributed to the problem.
Repairs aren’t yeta available, but once they are, owners should schedule service with a preferred dealer, Jim Azzouz, executive director of customer experience, said in a statement. Owners will be notified by letter starting Dec. 19.
Owners can take their SUVs to the dealer and get a free loaner, or they can get free pickup and delivery.
Dealers will inspect the injectors and replace them if necessary. Ford also says it’s extending warranties to cover cracked fuel injectors for up to 15 years.
Dealers will update the vehicles’ engine-control software so it detects a cracked injector. Drivers will get a dashboard message to get service. Also, if there’s a pressure drop in the injectors, engine power will be cut to minimize risk and let drivers get to a safe location to stop and call for service, Ford said.
They’ll also install a tube to drain fuel from the cylinder head and away from hot surfaces.
Ford said it’s not replacing the injectors because the failure rate that causes leaks is low, an estimated 0.38% for 2020 models and 0.22% for 2021 to 2022 models. The rate is for 15 years or 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers).
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Dominican sugar imports tied to forced labor rejected by US
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. government announced Wednesday that it will detain all imports of sugar and related products made in the Dominican Republic by Central Romana Corporation, Ltd. amid allegations that it uses forced labor.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection investigation found that the company allegedly isolated workers, withheld wages, fostered abusive working and living conditions and pushed for excessive overtime, the agency said in a news release.
“Manufacturers like Central Romana, who fail to abide by our laws, will face consequences as we root out these inhumane practices from U.S. supply chains,” said AnnMarie Highsmith with the CBP’s Office of Trade.
A spokeswoman for the company did not immediately return a text message seeking comment. La Central Romana, which has long faced those types of accusations, is the Dominican Republic’s largest sugar producer.
The announcement was cheered by activists who have long decried the treatment of tens of thousands of workers who live and work on sprawling sugarcane fields, many of them Haitian migrants or descendants of them.
“This is needed to improve their situation,” Roudy Joseph, a labor rights activist in the Dominican Republic, said in a phone interview. “We’ve been asking for improvements for decades.”
The Associated Press last year visited several sugarcane fields owned by Central Romana where workers complained about a lack of wages, being forced to live in cramped housing that lacked water and restrictive rules including not being allowed to grow a garden to feed their families since transportation to the nearest grocery store miles away was too costly.
Joseph noted that at least 6,000 workers also are demanding pensions they never obtained despite paying their dues.
Sugarcane workers also have organized several protests this year to demand permanent residencies after working for decades in the Dominican Republic as the country cracks down on Haitian migrants under the administration of President Luis Abinader in a move that has drawn heavy international criticism.
Central Romana produced nearly 400,000 tons (363,000 metric tons) of sugar in the harvest period that ended last year after grinding more than 3.4 million tons (3 million metric tons) of cane, according to the company.
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Justices asked to hear dog toy dispute. Will they bite?
WASHINGTON — The company that makes Jack Daniel’s is howling mad over a squeaking dog toy that parodies the whiskey’s signature bottle. Now, the liquor company is barking at the door of the Supreme Court.
Jack Daniel’s has asked the justices to hear its case against the manufacturer of the plastic Bad Spaniels toy. The high court could say as soon as Monday whether the justices will agree. A number of major companies from the makers of Campbell Soup to outdoor brand Patagonia and jeans maker Levi Strauss have urged the justices to take what they say is an important case for trademark law.
The toy that has Jack Daniel’s so doggone mad mimics the square shape of its whisky bottle as well as its black-and-white label and amber-colored liquor while adding what it calls “poop humor.” While the original bottle has the words “Old No. 7 brand” and “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey,” the parody proclaims: “The Old No. 2 on Your Tennessee Carpet.” Instead of the original’s note that it is 40% alcohol by volume, the parody says it’s “43% Poo by Vol.” and “100% Smelly.”
