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Climate non-profits prepare for a fight with Trump on tax status
Non-profits in the United States that are focused on climate change prepare to fight against a possible action by the Trump Administration to revoke tax exemptions this week. Climate change groups have circulated memos in the last few weeks outlining the rumored executive action they expect from Donald Trump. This includes a change to IRS regulations to remove climate changes from the list of charitable topics that qualify and blocking the use U.S. grant funding to fund overseas projects. Concerns were raised after Trump made comments criticizing the charitable status granted to Harvard University. This was seen as an initial shot at other so-called "501(c3)" organizations, which are named after the section of the tax code exempting charities from income taxes. According to three non-profit leaders who participated, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Public Citizen hosted a Zoom call Friday to discuss ways charities can prepare themselves for a potential executive action. After the maximum of 5,000 people had signed up, the call was oversubscribed. Sandler Reiff, a political law firm, sent a memo on Friday to its clients in the non-profit sector and philanthropy to tell them to not panic if they are threatened with losing their tax exemption status or having international work frozen by the government. The memo said that the President cannot unilaterally revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization. It also stated that any executive orders that attempt to do this "doesn't have legal validity". Trump has been adamant about his antisemitism-free policy since his January inauguration. He has also moved swiftly to sidestep or undo environmental regulations, eliminate climate science research, and stop federal support for renewable energy. In a post on social media last week, Trump said he was weighing whether he should seek to end Harvard’s tax-exempt designation. The Trump administration has been threatening to halt climate change work by environmental groups and grant-making charities. The foundations that donate to charities have said they will fight any attempts to limit the amount of money they give. The MacArthur Foundation has committed to spending an additional $150 millions in charitable donations over the next two year. John Palfrey, the Foundation's president, told delegates in Britain that "we have more strength and protection than we realize" at a recent meeting of philanthropic organizations. Drop any restrictions that we believe we can. "Give gifts wherever you can." Lawrence Lessig is a Harvard Law School professor who said that any order to change the tax status of non-profits would be legally questionable. He said that there was no way a court could conclude that Trump had the authority to change the tax status for any organization without an investigation that began before Trump targeted that organization and determined that the organization violated the laws. (Reporting and editing by Peter Graff, Virginia Furness and Valerie Volcovici)
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South Korea's LG Energy Solution withdraws from Indonesian EV battery investments
LG Energy Solution, a South Korean company, has officially withdrawn from an $8.45 billion project in Indonesia to develop the production of electric vehicle batteries. The company announced this on Monday. LGES and Indonesian Government signed a contract on the Indonesia Grand Package Project in late 2020. This project includes investments in the EV Battery Supply Chain in Southeast Asian Country. LGES issued a statement saying that "we have decided to formally withdraw" from the Indonesia GP project (Grand Package). The report added that "however, we will explore various avenues for collaboration with the Indonesian Government, focusing on the Indonesian battery joint venture HLI Green Power." HLI Green Power is a joint venture between LGES and Hyundai Motor Group. It inaugurated last year Indonesia's first production facility for battery cells with a capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours per annum. The second phase of the investment will see the expansion of the plant's capacity. Tri Winarno, an official from the Energy Ministry, stated that Indonesia will continue to look for foreign investors who can partner with local companies in order to develop the battery sector, taking advantage of the rich nickel reserves found throughout the country. He told reporters that "Even after LG left, Indonesia is still convinced that our nickel remains more competitive than any other country." Aneka Tambang Indonesia, a state-controlled miner that had planned to create a joint venture with LGES for nickel mining, has said it is committed to working with other companies in order to supply nickel to battery producers. Indonesia Battery Corporation (the state firm that had planned to partner up with LGES) did not respond when asked for comment.
