Clean energy companies press US lawmakers to protect subsidies

 U.S. clean-energy companies are headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to urge Republican lawmakers not to kill lucrative tax credits contained in former President Joe Biden's landmark climate change law.

Hundreds of representatives from firms in the solar, wind and other renewable-energy sectors are meeting with members of Congress from both parties to tout their role in creating jobs and investment, lowering electricity costs and meeting soaring power demand from data centers.

Republican areas have benefitted from the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act since its enactment in 2022, with more than half of announced clean-energy, battery and vehicle-manufacturing projects located in Republican congressional districts.

Despite this, the clean-energy sector has been on high alert since the election of President Donald Trump, whose first executive orders prioritized unleashing U.S. fossil-fuel production, paused federal wind projects and froze funding for clean-energy projects from two Biden-era laws.

Trump has set his sights on scaling back the IRA, which contains billions in tax credits to support the expansion of clean-energy projects.

Some Republicans have introduced legislation to repeal parts of the bill, though more than a dozen Republican House members have urged party leadership to protect lucrative tax credits that benefit their districts.

The Republican-led Congress could deploy a legislative measure known as reconciliation to avoid relying on Democratic votes. Biden used the same tactic to pass the IRA.

The trade groups behind the lobbying effort include the solar industry's Solar Energy Industries Association, offshore wind group Oceantic and the U.S. Green Building Council, among others.

The industry is expected to meet with several Republicans who signed a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson last year expressing support for tax credits that have spurred investment in projects and factories. The letter was led by Representative Andrew Garbarino of New York.

More than 1,800 companies also signed letters to lawmakers urging them to preserve critical incentives. They include French clean energy project developer EDF (EPA:EDF) Renewables, residential solar company Sunnova and solar panel maker Qcells, a division of Korea's Hanwha.

"Businesses have relied on these tax policies to plan investments, hire workers, and change their product lines," dozens of companies wrote in a letter to Congressional leadership.

"Business leaders have acknowledged that repeal will cause many to eliminate staff or to move their business abroad all together."

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/clean-energy-companies-press-us-lawmakers-to-protect-subsidies-3849459

US Postal Service suspends incoming packages from China, Hong Kong

 

• The U.S. Postal Service announced it’s suspending inbound packages from China and Hong Kong “until further notice.”
• The change comes after President Donald Trump announced new tariffs that also target a popular trade loophole, called “de minimis.”
• Chinese e-commerce firms Temu and Shein have relied on the de minimis loophole as a way to bypass tariffs, and keep prices low.

• The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday it’s temporarily suspending all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong Posts.

  The change is effective immediately and will remain “until further notice,” according to an alert posted to the agency’s website. Letters and large envelopes, referred to as “flats,” sent from China and Hong Kong won’t be impacted, the USPS said.

  The announcement comes after President Donald Trump on Saturday signed executive orders imposing tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada. Trump on Monday agreed to hold off on imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, but the 10% tax on goods from China remains.

  A provision in the orders eliminates a popular trade loophole, known as “de minimis,” which allows exporters to ship packages worth less than $800 into the U.S. duty free.

  Chinese e-commerce firms, including Shein and PDD Holdings’ Temu, have relied on the de minimis loophole as a way to bypass tariffs, and keep prices low.

• https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/05/usps-temporarily-suspends-inbound-packages-from-china-hong-kong.html

Trump says ‘US will take over the Gaza Strip’ — after relocating ‘all’ Palestinians

 President Trump proposed a US takeover of the Gaza Strip Tuesday night — shortly after suggesting removing “all” Palestinians living there to neighboring countries.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump, 78, said at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised the concept.

“We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings — level it out and create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”

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Trump speaks during a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House.Getty Images

Trump added that the roughly 2 million Gaza Strip residents would be relocated to neighboring countries in a transitional phase — and indicated they would not be granted the right of return afterward.

“Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years,” the president said at the press conference.

Trump said he would deploy US troops to the territory “if it’s necessary” and that he imagined “the world’s people” occupying an “international unbelievable place” that would be regarded as “the Riviera of the Middle East,” with some Palestinians permitted to resettle there.

Netanyahu all but endorsed the idea, saying: “I think it’s something that could change history and it’s worthwhile really pursuing this avenue.”The Israeli leader said “

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Netanyahu said Trump’s proposal would be “worthwhile.”AP

He sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so many attacks against us, so many trials and so many tribulations. 

“He has a different idea, and I think it’s worth paying attention to this.”

Trump did not lay out a timeline for either the proposed US occupation or the relocation of Gaza’s residents, but he presented the overall plan as a well-considered “strong recommendation” to bring peace to the region.

“I’ve studied this very closely over a lot of months, and I’ve seen it from every different angle,” Trump said.