The back of the toy, which retails for about $13 to $20, says in small font “this product is not affiliated with Jack Daniel Distillery.”
The toy’s maker says Jack Daniel’s can’t take a joke. “It is ironic that America’s leading distiller of whiskey both lacks a sense of humor and does not recognize when it — and everyone else — has had enough,” lawyers for Arizona-based VIP Products wrote the high court. They told the justices that Jack Daniel’s has “waged war” against the company for “having the temerity to produce a pun-filled parody” of its bottle.
But Jack Daniel’s lead attorney, Lisa Blatt, made no bones about the company’s position in her filing.
“To be sure, everyone likes a good joke. But VIP’s profit-motivated ‘joke’ confuses consumers by taking advantage of Jack Daniel’s hard-earned goodwill,” she wrote for the Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corp., Jack Daniel’s parent company.
Blatt wrote that a lower court decision provides “near-blanket protection” to humorous trademark infringement. And she said it has “broad and dangerous consequences,” pointing to children who were hospitalized after eating marijuana-infused products that mimicked candy packaging.
If VIP Products is allowed to confuse consumers with dog toys, “other funny infringers can do the same with juice boxes or marijuana-infused candy,” Blatt wrote.
The toy is part of a line of VIP Products called Silly Squeakers that mimic liquor, beer, wine and soda bottles. They include Mountain Drool, which parodies Mountain Dew, and Heini Sniff’n, which parodies Heineken. A court in 2008 barred the company from selling its Budweiser parody, ButtWiper.
After the company began selling its Bad Spaniels toy in 2014, Jack Daniel’s told the company to stop, but VIP went to court to be allowed to continue to sell its product. Jack Daniel’s won the first round in court but lost an appeal. The case reached the Supreme Court at an earlier stage, but the justices didn’t bite.
Bad Spaniels isn’t the only parody puppy toy to draw the ire of the brand it imitated. Luxury bag maker Louis Vuitton sued the makers of Chewy Vuiton over their plush purse dog toys. In 2007 a federal appeals court sided with the chew toy’s manufacturers, Nevada-based Haute Diggity Dog. Louis Vuitton didn’t appeal to the Supreme Court.
The case is Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 22-148.
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Justices asked to hear dog toy dispute. Will they bite?
WASHINGTON — The company that makes Jack Daniel’s is howling mad over a squeaking dog toy that parodies the whiskey’s signature bottle. Now, the liquor company is barking at the door of the Supreme Court.
Jack Daniel’s has asked the justices to hear its case against the manufacturer of the plastic Bad Spaniels toy. The high court could say as soon as Monday whether the justices will agree. A number of major companies from the makers of Campbell Soup to outdoor brand Patagonia and jeans maker Levi Strauss have urged the justices to take what they say is an important case for trademark law.
The toy that has Jack Daniel’s so doggone mad mimics the square shape of its whisky bottle as well as its black-and-white label and amber-colored liquor while adding what it calls “poop humor.” While the original bottle has the words “Old No. 7 brand” and “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey,” the parody proclaims: “The Old No. 2 on Your Tennessee Carpet.” Instead of the original’s note that it is 40% alcohol by volume, the parody says it’s “43% Poo by Vol.” and “100% Smelly.”
The back of the toy, which retails for about $13 to $20, says in small font “this product is not affiliated with Jack Daniel Distillery.”
The toy’s maker says Jack Daniel’s can’t take a joke. “It is ironic that America’s leading distiller of whiskey both lacks a sense of humor and does not recognize when it — and everyone else — has had enough,” lawyers for Arizona-based VIP Products wrote the high court. They told the justices that Jack Daniel’s has “waged war” against the company for “having the temerity to produce a pun-filled parody” of its bottle.
But Jack Daniel’s lead attorney, Lisa Blatt, made no bones about the company’s position in her filing.
“To be sure, everyone likes a good joke. But VIP’s profit-motivated ‘joke’ confuses consumers by taking advantage of Jack Daniel’s hard-earned goodwill,” she wrote for the Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corp., Jack Daniel’s parent company.
