Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Monday, July 28.
In the wake of the U.S. trade deal reached Sunday with the European Union, the focus has turned to China as negotiators from both countries work to hammer out an agreement to extend their current tariff truce set to expire in mid-August.
Automakers will be monitoring these talks closely as they seek clarity on Chinese exports of automotive-related minerals such as rare earths. Another element from China in the mix — but far less discussed — is graphite.
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As John Irwin wrote today, the U.S. Commerce Department on July 17 imposed a 93.5 percent tariff on imports of graphite from China, a crucial material used in lithium ion battery anodes. The department said China unfairly subsidizes the material and that Chinese suppliers were dumping their products in the U.S. at artificially low prices, Irwin wrote. While graphite is inexpensive compared with other materials in a battery, it can make up nearly a third of a lithium ion battery's weight, the story says.
As usual, U.S. negotiators are optimistic.
"We come into these meetings frankly with a strong hand, having made deals with the EU, Japan and many others," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview earlier today with MSNBC. "The fact that we are regularly meeting with them to address these issues, I think that gives us a good footing for these negotiations."
In other news, we have a couple developments from the retail world.
John Huetter reports that Honda Motor Co. has created a licensed insurance agency and partnered with broker HUB International on an insurance shopping website in an initiative the automaker called "the beginning of Honda's broader insurance strategy."
Meanwhile, Eric Freedman reports that the Federal Trade Commission had the authority to ban a company with a record of deceptive practices from providing advertising and marketing services to dealerships, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
The panel unanimously rejected a challenge to the FTC's 20-year ban on mailings and other services by Traffic Jam Events and its president, David Jeansonne II. His LinkedIn page highlights his personal involvement with the company, saying he "built it into one of the top automotive-marketing firms in the nation," Freedman wrote.
That's it for now. Have a great rest of your day. If you want to read this story in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
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