2025-07-10 00:51

WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday a 50% tariff on copper, saying on social media that it would be effective August 1 and that the decision was made after a national security assessment. "Copper is necessary for Semiconductors, Aircraft, Ships, Ammunition, Data Centers, Lithium-ion Batteries, Radar Systems, Missile Defense Systems, and even, Hypersonic Weapons, of which we are building many," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Sign up here. Trump signaled on Tuesday that he was imposing fresh tariffs on copper, sending U.S. Comex copper futures to record highs. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-announces-50-tariff-copper-effective-august-1-2025-07-10/

2025-07-10 00:49

NEW YORK, July 9 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday sued California over its regulation of eggs and chicken farms, saying that the state's anti-animal cruelty laws created "unnecessary red tape" that had raised egg prices throughout the U.S. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, argues that the federal Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970 pre-empts state laws related to eggs. The federal law authorizes the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to regulate eggs in order to protect consumers' health and welfare, and it also requires "national uniformity" in egg safety standards, according to the Trump administration's lawsuit. Sign up here. The California attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Since the federal law's enactment, California has passed several laws to regulate eggs and chicken farms, including voter initiatives passed in 2008 and 2018 that prevent farmers from packing chickens together so tightly that a hen is unable to "lie down, stand up, fully extend its limbs, and turn around freely." Those state laws aimed to reduce both animal cruelty and the risk of foodborne illness, but the U.S. government said in its lawsuit that only the federal government can regulate egg safety. California can regulate chicken farms within the state, but it cannot impose additional requirements on eggs from other states that are sold within California, according to the lawsuit. The California voter initiatives have survived previous challenges from farmers and other states. Six states – Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky and Iowa – sued California over its egg regulations in 2014. The states who sued also argued that the federal law preempted California's laws, and they lost in both a federal district court and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 preserved one of the California voter initiatives, which was challenged in a lawsuit by pig farmers. The pig farmers had argued that California's 2018 ballot measure, which creates minimum space requirements for pigs and cows as well as chickens, impermissibly regulated out-of-state farmers. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-government-sues-california-over-egg-prices-2025-07-10/

2025-07-10 00:41

July 10 (Reuters) - Australia's competition watchdog said on Thursday it would not oppose any potential bid from French dairy giant Lactalis to buy New Zealand-based Fonterra Co-Operative Group's (FCG.NZ) , opens new tab consumer, dairy ingredients and food service businesses. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) informal probe into the unannounced bid came after a Reuters report that firms including Japanese food manufacturer Meiji and Canada's Saputo (SAP.TO) , opens new tab were mulling bidding for the units Fonterra was seeking to divest. Sign up here. ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said in a statement that the potential acquisition was unlikely to result in a "substantial lessening of competition." New Zealand-based Fonterra announced in November its plan to either sell the units or list them through an initial public offering. Fonterra said in an emailed statement on Thursday that it was continuing "to pursue a dual track divestment process and no decisions have been made." Lactalis did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Both Lactalis and Fonterra are major players in Victoria and Tasmania, buying large quantities of raw milk and producing a wide range of dairy products for domestic consumption. The competition regulator said in certain Victorian regions, alternative raw milk buyers would continue to compete with Lactalis, while in Tasmania, the French firm's limited presence would allow for fair competition with rival brands. Lactalis, one of the largest dairy products group in the world, owns a range of brands and sells everything from yoghurt to flavoured milk and desserts. Fonterra, New Zealand's largest dairy company, owns consumer brands such as Western Star, Mainland, and Perfect Italiano. "Fonterra stands to benefit from streamlining business operations by focusing on its core strengths in food service and ingredients," said Tom McBride, founder of McBride Wealth, a New Zealand-based financial advisory firm. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/australias-competition-watchdog-not-oppose-lactalis-bid-fonterra-assets-2025-07-10/

2025-07-10 00:09

SYDNEY, July 10 (Reuters) - Australia's central bank said on Thursday it was taking another major step toward a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) with a range of industry partners pursuing projects using real money and assets for the first time. The Reserve Bank of Australia said its "Project Acacia" initiative would test 19 pilot cases involving money and assets, along with five proof-of-concept use cases involving simulated transactions. Sign up here. The trials involve a range of asset classes, including fixed income, private markets, trade receivables and carbon credits. Proposed settlement assets include CBDCs, stablecoins and bank deposit tokens, as well as new ways of using commercial banks' existing deposits at the RBA. The platforms include Hedera, Redbelly, R3 Corda, Canvas Connect and other compatible networks. Testing will occur over the next six months, with a report due in the first half of next year, the RBA said. "The use cases selected in this project will help us to better understand how innovations in central bank and private digital money, alongside payments infrastructure, might help to uplift the functioning of wholesale financial markets in Australia," said Brad Jones, an RBA assistant governor overseeing the financial system. The RBA is concentrating on wholesale uses for a digital currency, having decided there was no economic benefit in an official retail cryptocurrency. According to the central bank, the benefits of a wholesale CBDC include reducing counterparty and operational risks, freeing up collateral, increasing transparency and auditability and reducing costs for institutions and customers. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/australia-takes-another-step-toward-central-bank-digital-currency-2025-07-10/