Blatt wrote that a lower court decision provides “near-blanket protection” to humorous trademark infringement. And she said it has “broad and dangerous consequences,” pointing to children who were hospitalized after eating marijuana-infused products that mimicked candy packaging.
If VIP Products is allowed to confuse consumers with dog toys, “other funny infringers can do the same with juice boxes or marijuana-infused candy,” Blatt wrote.
The toy is part of a line of VIP Products called Silly Squeakers that mimic liquor, beer, wine and soda bottles. They include Mountain Drool, which parodies Mountain Dew, and Heini Sniff’n, which parodies Heineken. A court in 2008 barred the company from selling its Budweiser parody, ButtWiper.
After the company began selling its Bad Spaniels toy in 2014, Jack Daniel’s told the company to stop, but VIP went to court to be allowed to continue to sell its product. Jack Daniel’s won the first round in court but lost an appeal. The case reached the Supreme Court at an earlier stage, but the justices didn’t bite.
Bad Spaniels isn’t the only parody puppy toy to draw the ire of the brand it imitated. Luxury bag maker Louis Vuitton sued the makers of Chewy Vuiton over their plush purse dog toys. In 2007 a federal appeals court sided with the chew toy’s manufacturers, Nevada-based Haute Diggity Dog. Louis Vuitton didn’t appeal to the Supreme Court.
The case is Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 22-148.
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4th person surrenders in slaying of rapper Young Dolph
FILE – Young Dolph performs at The Parking Lot Concert in Atlanta on Aug. 23, 2020. A man charged with soliciting the killing of Young Dolph pleaded not guilty Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, one year after the rapper and producer was shot to death while buying cookies at a bakery in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn. (Photo by Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP, File)
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World Cup organizers to ban alcoholic beer sales at stadiums
DOHA, Qatar — World Cup organizers will ban the sale of all beer with alcohol at the eight stadiums used for the soccer tournament, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The decision comes only two days before games start in Qatar.
Non-alcoholic beer will still be available for fans at the 64 matches, the person said.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because organizers have not yet announced the decision.
Budweiser’s parent company, AB InBev, pays tens of millions of dollars at each World Cup for exclusive rights to sell beer. The company’s partnership with FIFA started at the 1986 tournament.
When Qatar launched its bid to host the World Cup, the country agreed to respect FIFA’s commercial partners, and again when signing contracts after winning the vote in 2010.
At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the host country was forced to change a law to allow alcohol sales in stadiums.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
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Ram heavy-duty diesel pickups recalled for engine fire risk
DETROIT — Stellantis is recalling nearly 250,000 heavy duty diesel Ram pickup trucks in the U.S. because transmission fluid can leak and cause engine fires.
The recall covers certain 2020 to 2023 Ram 2500 and some 2020 through 2022 Ram 3500 trucks. All have 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engines and 68RFE transmissions.
The company says heat and pressure can build up in the transmission, expelling fluid from the dipstick tube. If the fluid hits a hot engine part, that can touch of a fire.
Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, is still developing a repair. In the meantime the company says owners can still drive the trucks but drivers should contact a dealer if they see a dashboard warning light.
The company says it has 16 reports of fires and 48 complaints, field reports and warranty claims due to the problem. It’s aware of one minor injury caused by the issue.
Owners are to be notified by letter starting Dec. 30. They can contact Stellantis customer service at (800) 853-1403.
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Lawsuit accuses largest US meat producers of wage fixing
DENVER — Three meat plant workers have filed a federal lawsuit accusing 11 of the United States’ largest beef and pork producers of conspiring to depress wages and benefits.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Denver on Friday, seeks class-action status and alleges the producers have worked together since at least 2014 to keep workers’ compensation lower than the market would allow, violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.
