President Trump’s punishing new tariffs on more than 90 countries snapped into place after the stroke of midnight Thursday, the latest escalation in a global trade war that has started to exact a toll on the U.S. economy. Staggering U.S. Tariffs Begin as Trump Widens Trade War – The New York Times
President Trump said he would impose roughly 100% tariffs on all chips coming into the U.S. but exempt tech companies that have promised to manufacture domestically, a big win for Apple and other electronics firms worried about new trade challenges. Trump’s announcement came at an event trumpeting a new $100 billion investment pledge from Apple. The company has increased its commitments in the U.S. but stopped short of moving iPhone production to the U.S. as Trump wants. The company’s $100 billion promise adds to a $500 billion, four-year commitment Apple made in February that repackaged much of Apple’s existing spending plans in the U.S. Nearly every major tech firm has promised to put more into their U.S. operations, resulting in over $2 trillion in new pledges in the past seven months. f16AjRmObp1pmp4xDQAH-WSJNewsPaper-8-7-2025.pdf
General Motors just revealed that its employees recently took a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado EV on a ridiculous 1,059.2-mile trek across Metro Detroit without stopping for a battery top-up. That journey has now secured a EV range world record for the brand, besting Lucid’s 749-mile journey earlier this year. The truck in question is a Silverado EV in Work Truck spec with the Max Range battery pack, which provides 205 kWh of juice. The automaker says that the truck’s hardware and software were entirely untouched and representative of a customer vehicle. GM Drives Chevrolet Silverado EV 1059 Miles On a Single Charge
The announcement comes days after Trump secureda major trade deal with the European Union that lowered tariff rates to 15% in exchange for investments in U.S. energy and other goods. Trump’s deal with South Korea is similar in that it lowers the tariff on the country from 25% to 15%, and includes investment in U.S. energy. South Korea will purchase $100 Billion Dollars of LNG, or other Energy products and, further, South Korea has agreed to invest a large sum of money for their Investment purposes. “All of this will help reduce our Trade Deficit in a very major way” Trump said. Trump announces ‘full and complete trade deal’ with South Korea | Just The News
ams OSRAM has signed an agreement with Ushio Inc. headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, for the sale of its Entertainment and Industry Lamps (ENI) business. The transaction is expected to close by the end of March 2026. The purchase price of EUR 114 million is on a cash-and-debt-free basis. ENI’s product portfolio ranges from specialty lamps for infrastructure and cinema applications to extremely sophisticated light sources for semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment (WFE). The profitable ENI business delivered revenues of approximately EUR 170 million in 2024. Ushio Inc. has approx. 6,000 employees and provides light units, equipment, systems, and services through developing new light sources and developing and applying proprietary optical technology, serving a multitude of industrial segments. ams OSRAM Sells Its Entertainment and Industry Lamps Business – tEDmag
DOE has selected four sites—Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and Savannah River Site—to move forward with plans to invite private sector partners to develop cutting edge AI data center and energy generation projects. The announcement supports the Trump administration’s goals of utilizing Federal lands to lower energy costs and help power the global AI race. The chosen locations are well-situated for large-scale data centers, new power generation, and other necessary infrastructure. More details regarding project scope, eligibility requirements, and submission guidelines at each site will be available with the site-specific releases. These solicitations are expected to be released in the coming months, and partners could be selected by the end of the year. DOE Announces Data Center Site Selection on Federal Lands – electrifiED
The European Union and the United States agreed on Sunday to a broad-brush trade deal that sets a 15 percent tariff on most goods, including cars. In addition:
The agreement will “rebalance, but enable trade on both sides,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission said. The European Union last year accounted for nearly $610 billion of the $3.3 trillion in goods imported by the United States.
As the market for replacing traditional light sources with LED becomes more challenging, a new market is developing around upgrade of early-generation LED installations. This presents an opportunity to achieve greater energy savings, enhance lighting quality, and integrate advanced lighting controls. Supported by a small number of new commercial lighting rebates that are likely to expand in availability, this trend appears certain to grow. LED-to-LED Upgrades: Emerging Well of Opportunity?
Eighty percent of humans will engage with smart robots on a daily basis, and one in 20 supply chain managers will manage robots, rather than humans, by 2030, according to Gartner, Inc. Organizations are placing greater emphasis on enhancing the capabilities of their existing workforce by supplementing with robotics due to factors like labor scarcity and rising costs. Smart robots have been identified by chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) as an important investment area, though many acknowledge their organization lacks internal robotics expertise to maximally leverage these innovative technologies. While it won’t be necessary for supply chain managers to have the engineering skills required to build robots, they will need a general technical understanding of what the robots can do and how they work together with other robots and people. This knowledge will be crucial for understanding the business problems robots can reasonably address and provide this guidance to business leaders One In 20 Supply Chain Managers Will Oversee Robots By 2030
Fluorescent tubes have long been a staple in the American lighting landscape, illuminating warehouses, offices, and public buildings across the nation for decades. However, recent legislative actions in several states signal a significant shift in lighting technologies. Twelvestates have passed legislation that will prohibit the sale of fluorescent tubes in the next few years. Most of these states also restrict integrated compact fluorescent lamps (CFL-i), pin-based CFL-ni lamps, and high-CRI linear fluorescent, although they may go into effect at different times. In states with no legislation affecting the sale of fluorescent lamps, rebate availability will likely remain the same. Fluorescent Tube Bans and the Effect on Lighting Rebates
National Football League – American football began as a hybrid of soccer and rugby on post-Civil War college campuses. Football was wildly popular but disorganized in the early 1900s. In an effort to standardize and organize, the National Football League was formed in 1920 in Canton, Ohio. The NFL is the premier professional organization for American football, with 32 teams in two conferences and almost 1,700 active players. In 2023, the NFL generated nearly $20B in revenue. With its teams valued at $190B combined, it is the most valuable sports league in the world. The popularity of the NFL has made it a global sport. In 2002 the NFL began featuring fantasy games on its site. The NFL is the most valuable sports league in the world. NFL teams are worth a total of $163B. Each team holds an average value of over $5.1B, almost as much as the NBA and MLB combined. The Dallas Cowboys, valued at $9B, are the most valuable sports franchise on Earth. (NY Yankees are at 8.2B….just saying).
