The New York Times - 30.07.2019

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 B1

N

TECH ECONOMY MEDIA FINANCE

3 POLICY

The student loan debt

forgiveness program may be

a mess, but it is already

starting to resolve itself.

6 TRAVEL

The microhotel, stylish and

tiny and cost-effective, is

increasingly popping up in

cities around the world.

10 SPORTS

A photo archive helps shed

light on the long, surprising

and occasionally bruising

history of roller derby.

For years, the American agricul-
tural giant Cargill has been on rel-
atively good terms with envi-
ronmental advocates, praised for
agreeing to a landmark moratori-
um on buying soybeans grown on
deforested land in the Amazon
rain forest.
In recent weeks, though, that
relationship has soured over the
company’s refusal to agree to a
similar moratorium in another en-
vironmentally sensitive region of
Brazil and, more broadly, over its
failure to meet its anti-deforesta-
tion targets. This month, the envi-
ronmental advocacy group
Mighty Earth released a report ti-
tled “Cargill: The Worst Company
in the World.”
The fierce reaction shows how
corporations that fall short of am-
bitious environmental commit-
ments can be received. And it
demonstrates the speed with
which a company can go from en-
vironmental leader to scourge in
the eyes of some advocates.
“What was disappointing was
that Cargill got lauded and then
didn’t follow through,” said

From Environmental Leader to ‘Worst Company’

By DAVID YAFFE-BELLANY

Cargill buys large quantities of soy from local farmers in the Cerrado, a vast Brazilian savanna.

NELSON ALMEIDA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

CONTINUED ON PAGE B5

WASHINGTON — Trade talks be-

tween the United States and

China resumed on Monday with

prospects dimming for a transfor-

mative deal, as both sides ap-

peared more focused on prevent-

ing tensions from escalating be-

fore the 2020 presidential election

than on making concessions.

Negotiators from both coun-

tries are continuing to press for an

agreement, but months of meet-

ings have so failed to yield consen-

sus on the most difficult issues

and there is little to suggest that a

compromise is within reach. In-

stead, the United States and China

appear to be trying to find a path

to keep the talks moving forward

and to avoid a breakdown that

could rattle stock markets and

hurt President Trump’s chances

of re-election.

Mr. Trump and his advisers are

playing down the likelihood of

reaching an agreement in the

short term, and the president sug-

gested on Friday that China was

trying to drag out the negotiations

in the hope that someone else

might occupy the Oval Office

come January 2021.

“Meeting after meeting,” Mr.

Trump told reporters at the White

House. “I think that China will

probably say: ‘Let’s wait. It’s 14, 15

months till the election. Let’s see if

one of these people that give the

United States away, let’s see if one

of them could possibly get

elected.’ ”

“I don’t know if they’re going to

make a deal,” he added, referring

to the Chinese government. “May-

be they will, maybe they won’t. I

don’t care, because we’re taking in

tens of billions of dollars’ worth of

By ANA SWANSON

and KEITH BRADSHER

CONTINUED ON PAGE B4

U.S.-China Talks Resume,

But Deal Seems Unlikely

The urgency has

subsided, and 2020

is on the horizon.

BAC NINH, VIETNAM — No country on earth

has benefited from President Trump’s

trade fight with China more than Vietnam.

The country’s factories have swelled

with orders as American tariffs cause com-

panies to reconsider making their products

in China. Now, more big technology firms

are looking to bulk up their manufacturing

operations in Vietnam, lifting the ambitions

of a nation already well on its way to becom-

ing a powerhouse maker of smartphones

and other high-end gadgets.

First, though, Vietnam needs to get bet-

ter at making the little plastic casings on

your earbuds.

Vu Huu Thang’s company in the north-

ern city of Bac Ninh, Bac Viet Technology,

produces small plastic parts for Canon

printers, Korg musical instruments, and

Samsung cellphones and phone acces-

sories, including earbuds. He said it would

be hard for his firm to compete against Chi-

nese suppliers as long as he had to buy 70 to

100 tons of imported plastic material every

month, most of it made in China.

“Vietnam cannot compare with China,”

Mr. Thang said. “When we buy materials,

it’s 5, 10 percent more expensive than China

already.” And the Vietnamese market is too

small, he said, to entice plastic producers to

set up plants here.

Negotiators for the United States and

China are meeting in Shanghai this week to

try to find a way forward in resolving their

bruising trade war. But for some compa-

nies, spooked by what now appears to be a

definitive darkening in America’s relations

with China, the appeal of working in the

world’s second-largest economy may al-

ready be tarnished for good. With smart-

phones, video game consoles and other

consumer favorites potentially next on Mr.

Trump’s tariff list, gadget makers in partic-

ular are feeling pressure to find new low-

wage places to make or finish their prod-

ucts.

Apple has homed in on Vietnam and In-

dia as it intensifies its search for ways to

diversify its supply chain. Nintendo has ac-

celerated a shift in the production of its

Switch console to Vietnam from China, ac-

cording to Panjiva, a supply chain research

firm. The Taiwanese electronics behemoth

Foxconn, a major assembler of iPhones,

said in January that it had acquired land-

use rights in Vietnam and had pumped

$200 million into an Indian subsidiary.

A Fitek factory in Bac Ninh, Vietnam. The company supplies Samsung, Canon and other big firms. Other Vietnamese suppliers have productivity and quality issues, but are “growing up,” said Vu Tien Cuong of Fitek.

LINH PHAM FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

An iPhone From Vietnam?

Thank the Trade War

By RAYMOND ZHONG

CONTINUED ON PAGE B4