It was brought by two meat plant workers from Iowa and one from Georgia but seeks to represent hundreds of thousands of other people who have worked in jobs from slaughtering to production at the companies’ collective 140 plants. Together the plants produce about 80% of the red meat sold to U.S. consumers, according to the lawsuit.
The companies are JBS USA Food Company, Cargill Inc., Hormel Foods Corp., American Foods Group LLC, Triumph Foods LLC, Seaboard Foods LLC, National Beef Packing Co. LLC, Iowa Premium LLC, Smithfield Foods Inc., Agri Beef Co. and Perdue Farms Inc., along with some subsidiaries.
Cargill denied any wrongdoing.
“While we cannot comment with specificity during the pendency of litigation, Cargill sets compensation independently to ensure that it pays fair and competitive wages to employees in each of the company’s plants,” company spokesman Daniel Sullivan said.
Perdue Farms spokesperson Andrea Staub declined to comment, saying the company does not discuss pending lawsuits. Smithfield spokesperson Jim Monroe said the company has not had a chance to review the allegations and had no comment at this time. Representatives of the other companies did not immediately return emails and telephone messages seeking comment Wednesday.
Two consulting companies that allegedly helped the meat producers exchange compensation information are also named as defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed by lawyers from Hagens Berman.
“Our firm has secured $195 million in the poultry processing industry for the same antitrust behavior. The meat industry’s gravy train ends here,” the law firm’s managing partner, Steve Berman, said in an announcement of the lawsuit on Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges that the meat producers had secret meetings to discuss wages and communicated about them surreptitiously to avoid having any written records of the conversations.
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Buffett’s firm cuts stakes U.S. Bank, BYD; adds chip maker
OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett’s company slashed its stake in U.S. Bank’s parent company and also sold shares in Chinese electric car maker BYD in the third quarter, according to regulatory filings Monday.
The moves were among several others including a more than $4.1 billion investment in Taiwan Semiconductor that Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in the filings with the SEC and the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The filings detailed all the stock moves made by Buffett’s company in the third quarter.
Many investors follow Berkshire’s moves closely because of Buffett’s remarkably successful track record over the decades.
Berkshire revealed a new 60 million share stake in Taiwan Semiconductor and two smaller new investments in Jefferies Financial Group and Louisiana Pacific Corp.in Monday’s filing.
Berkshire also picked up nearly 4 million more Chevron shares worth more than $700 million to give it 165.4 million shares and continue betting on oil producers. One of Buffett’s biggest investments this year has been buying up roughly $12 billion of Occidental Petroleum shares, including adding nearly 36 million shares in the third quarter.
Buffett’s company trimmed its Activision Blizzard, General Motors and Kroger holdings during the quarter. It also eliminated an investment in Store Capital Corp.
Berkshire said Friday that it now owns 3.5% of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, down from nearly 10% at the start of the year. The 52.5 million shares Berkshire now holds were worth roughly $2.4 billion Monday.
It also reduced its investment in the Bank of New York Mellon by 10 million shares during the quarter.
But financial stocks remain a core part of Berkshire’s portfolio. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate’s stake of more than 1 billion shares of Bank of America is one of its biggest investments.
Berkshire’s filings with regulators don’t specify if the decisions were made by Buffett or were the responsibility of the company’s two other portfolio managers, but Buffett generally handles investments over $1 billion. Berkshire officials don’t routinely comment on these stock filings, and they haven’t said why they are selling BYD and U.S. Bancorp stocks.
Berkshire said it now owns a little over 182 million BYD shares, down from 225 million when it started selling off the stock in August. Previously, Buffett hadn’t touched the investment he paid $232 million for in 2008. The stake had soared in value to nearly $7.7 billion by the end of last year.
Buffett’s company now holds 16.6% of the Hong Kong-issued shares of BYD.
Besides its equity investments, Berkshire owns more than 90 companies outright, including Geico insurance, BNSF railroad, several major utilities and an assortment of well-known brands such as Duracell, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom.