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Source: India will impose a temporary 12% tariff on steel imports to limit cheap Chinese imports
A government source who is directly involved in the matter said that India will impose a temporary duty of 12%, locally known as safeguard duty, on imports of steel to curb an influx of cheap imports coming from China and other countries. Source who didn't want to be identified said on Monday that the government would implement the tax as quickly as possible. India, which is the world's 2nd largest crude steel producer, also became a net steel importer for the second year running in fiscal 2024/25, with shipments hitting a 9-year-high of 9.5 millions metric tons. As part of its efforts to curb cheap imports, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies, which is under the Federal Trade Ministry, recommended a 12% tariff on certain steel products. This recommendation was made after an investigation in December of last year to determine whether or not unbridled steel imports had harmed India’s domestic industry. The source stated that "it is clear that the duty will be 12%, and a decision should be made at the earliest," referring to the plan previously unknown of going ahead with the DGTR recommendation. The Ministry of Finance which makes the final decision did not respond immediately to an email seeking comment. India's finished-steel imports from China and South Korea, as well as Japan, reached a new record in the first ten months of the fiscal year ending in March. India imported 78% of its total finished steel from China, South Korea, and Japan. India's smaller steel mills have been forced to reduce their operations and even consider job cuts due to the influx of cheap, imported steel. India has joined a growing number of countries that are considering taking action to curb imports. Steel Authority of India, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, and JSW Steel, India's largest steelmakers, have all expressed concern over imports. (Reporting and editing by Mayank Bhhardwaj, Andrew Cawthorne and Neha Arora)
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Republican lawmakers are faced with a clean-energy dilemma as they work on a tax bill
Republican lawmakers who are working to extend President Donald Trump’s tax cut legislation face a clean-energy dilemma at home. Major clean energy investments are being made in their districts, but Trump’s skepticism about the industry is at odds. The Ways & Means committee of the House of Representatives, which is responsible for drafting the tax legislation to extend the 2017 tax cuts, has 11 Republicans who represent regions that have seen green energy investments of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars over the past few years. Clean energy investments boomed after former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act passed a then-Democratic-controlled Congress in 2022, authorizing hundreds of billions of dollars of clean energy tax credits for businesses, most of which were not capped. According to the data collected by Atlas Public Policy and Utah State University, since then, companies have invested more than $165 Billion in clean energy manufacturing across the country. The House Republicans want to reduce federal spending by at least $1.5 trillion dollars over the next decade. This is to offset the cost of extending tax cuts, which will likely be more than $4.5 billion. The data shows that more than 75% -- or almost $125 billion dollars -- of clean-energy investment was targeted to Republican-held congressional district. Trump had long called electric cars a hoax, before he forged a close alliance with Tesla. He also claimed to have bought one at an event held by the White House last month. In his district, east of Memphis in Tennessee, Representative David Kustoff touts Ford's investment to build a new production hub for the electric F-series pick-ups, which was boosted by legislation. Ford and its South Korean partner SK Innovation contributed the majority of the $6.5 billion invested in the district over the last four years. This is the highest amount of any House Republican tax writers. Kustoff, speaking to the Jackson Rotary Club about the tax writing process, said that it was important for the people of west Tennessee. Two people familiar with this pledge say that the White House tried to convince fiscal hawks in the House who were working on the budget to move the chamber forward, in a document released in February, to eliminate the green energy tax credit "to the maximum extent possible" to generate new revenue and offset any new costs that could be incurred in the tax bill. Ford works behind the scenes with legislators to maintain tax credits, according a source familiar with the discussions. Balance of Party Line versus District Honda and General Motors, the two other automakers with the most investments in clean energy, invested billions each into electric vehicle battery factories for the districts that followed. Representative Mike Carey praised the estimated 2,000 manufacturing jobs that Honda will create in South Bend, Indiana, in his district, southeast of Columbus, Ohio. Representative Rudy Yakym, in a press release, said he was "thrilled" about GM's historic investment in 2023, which included 1,700 jobs in South Bend. In the district of Representative Beth Van Duyne, a tax writer and representative from Fort Worth in Texas, a new rare-earth magnet production facility was built. MP Materials has invested $700 million into the facility to achieve its goal of becoming "America's First Fully-Integrated Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing Facility". In a press release from 2024, they said that the Biden-era 2022 law funded a tax credit for energy projects worth almost $60 million. Kustoff, Carey Yakym and Van Duyne declined to comment on their tax priorities. A GM spokesperson stated that the tax credits for advanced manufacturing production "advance U.S. Leadership in Critical Technologies" and have led to the automaker announcing thousands of new jobs in three states. According to data, Republican legislators represent 16 of the 20 top House districts in the country with the most recent investments in clean energy manufacturing. Last month, many of them spoke out against "disruptive" changes to the nation's energy taxes. Ryan Bernstein is the leader of McGuireWoods Consulting's energy practice. "You won't be able to see much dialogue in the public eye, so it will create a dark box on what will or won't be included." Josh Brown, President of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce said, "It's very important for the government to honor its commitments when companies make decisions that are dependent on federal or state actions." He cited Ford's huge investment in rural western Tennessee. "Any chance that this investment might be curtailed or withdrawn based upon congressional action is extremely concerning." (Reporting and editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Scott Malone; Additional reporting by Kalea in Detroit)
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Trump's job cuts undermine black lung protections as he targets coal revival
Josh Cochran has been working in West Virginia coal mines since he was 22, earning a six-figure income that enabled him to purchase a house with his wife Stephanie, and go hunting and fishing in his free time. He was diagnosed with advanced lung disease at 43 years old. He is now awaiting a lung donation, uses an oxygen tank to breathe, and requires his wife's help with basic household tasks. He says that his saving grace is the fact that he still has a job. Part 90, a federal program administered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, allowed him to be relocated to a desk-based job at the same company when he received his diagnosis. He retained his salary. "Part 90 is all you have," he said, while signing documents for the transplant. It was a simple job that left him exhausted. "You can make what you have made and they won't be able to get rid of you." This program, which relocates black lung coal miners to safer jobs with the same pay, is coming to an end due to the mass layoffs, office closures, and other measures imposed by Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Interviews with over a dozen individuals involved in medical programs for the coal industry and an examination of NIOSH internal documents show that three federal programs in this area have ceased to operate in recent weeks. NIOSH has suspended a decades-old lung disease detection program for coal miners. As well, related programs that provided x-rays at mine sites and lung tests have been shut down. It is also unclear who will enforce safety rules like the new limits on exposure to silica dust after nearly half of MSHA's offices were scheduled to be terminated. The government's mass cuts and funding cuts led to the cancellation of the black lung program. Details about this had not been previously reported. Anita Wolfe said, "It will be devastating for miners," a veteran of NIOSH with 40 years' experience who is still in contact with the agency. Nobody will be monitoring mines. Trump has voiced support for the domestic industry of coal, which historically supported him. Trump signed an executive order to promote the coal industry at a White House event flanked by hard-hatted coal workers earlier this month. This included extending the life expectancy of coal-fired plants that are aging. Jeff Crowe said, "Coal has been a dirty term that many are afraid to use," Trump identified him as a West Virginia coal miner. Crowe is superintendent of American Consolidated Natural Resources (ACN), the successor to Murray Energy. Trump declared during the ceremony, "We will put the miner back to work." "They're great people with great families and come from areas that we love and respect." Andrew Nixon, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees NIOSH said that streamlining government would better position HHS so it can carry out its Congressionally-mandated work to protect Americans. MSHA representatives and White House representatives did not respond to comments. The incidence of black lung has increased over the past two decades. This is despite the fact that coal production has declined. NIOSH estimates 20% of coal miner in Central Appalachia suffers from black lung disease. This is the highest rate in 25 years. Workers in these aging mines blast rock to reach diminishing coal deposits. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the coal industry employs around 43,000 people. MORE MINING, MORE RISE Three sources within NIOSH claim that around 875 employees of the roughly 1,000 strong NIOSH workforce were terminated across the nation as a result of HHS's sweeping job cuts this month. According to an email from NIOSH dated April 4, the flagship black lung program of the department, the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program has been put on hold. We will continue to process all the information we have as long as possible. The email states that "we have no more information regarding the future of CWHSP." According to sources familiar, the CWHSP has also stopped its regular black lung screenings. These tests were conducted on site by mobile trailers in coal mines. There was no money for fuel or to pay epidemiologists to review on-site lung tests or x-rays. According to NIOSH veteran Wolfe, for many miners this program is their only source of medical checksups. The loss of NIOSH staff has also affected the ability of black lung infected miners to receive relocation with pay under the Part 90 program. NIOSH will only accept lung x-rays that reveal black lung. Scott Laney who was laid off as an epidemiologist at NIOSH in West Virginia, said that all NIOSH employees required to review x-rays had been fired. Laney said he, his laid-off colleagues and a "war room" informal in his living room have been working to bring attention to this issue among Washington legislators. "I want them to be protected while they are working, if they are sent into mines by executive order or any other mechanism," he said. Sam Petsonk is a West Virginia lawyer who represents black lung sufferers. He said that relocating sick miner's to other areas where there are less dusty conditions was crucial, because of the severe risks associated with continuing to work while ill. He said, "It's getting to the point where days and months are important for this program." SILICA THREAT MSHA finalized a regulation last year that would reduce by half the permissible limit of exposure to crystalline silicon for miners and workers - a move to combat the increasing rates of black lung. Chris Williamson said that the Trump administration pushed the implementation of the rule back to August from April, and it may be difficult to enforce, given the planned office closures and staff reductions at MSHA. Williamson was a former assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health under the Biden Administration. He said that there were still 20 unfilled mine inspector positions when he left MSHA. After Trump's election, 90 people who had been offered MSHA inspector jobs had their offers rescinded, and 120 others took buyouts. Mine inspectors have the responsibility of ensuring safety standards in mines to reduce accidents, illnesses and deaths. The loss of resources and staff could make black lung more prevalent among Appalachian miners, especially if mining activities increase, said Drew Harris a black-lung specialist in southern Virginia. He said, "It's difficult for me to cut back on resources to prevent this disease after seeing hundreds of mine workers with it." Kevin Weikle is a 35-year old West Virginia miner who was diagnosed in 2023 with advanced black lung during a screening. He said that the cuts are not logical at a time when the administration wants coal production to increase and will push safety standards back by decades. "Don't get me wrong, I mean, I'm Republican," Weikle said. "But I believe there are safer ways to produce coal without compromising safety." (Reporting and editing by Richard Valdmanis, Anna Driver, and Valerie Volcovici)
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Saudi Aramco signss development deal with China’s electric vehicle giant BYD
Aramco, the Saudi oil giant, announced on Monday that it had signed a joint-development agreement with BYD, a Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), to explore collaborations in the development and production of new energy vehicle technology. The agreement signed by Aramco's Saudi Aramco Technologies Company aims to improve vehicle efficiency and environmental performance as the Kingdom intensifies its efforts to transition to cleaner mobility. The deal was announced after the U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla officially launched its presence in Saudi Arabia on April 10 with an event held in Riyadh. The company wants to boost global sales which dropped 13% in 2025's first quarter due to increased competition and political controversy around CEO Elon Musk. Ali A. Al-Meshari said that Aramco was exploring ways to optimise transport efficiency. These include innovative fuels with lower carbon emissions and advanced powertrain concepts. Saudi Arabia has set a high-profile target of increasing electric vehicle adoption by 1% in the next five years to 30%. The kingdom is facing infrastructure challenges with only 101 EV chargers recorded by 2024. Tesla announced plans to launch online sales, pop up stores, and Supercharger Stations in key Saudi cities as part of its expansion. BYD and Tesla, the two world's largest EV manufacturers, are increasingly competing for global dominance as BYD’s rapid growth, and its lower-cost models, pressure Tesla's market share in key areas.