2025-07-09 23:20

EnergyX expands Smackover holdings to 47,500 acres amid low lithium prices EnergyX plans lithium refinery in Texas, aims for 50,000 metric tons annual production by 2030 GM has first refusal rights on EnergyX lithium projects July 9 (Reuters) - EnergyX, the lithium technology startup backed by General Motors (GM.N) , opens new tab, has bought 35,000 acres (14,164 hectares) in the Smackover formation from Pantera Lithium (PFE.AX) , opens new tab, the latest deal for access to the U.S. brine formation teeming with supplies of the battery metal. The deal boosts the holdings of privately held EnergyX to roughly 47,500 acres in the Smackover, an underground geological formation stretching from Florida to Texas filled with lithium-rich brine. It also underscores the growing interest in boosting U.S. production of the metal despite low market prices. Sign up here. Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab in recent weeks has bought Smackover acreage, joining Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab, Albemarle (ALB.N) , opens new tab, Standard Lithium (SLI.V) , opens new tab and others with holdings in the region. Analysts estimate the Smackover could contain more than 4 million metric tons of lithium, enough to make millions of electric vehicles and other electronic devices. EnergyX's A$40 million ($26.1 million) agreement to buy the acreage in southern Arkansas from Australia-based Pantera includes A$6 million in cash as well as roughly 2.3 million shares in EnergyX that the companies are valuing at A$14.50 ($9.47) each. EnergyX, which is controlled by CEO Teague Egan, has discussed a public listing in the past. Pantera, which itself had first agreed to buy the acreage in 2023, will be a minority shareholder in EnergyX after the deal closes, expected later this year. Shares of Pantera more than doubled in Australian trading after the announcement. The deal "connects one of North America's most prospective lithium brine basins with EnergyX's advanced extraction tech and downstream ambitions," said Barnaby Egerton-Warburton, Pantera's executive chairman. EnergyX is also building a lithium refinery in nearby Texas that will process lithium from the Smackover brine. The company aims to be producing 12,500 metric tons of lithium per year by 2028 and 50,000 metric tons per year by 2030. GM, which led a $50 million financing round for the company in 2023, has the right of first refusal to buy lithium from any project that EnergyX develops. All of the companies aiming to extract lithium from the Smackover will need to use direct lithium extraction (DLE), something that has never been done before at commercial scale. DLE technologies could, if successful, produce the battery metal faster and cheaper than traditional evaporation ponds from brine deposits found throughout the globe, including in the Smackover. Egan, who founded the company in 2018, described the push into the Smackover as a competition. "The race is on to see who will be the first to produce commercial battery-grade lithium," he said. EnergyX will have to apply for a lithium royalty rate from Arkansas officials, who in recent weeks have approved rates for nearby lithium projects from Exxon and Standard Lithium. EnergyX tried unsuccessfully , opens new tab last year to buy Galan Lithium's (GLN.AX) , opens new tab assets in Argentina. A consortium led by South Korean conglomerate Posco Holdings (005490.KS) , opens new tab is an EnergyX investor. EnergyX is also developing a lithium project in northern Chile. ($1 = 1.5328 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/gm-backed-energyx-buys-lithium-rich-acreage-us-smackover-formation-2025-07-09/

2025-07-09 23:00

July 9 (Reuters) - U.S. semiconductor startup Groq has spoken to investors about raising between $300 million and $500 million at a $6 billion post-investment valuation, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The company is seeking the cash to fulfill a recently inked deal with Saudi Arabia, the report said. Sign up here. In February, Groq secured a $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to expand the delivery of its advanced artificial intelligence chips to the country. Groq has told investors that the contracts in Saudi Arabia will help the company bring in about $500 million in revenue this year, the report added. Groq did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. In August last year, Groq raised $640 million in a Series D funding round led by Cisco Investments, Samsung Catalyst Fund and BlackRock Private Equity Partners, among others, which brought its valuation to $2.8 billion. The Silicon Valley firm is known for producing AI inference chips that optimize speed and execute commands of pre-trained models. https://www.reuters.com/business/ai-chip-startup-groq-discusses-6-billion-valuation-information-reports-2025-07-09/