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Antitrust battle over iPhone app store goes to appeals court
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is heading into a courtroom faceoff against the company behind the popular Fortnite video game, reviving a high-stakes antitrust battle over whether the digital fortress shielding the iPhone’s app store illegally enriches the world’s most valuable company while stifling competition.
Oral arguments Monday before three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals are the latest volley in legal battle revolving around an app store that provides a wide range of products to more than 1 billion iPhones and serves as a pillar in Apple’s $2.4 trillion empire.
It’s a dispute likely to remain unresolved for a long time. After hearing Monday’s arguments in San Francisco, the appeals court isn’t expected to rule for another six months to a year. The issue is so important to both companies that the losing side is likely to take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, a process that could extend into 2024 or 2025.
The tussle dates back to August 2020 when Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, filed an antitrust lawsuit in an attempt to obliterate the walls that have given Apple exclusive control over the iPhone app store since its inception 14 year ago.
That ironclad control over the app store has enabled Apple to impose commissions that give it a 15% to 30% cut of purchases made for digital services sold by other companies. By some estimates, those commissions pay Apple $15 billion to $20 billion annually — revenue that the Cupertino, California, company says helps cover the cost of the technology for the iPhone and a store that now contains nearly 2 million mostly free apps.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Gonzalez Rogers sided almost entirely with Apple in a 185-page ruling issued 13 months ago. That followed a closely watched trial that included testimony from Apple CEO Tim Cook and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, as well as other top executives.
Although she declared Apple’s exclusive control over iPhone apps wasn’t a monopoly, Gonzalez Rogers opened one loophole that Apple wants to close. The judge ordered Apple to allow apps to provide links to payment alternatives outside the app store, a requirement that has been put off until the appeals court rules.
Monday’s arguments are expected to open with Epic lawyer Thomas Goldstein trying to persuade the trio of judges — Sidney R. Thomas, Milan D. Smith Jr. and Michael J. McShane — why Gonzalez Rogers should have looked at the iPhone app store and the payment system as distinctly separate markets instead of bundling them together.
A lawyer for the Justice Department will also get a chance to explain why the agency believes Gonzalez Rogers interpreted the federal antitrust law too narrowly, jeopardizing future enforcement actions against potentially anti-competitive behavior in the technology industry. Although the department technically isn’t taking sides, its arguments are expected to help Epic make its case that the appeals court should overturn the lower court decision.
Another lawyer for the California Attorney General’s office will present arguments defending the law that Gonzalez Rogers cited in ordering Apple to provide links to alternative ways to pay outside its app store.
Apple lawyer Mark Perry will get the chance to make the final arguments, giving him an opportunity to tailor a presentation aimed at answering some of the questions that the judges may ask the lawyers preceding him.
Much of what Perry says is likely to echo the successful case that Apple presented in the lower court.
During his testimony in lower court, Cook argued that forcing Apple to allow alternative payment systems would weaken the security and privacy controls prized by consumers who buy iPhones instead of devices running on Google’s Android software. That scenario would create “a toxic kind of mess,” Cook warned on the witness stand.
Even as he railed against Apple’s ironclad grip on the app store, Sweeney acknowledged he owns an iPhone himself, partly because of its security and privacy features.
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Smaller food cos. get set for a high-priced holiday season
NEW YORK — Holiday celebrants in Hilo, Hawaii, might notice something different about the traditional Yule Log cake from the Short ’N Sweet bakery this year.
Maria Short typically makes her popular $35 bûche de Noël with two logs combined to look like a branch. This year, thanks to soaring prices for eggs and butter and other items, she’s downsizing to one straight Yule log.
“It’s the same price, but smaller,” she said. “That cuts down on size and labor.”
Higher prices are hitting everyone this holiday, but food vendors are seeing some of the biggest increases. Small businesses that count on food-centric holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are bracing for a difficult season.
