Apple’s CEO Tim Cook decided to close all Apple stores outside of China after the company took a beating during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. The company’s Chinese factories also took a gut punch from the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 is on its way to the record books as one of the deadliest bugs in history.
Mr. Trump’s economic team doesn’t have the experience or the credentials to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Economic advisor Larry Kudlow was a news commentator before Trump asked him to shape his economic plan. And the other so-called economists on Trump’s team are a group of loyalists who don’t measure up to the experts Obama and Bush had on their economic teams, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Kudlow continues to downplay the economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, even though the IMF and Wall Street economists think U.S. Gross Domestic Product growth will fall below 1% at the end of March.
The Federal Reserve Board will have to cut interest rates again in March, according to economists. Mr. Trump wants interest rates to drop to zero or below. Canada’s central bank just cut interest rates by 50 basis points. The Bank of England also cut interest rates to prevent a recession.
China’s economy continues to feel the impact of the coronavirus. The manufacturing sector is in shambles. And China’s supply chains and the transportation system are in the toilet too. The Chinese claim economic growth will return in the second quarter, but that’s not what Western economists say. The 6.0% GDP growth China enjoyed last year will fall below 4.0% at the end of March, and may not recover until next year, according to the New York Times. China’s tech giant, Huawei, made the press loop for adding France to its 5G contract list. France lawmakers think using Huawei’s 5G platform will help the country get into the 5G race faster. France plans to use Huawei’s 5G expertise to build parts of the country’s cellular network.
But despite Huawei’s success in the 5G race, the smartphone division took a punch in the face from Trump’s blacklisting. CEO Ren Zhengfei told the press smartphone sales will drop 20% in 2020. The new Pro40 series comes with Huawei’s Harmony operating system instead of Google’s Android operating system. That change will cost the company $50 million in smartphone sales in 2020, according to Zhengfei.
Dil Bole Oberoi
