The Boston Globe - 11.03.2020

B6 The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020

Business

By Larry Edelman

GLOBE STAFF

President Trump and congressional

Democrats staked out dueling posi-

tions Tuesday on how to help the Unit-

ed States weather the economic storm

caused by the spreading coronavirus,

as some congressional Republicans

gave a lukewarm reception to the

White House’s stimulus plans.

The president told a Senate GOP

lunch meeting that he wanted “a pay-

roll tax holiday” for workers and em-

ployers through the end of the year,

said Larry Kudlow, his chief economic

adviser. Trump also wants to assist

hard-hit industries, such as airlines

and hotels, through tax deferrals, pro-

vide aid to small and midsize compa-

nies, and ensure paid sick leave for

workers affected by the outbreak, Kud-

low said, declining to offer any details.

“The economy is strong, but we

know that there will problems ahead,”

Kudlow told reporters at a briefing by

members of the White House corona-

virus task force.

Democrats countered that they

want to help workers, too, but rejected

the payroll tax cut proposal. Instead,

they are pushing measures including

no-cost virus testing, paid family and

sick leave, adequate unemployment

insurance benefits, and food security,

especially for low-income families

whose children receive free lunch ben-

efits at public schools.

“We know more needs to be done,”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after

meeting with Treasury Secretary Ste-

ven Mnuchin. She said Democrats

were working on stimulus legislation

but didn’t offer specifics.

“If the Trump administration both-

ered to talk to experts, they’d say that

we need targeted economic stimulus

— including guaranteed emergency

sick leave — that is equal to the chal-

lenges families are facing during this

outbreak,” Senator Elizabeth Warren,

a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a

statement.

Even Senator Lindsey Graham, a

South Carolina Republican and

staunch Trump ally, said his fellow

GOP senators had a “mixed” reaction

to Trump’s plans.

“The payroll tax, as a general stimu-

lus — I’ve got to think about that,” Gra-

ham said.

PAYROLL,PageB

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‘Thepayrolltax,

asageneralstimulus

—I’vegottothink

aboutthat.’

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM,

a Republican Trump ally

JonChesto

CHESTOMEANS BUSINESS

Impacts will be felt across sectors

Winnersincludesomeretailers,whiletravelandtourismfirmsaregettinghammered

JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF

KEITH BEDFORD/GLOBE STAFF/FILE JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

UNDERTHE

WEATHER

Gatherings like

the canceled

Boston Seafood

Convention

(right), airline

flights, and

restaurants,

especially in

Chinatown

(top) and other

Asian

communities,

have been hit

hard.

STEPHAN SAVOIA/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE 2018

INGOOD

HEALTH

Business is

up at home

delivery

services,

grocery stores,

and BJ’s

Wholesale

Club.

DEVELOPING

SYMPTOMS

Supply chain

disruptions in

China are

starting to

adversely affect

the production

of Hasbro’s

Baby Yoda toys.

MORE

OIL

As Saudi Arabia ramps

up output, US shale

producers scale backB

By Ed Silverman

STAT

Nearly two years ago, Charles River

Laboratories paid $800 million for a

company called MPI Research to bol-

ster its business of running

clinical trials for drug makers

and other companies. But

Charles River, based in Wilmington,

did not know that one MPI employee

was an also an undercover agent for

the Humane Society of the United

States and had secretly filmed experi-

ments conducted on dogs, which were

later publicized online.

Now, a small biotech that was a

Charles River client has filed a lawsuit

accusing the big clinical research orga-

nization of allowing its confidential

trade secrets to be widely disseminat-

ed and compromising its business,

which focuses on finding a treatment

for mesothelioma, a type of cancer.

And as a result of this episode, Paredox

Therapeutics claimed, it was forced to

revamp its operations at a “vast” cost.

In its lawsuit, the biotech alleged

Charles River failed to properly screen

or supervise the “rogue” employee,

who was able to gain “unauthorized

access to... an almost verbatim de-

scription of certain highly confidential

procedures” in connection with ani-

mal studies that were being conducted

in an MPI facility in Michigan.

The Humane Society subsequently

CHARLESRIVERLABS,PageB

Videooftestsondogsbringssuit

CharlesRiverLabs

clientallegeslapses

DINA RUDICK/GLOBE STAFF

Charles River

Laboratories

(above) hired a

firm that

employed an

undercover

agent for the

Humane

Society of the

United States.

By Jeanne Smiale

and Alexandra Stevenson

NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK — Shares on Wall

Street surged Tuesday, partially re-

bounding from their sharpest drop in

more than a decade, as investors

seemed to take comfort from efforts in

Washington to protect the economy

from damage caused by the coronavi-

rus outbreak.

President Trump met with Senate

Republicans Tuesday to pitch them on

measures, including a payroll tax cut,

to help the economy amid signs of a

worsening outbreak in the United

States. He is also considering using the

Federal Emergency Management

Agency as a vehicle for delivering

funds to stimulate the economy, a

move that would not require approval

from Congress.

Though the stock market rebound

was at times wobbly, and shares

dipped back into negative territory

earlier in the day Tuesday, the S&P 500

MARKETS,PageB

Stocksreboundpartially

onsignalsD.C.willhelp

Butamid

thehealth

crisis,any

recovery’s

apttobe

shaky,say

analysts

B

oston’s international con-

nections are an important

contributor to the local

economy. But with the

spread of the coronavirus,

we are seeing a big down-

side to that interconnect-

edness: some businesses are hurt

more than others. A few might even

thrive. For everyone, it’s a new world

order.

Travelandtourism:At least six ma-

jor “citywide” conventions in Boston

have been cancelled, postponed or

have gone virtual so far. The Seafood

Expo North America show was the

most prominent; it was supposed to

have drawn 18,000 people. (Organiz-

ers are still trying to reschedule, but it

could be tough to accommodate such

a big crowd here later this year.) The

same can be said for numerous small-

er conferences and meetings. The

numbers add up quickly. Paul English,

cofounder of Boston online travel

agency Lola.com, said 40 percent of

business trips are being canceled.

The St. Paddy’s parade? Not hap-

pening. The Boston Marathon? Still an

open question. (The smaller New Bed-

ford Half Marathon was just can-

celed.) The ripples spread quickly: ho-

tels, restaurants, taxi drivers.

Paul Sacco, chief executive of the

Massachusetts Lodging Association,

sounds despondent: The impact on

hotels has been terrible. Millions of

dollars in revenue lost. Occupancy

rates dropped as much as 30 to 40 per-

centage points. Owners suffer, but so

do service workers who won’t get the

shifts they counted on.

Then there are the airlines. Hainan

suspended flights to China from Lo-

gan Airport, and Korean Air stopped

flying to Seoul. Domestic flights could

be next. Delta Air Lines, for example,

said it’s cutting domestic capacity by

10 to 15 percent. Massport reported

that the number of passengers going

through Logan’s security checkpoints

fell 13 percent during the past week,

compared to a year ago.

Retailandrestaurants:Bob Luz,

head of the Massachusetts Restaurant

Association, said he’s noticed the most

pronounced declines in Chinatown

and other communities with Asian

populations. Boston, as a whole, is

taking a hit, in part because of the

drop-off in tourism. It could get worse

for downtown places if legions of of-

fice workers get stuck at home. To

help, the tourism bureau added a

third week to the “Dine Out Boston”

event this month.

Jon Hurst at the Retailers Associa-

tion of Massachusetts says merchants

CHESTO,PageB

STAT