At the wholesale level, egg prices are more than triple what they were a year ago, milk prices are up 34% and butter is up 70%, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Businesses are also paying more for everything from packages to labor.
Many owners are raising prices to offset the higher costs. But raising prices too much risks driving away the crucial holiday shopper. So, businesses are adapting: adjusting the way they make products, changing gift basket components and adding free gifts instead of giving discounts, among other steps.
Maria Short says that even for Hawaii, where the cost of living is among the highest of any U.S. state, the price increases are “drastic.”
For example, she says, the Short N Sweet Bakery is paying $123 for a case of eggs that cost $42 in October last year. A case of butter that was $91 in October ago; it’s $138 this year.
Among the ways Short is cutting costs, she’ll use a generic box decorated with stickers instead of using a customized box for her desserts. And she ordered a cookie printer rather than having bakers hand-pipe frosting, to save on labor costs.
Sarah Pounders, who co-owns Nashville-based Made in TN, a retailer of locally made food and gifts, says the local vendors who make the items she sells are facing higher prices. The cost of butter needed to make cookies is five times the price from a year ago and cardboard packaging is double.
Made in TN has raised some prices and is selling other items for less profit. Customers are already paying more for things like gas, clothing and cars, as well as services like eating out and travel, so they’re not as quick to spend as they might have been in prior years. They’re noticing the price increases, she said.
“If bread is up 50 cents you will still buy bread,” Pounders said. “But if it’s an impulse buy or luxury specialty item — if chocolate-covered cookies are up $1 — you might think twice.”
Price increases aren’t an option for her popular gift basket business. Corporations often have a $50 cap and events at hotels like weddings can have a $20 sweet spot. So, Pounders has made adjustments. In some cases, she has replaced a $20 bag of coffee, which is up $3, with less expensive hot chocolate. Or she puts one less chocolate bar in the basket.
She’s also buying more items that could sell throughout the year and less seasonal inventory like peppermint bark and hot chocolate on a stick.
“Every year is a guess, and the economy makes it even more volatile,” she said.
Eric Ludy, co-founder of Cheese Brothers, an online purveyor of Wisconsin cheese and gift baskets, faces a tricky task this holiday season as he tries to offset higher costs for packaging, labor — and cheese. Half of his business comes in the weeks between Black Friday and Christmas.
Cheese Brothers has nominally raised prices for their cheese – a block of cheddar will cost customers $7.50 instead of $7, for example. Ludy says he’ll also rely less on discounts this year and more on gifts and other giveaways.
A bit of a gamble that Ludy is taking is upping the spending limit for free shipping to $70 from $59.
“People buy enough to get free shipping, it’s a huge motivator,” he said. He hopes raising the shipping price could push the average order up to $70. But it could also stop people from clicking the “Buy” button.
“We might start to see people push back and not buy as much,” he said. “It’s a delicate balance.”
Americans eat an estimated 40 million turkeys during the holidays, according to industry group The National Turkey Federation. But turkey purveyors are facing a double whammy this Thanksgiving: higher prices plus an avian flu epidemic that is shaping up to be one of the worst in history.
Kevin Smith, owner of Beast and Cleaver, a butcher shop in Seattle, Washington, gets his turkeys from small, local farms. He says he’s paying $6 a pound for turkey this year, up from $3.80 to $4.20 last year. In addition, he only plans to sell 150 turkeys this year, down from 250 last year, due to shortages caused by the avian flu.
Still, Smith doesn’t plan to charge more for turkey than he did last year: $9 a pound. He says he has a “solid base of customers” willing to pay for more local, sustainable turkeys, but there’s a limit.
“We don’t want people to have to pay $12 a pound for turkey,” he said.
He’s raising the price of other items, like ground sausage and pates, to offset the higher costs of poultry. And while the rush of panic-buying during the pandemic has subsided, he’s still expecting a good holiday season.
“We’re still very busy,” he said. “It’s just a more stable busy.”