FirstFT: Toyota to pour a further $8bn in North Carolina battery plant

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the Global Economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

Good morning. Toyota is pouring a further $8bn into its battery manufacturing plant in North Carolina, in the largest such investment by a foreign carmaker since the US passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.

The newly announced funding would take the Japanese group’s investment in the plant — one of its largest outside Japan — to about $13.9bn by 2030. It would also add about 3,000 jobs to the site it calls the “epicentre of lithium-ion battery production in North America”, bringing the total to more than 5,000.

The IRA, championed by the Biden administration, included $370bn in subsidies to build a US supply chain for green industries such as electric vehicle and battery manufacturing and swiftly decarbonise the US economy.

The legislation has already prompted an investment spree by Japanese manufacturers with Panasonic, Toyota, Honda, Bridgestone and others announcing additional spending plans in the US. Read the full story.

• More Japan news: The yen suffered its biggest daily fall against the dollar since April on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan made only modest changes to its policy of holding down government bond yields.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Chinese economic data: Manufacturing and non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices will be released from private data provider Caixin, a day after official figures showed China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracting in October.

• AI safety summit: The UK hosts world leaders, tech bosses and researchers for a gathering to discuss the risks of artificial intelligence. Here’s what to expect.

• UK-South Korea ties: South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol pays a state visit to the UK.

• Companies: Toyota, Apollo Global Management, Estée Lauder and Qualcomm are among those reporting results.

Five more top stories

1. The Israeli military said yesterday it carried out an attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza that eliminated a Hamas commander, and which officials in the enclave said also killed dozens of civilians. The strike came as Israeli ground forces engaged in fierce battles with Hamas fighters as they advanced on Gaza City, which Israel says is the group’s command hub.

• Satellite images: Since launching its incursion into Gaza over the weekend, Israel’s military has been tight-lipped about its plans for its ground offensive. But satellite images show a significant invasion.

• How Hamas fights: Faced with Israel’s technological superiority, the militant group has turned Gaza into a haven for guerrilla war.

2. China has signalled a further tightening of Communist party control over its $61tn financial sector at a closely watched policy conference. The gathering, which is intended to set the agenda for financial sector reform over the next five years, was chaired by President Xi Jinping and featured warnings of widespread weak governance and deep-rooted risks in the industry.

3. At least eight prominent Indian opposition politicians have reported receiving warnings from Apple that “state-sponsored attackers” might have targeted their iPhones. The newly formed alliance of opposition parties immediately accused the government of spying, an allegation rejected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party. 

4. An executive at Japan’s biggest military contractor said the country needs to step up its sales effort and reduce costs to become a global player in the fiercely competitive arms exports market. Masayuki Eguchi, head of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ defence and space business, discussed the group’s plans for a global defence sales push in an interview with the FT.

5. Eurozone inflation fell to 2.9 per cent in October, its lowest for more than two years. The figure undershot economists’ expectations of 3.1 per cent amid signs that the world’s big central banks now consider that they have done enough to bring inflation down to their 2 per cent targets.

The Big Read 

Governments around the world have made wind-powered energy central to their plans to cut emissions, setting ambitious targets for growth. To meet climate goals, offshore wind capacity will need to grow nearly 30 times by 2050. While most in the industry expect that capacity will continue to rise and that financial pressures will eventually ease, analysts increasingly doubt whether demanding targets for the technology will be met on time.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Generative AI: How will our behaviour shift when AI chatbots proliferate? Elaine Moore explains why our reactions might surprise us.

• Russian antisemitism: The violent scenes of an angry mob storming Dagestan’s airport in search of Israeli passengers were reminiscent of tsarist-era persecution of Jews, said Moscow’s former chief rabbi.

• Huawei vs Apple: Huawei’s new phone has been a hit in China but taking on the iPhone will come at a political cost, writes June Yoon.

Chart of the day

The way the Israel-Hamas war unfolds will have implications for human lives, the regional balance of power and perhaps even global peace. But it also has implications for the global economy, which has been battered by a series of shocks over the past four years. In his latest column, Martin Wolf asks: how big a shock will this latest horror prove to be?

Take a break from the news

South Africa’s national rugby team returned home to a hero’s welcome on Tuesday after their World Cup triumph, a welcome distraction from deepening economic woes under the ruling African National Congress, Joseph Cotterill reports.

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith