The Bush administration informed the European Union it wants to scrap a 12-year-old agreement that let E.U. members subsidize Airbus, the world's biggest plane manufacturer, a U.S. trade official said. Negotiations to replace that agreement are set to take place between U.S. and European trade officials next month. U.S. and European officials met in Brussels in July to begin working out their differences. Airbus of Toulouse, France, receives loans from the British, French and German governments that Boeing says carry below-market interest rates. President Bush told Boeing employees in Seattle last week that the Unites States will attempt to end the subsidies and will bring a case before the World Trade Organization if necessary. Democratic lawmakers have called for a WTO complaint since April.
No Iraq Holdback for Halliburton
Halliburton will continue to be paid in full for feeding and housing U.S. troops in Iraq after the Army gave the company more time to resolve a billing dispute. Federal rules stipulate that government contractors, such as Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root unit, can't be reimbursed for more than 85 percent of invoices until they submit detailed paperwork to justify their costs. The Army had twice before waived the rule for Halliburton.
General Motors will start making Cadillacs in China, the world's fastest-growing automotive market, to sell there, the company said. It recently opened its first showrooms in four major Chinese cities and says it plans more. Additionally, GM is moving its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai.
(Ng Han Guan -- AP)
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Tyson Foods said the Securities and Exchange Commission staff plans to seek a civil enforcement action and possible monetary penalties against it over benefits paid to some executives. Tyson Foods also said Don Tyson, its former senior chairman, had repaid the company $1.5 million. The SEC staff alleges that proxy statements for fiscal 1997 through 2003 did not fully describe or disclose about $1.7 million in perquisites enjoyed by Tyson and that the company failed to maintain adequate internal controls on personal use of company assets and the disclosure of perquisites and personal benefits.
LifePoint Hospitals, an operator of acute care facilities in rural areas, said it will buy rival Province Healthcare for about $1.13 billion in cash and stock. LifePoint will assume about $570 million in Province debt. The companies had combined revenue of $1.7 billion in 2003.
Global Crossing, a fiber-optic network operator that came out of bankruptcy in December, plans to sell its global marine systems unit to Bridgehouse Marine for about $132 million. Global Crossing will receive as much as $14.8 million, and Bridgehouse will assume $117 million of the unit's debt, Global Crossing said in a statement.
Belo said it would pay $23 million in cash to compensate advertisers for overstated circulation at its flagship newspaper, the Dallas Morning News. The Dallas media company said it would also spend $3 million on the internal investigation into the circulation overstatement and take a $26 million charge for the quarter.
McAfee, which changed its name from Network Associates last month to focus on computer security products, plans to buy privately held Foundstone for $86 million in cash. The purchase, which McAfee plans to complete in about two months, will bring it more than 400 customers, including AT&T and Motorola.
Huffy's common stock has been suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange, which said the sports equipment company's market value had fallen below $50 million. Huffy said it is taking steps to trade its stock in the over-the-counter market.
Gateway, which closed its retail stores in April, said CompUSA will sell its computers. CompUSA, which has 226 stores, will sell two Gateway desktop computers in addition to eMachines computers it already sells, Gateway's senior vice president said. Gateway bought eMachines in March.
T-bill rates were mixed. The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills auctioned yesterday was unchanged at 1.47 percent. Rates on six-month bills rose to 1.725 percent, up from 1.665 percent. The actual return to investors is 1.498 percent for three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,962.80, and 1.764 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,912.80.