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The US tariffs continue to affect the Gulf market.
The Gulf's major stock exchanges fell early on Monday, in line with Asian markets as U.S. president Donald Trump's aggressive trade tariffs and criticism of the Federal Reserve Chief continued to undermine investor confidence. Last week, Trump attacked Fed chair Jerome Powell. This fueled speculation about his possible removal and raised questions about U.S. financial security and the central bank’s autonomy. Credibility of the Fed as the most powerful central banking institution in history is largely based on its historical independence, which has allowed it to act without political influence. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index dropped 0.2% on Sunday, mainly due to a drop of 0.4% in the oil giant Saudi Aramco as well as a decrease of 0.6% in Saudi Telecom Company. Oil prices, a key factor in the Gulf financial markets, fell by 1.5% on Sunday as investors focused once again on fears that tariffs on U.S. trading partner countries would create economic headwinds. In Abu Dhabi the index fell by 0.2%. The Qatari Index fell 0.1%. Qatar Electricity and Water Company, a utility company, declined 2.5% after a drop in its first-quarter profits. Dubai's main stock index rose by 0.3%, aided by Emaar Properties, a blue-chip developer, which saw a 0.8% increase.
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The March palm oil exports of Indonesia have decreased due to rising local demand
The exports of crude palm oil and refined palm oils from Indonesia fell by nearly 2% between February and March, as the local consumption increased due to Ramadan. However, shipments for March were the highest they have been in the last four years. The lower stocks will be supported by the higher exports from Indonesia this year, the largest producer of tropical oil in the world. Prices that were trading at premiums for the past few months have now started to trade at a discount. The statistics bureau reported that Indonesia exported 2,002 tons of crude palm oil and refined palm oils in March, a slight decrease from 2,006 tons the month before. Exports are still up 13% since March 2024. The data revealed that March's shipments totaled $2.19 billion compared to February's $2.27 million. The data of the bureau exclude palm kernel oil and biodiesel. GAPKI, the Indonesian palm oil association, releases its own data later. This includes more products. The export figures are also different. The consumption of palm oil in Indonesia, which is the largest Muslim majority nation on earth, usually increases during Ramadan. Anilkumar bagani, the research head at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group, who deals in vegetable oils, says that there was no significant decline in Indonesian exports because palm oil prices were still attractive for buyers when compared with Malaysian offerings. He said that April exports were expected to be higher due to the strong purchasing by India and other Asian countries. Palm oil is mainly competing with supplies of soyoil, sunflower oil, and Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. "Palm Oil has started to trade at a discounted price in comparison with soyoil." This should boost exports over the next few months when production is expected to increase," said a New Delhi-based dealer at a global trading house. The dealer stated that despite lower exports, inventories of palm oil in Indonesia could have decreased due to lower production during the Ramadan holiday and increased consumption as a result of the country's implementation a mandatory 40% biodiesel mix.
In March, India's infrastructure production rose 3.8% year-on-year.
Government data released on Monday showed that India's infrastructure production grew by 3.8% in March, mainly due to strong steel and cement output.
The infrastructure output (which tracks eight different sectors and accounts for 40% of industrial production in the country) grew by a revised 3,4% in February compared to an initial estimate of 2,9%.
Cement production increased 11.6% in march, compared with a revised 10.8% rise in February. Steel production rose 7.1%, against a revised advance of 6.9% a month before.
Fertilizer output grew by 8.8%, compared to 10.2% the month before. Coal production increased 1.6% compared to 1.7% in February.
The electricity generation in March was 6.2% higher than the revised 3.6% growth in the previous month. Refined oil products were up 0.2% compared to 0.8% the month prior.
In March, crude oil production fell 1.9% compared to a 5.2% decline in February. Natural gas production also declined 12.7% compared to a 6% decrease in February.
The infrastructure output increased by 4.4% during the fiscal years 2024-25.
(source: Reuters)