“I spoke to other leaders of countries in the Middle East and they love the idea. They say it really brings stability and what we need is stability.”

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Trump also said US troops would be sent to the region if it’s “necessary.”Getty Images

Hamas and Israel reached a cease-fire deal last month — after Trump threatened “hell” for the terrorist group if a deal to end fighting and release hostages was not inked before he took office on Jan. 20.

Hamas still controls parts of the Gaza Strip, despite being greatly reduced in power during the 16-month war.Trump said the US would become “somewhat more violent” if Hamas reneges on its agreement to release all hostages that it seized during the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack that sparked the war.

Egyptian and Jordanian leaders have already rejected Trump’s request that they take in Gazans.

But Trump claimed Tuesday that he believes Amman and Cairo will agree to do it, and that Gazans would be thrilled to relocate.

“Gaza is a hellhole right now,” he said. “It was before the bombing started, frankly, and we’re going to give people a chance to live in a beautiful community that’s safe and secure, and I think you’re going to see tremendous outpouring of support.”

The president made a series of escalating remarks about Gaza throughout the day Tuesday, and said in the Oval Office before the press conference that he thought residents “wouldn’t want to go back” after being relocated.

“I do see a long-term ownership position,” Trump said at the press conference when asked about the potential US takeover.

“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent, in a really magnificent area that nobody would know.”

https://nypost.com/2025/02/04/us-news/trump-says-us-will-take-over-the-gaza-strip-after-relocating-all-palestinians/

'US FAA says agency will continue to take part in aviation safety meetings'

 The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday that the agency will continue to attend meetings and engage with airlines on safety issues after an employee told air carriers that officials would not participate.

Airlines were notified on Tuesday by an FAA employee that agency employees would not take part in safety-related committee meetings, including on next-generation air traffic control issues and secondary barriers, according to an email seen by Reuters.

"This was an unauthorized communication sent by an employee," an FAA spokesperson said late on Tuesday. "We will make sure that commitment is clear to everyone in the agency."

Concerns over missing U.S. aviation expertise at key technical meetings raised alarm among some industry executives at a time when the country is reeling from its deadliest air disaster in more than 20 years, which killed 67 people.

Two industry sources told Reuters earlier in the day that FAA experts are not expected at some technical panels being held by the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

For example, it is unclear whether FAA officials will participate in an aircraft noise and emissions meeting later this month with ICAO's multinational Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP).

Planemakers and industry executives watch the CAEP group's work, as it discusses potential standards for new aircraft.

An FAA official said there was no blanket prohibition on attending any events but it is not clear if FAA employees would attend specific ICAO events.

ICAO was not immediately available for comment.

Separately, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday called on the Homeland Security Department to reinstate members of a nonpartisan Aviation Security Advisory Committee that Trump disbanded.

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/us-faa-says-agency-will-continue-to-take-part-in-aviation-safety-meetings-3849286

Ex-Google engineer faces new US charges he stole AI secrets for Chinese companies

 U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled an expanded 14-count indictment accusing former Google software engineer Linwei Ding of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to benefit two Chinese companies he was secretly working for.

Ding, 38, a Chinese national, was charged by a federal grand jury in San Francisco with seven counts each of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets.

Each economic espionage charge carries a maximum 15-year prison term and $5 million fine, while each trade secrets charge carries a maximum 10-year term and $250,000 fine.

The defendant, also known as Leon Ding, was indicted last March on four counts of theft of trade secrets. He is free on bond. Lawyers for Ding did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ding's case was coordinated through an interagency Disruptive Technology Strike Force created in 2023 by the Biden administration.

The initiative was designed to help stop advanced technology from being acquired by countries such as China and Russia, or potentially threatening national security.

Prosecutors said Ding stole information about the hardware infrastructure and software platform that lets Google's supercomputing data centers train large AI models.

Some of the allegedly stolen chip blueprints were meant to give Google an edge over cloud computing rivals Amazon.com and Microsoft, which design their own, and reduce Google's reliance on chips from Nvidia.

Prosecutors said Ding joined Google in May 2019 and began his thefts three years later, when he was being courted to join an early-stage Chinese technology company.

Ding allegedly uploaded more than 1,000 confidential files by May 2023 and later circulated a PowerPoint presentation to employees of a China startup he founded, saying that country's policies encouraged development of a domestic AI industry.

Google was not charged and has said it cooperated with law enforcement.

According to court records describing a Dec. 18 hearing, prosecutors and defense lawyers discussed a "potential resolution" to Ding's case, "but anticipate the matter proceeding to trial."

The case is U.S. v. Ding, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-cr-00141.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2025-02-04/ex-google-engineer-faces-new-us-charges-he-stole-ai-secrets-for-chinese-companies