PERTH — Australia will offer at least three hours of free solar power every day to households including those without solar panels under an energy-saving program that is expected to go live in 2026, energy minister Chris Bowen said on Tuesday.

The Solar Sharer program will begin in the states of New South Wales and South Australia as well as southeast Queensland before it is expanded elsewhere.

Users will get free solar power when generation capacity is highest in the middle of the day.

“People who are able to move electricity use into the zero-cost power period will benefit directly, whether they have solar panels or not and whether they own or rent, and the more people take up the offer and move their use, the greater the system benefits that lower costs for all electricity users will be,” Mr. Bowen said.

The share prices of two of Australia’s largest electricity suppliers AGL and Origin Energy fell 3% by late afternoon.

About four million households in Australia have rooftop solar panels on their homes and peak time sunny afternoons can supply so much power that electricity prices swing into the negative, while peak demand is often several hours later, putting strain on the grid.

Households, including apartment dwellers, will be able to access the program even without their own solar panels.

In 2022, Mr. Bowen set a target of 82% renewable electricity by 2030 in addition to the legislated target of a 43% reduction in emissions over the levels in 2005.

Customers who choose the deal must have a smart meter and will only benefit if they shift their peak usage to the middle of day and run appliances and charge vehicles then. — Reuters

SEOUL — The United States will look at “flexibility” for US troops stationed in South Korea to operate against regional threats, but the core of the alliance with Seoul will remain focused on deterring North Korea, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday.

He spoke alongside his South Korean counterpart during a visit to South Korea that earlier included a trip to the Demilitarized Zone on the border with North Korea.

When asked whether the 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea might be used in any conflicts beyond the peninsula, including with China, Mr. Hegseth told a briefing that protecting against nuclear-armed North Korea is the goal of the alliance.

“But there’s no doubt that flexibility for regional contingency is something we would take a look at,” he said.

Mr. Hegseth said the two sides were still working on a joint communique expected to address talks about defense costs and other issues, adding they had discussed South Korea making greater military investments.

The allies had also agreed to have South Korea maintain and repair US ships, allowing them to stay in the area and be ready if needed, Mr. Hegseth said. — Reuters

SYDNEY — Australia’s defense force operations to protect its sea trade routes, including through the South China Sea, are becoming more risky as Beijing undertakes the “biggest military build-up in the world today”, Australia’s defence minister said on Tuesday.

Open sea lanes, including trade routes that go through the South China Sea and East China Sea, are at the core of Australia’s national interest, Richard Marles said in an opening speech at a navy conference in Sydney.

“That work is challenging and in truth it is becoming increasingly risky. The biggest military build-up in the world today is China,” he told the Indo-Pacific conference.

“That it is happening without strategic reassurance means that for Australia and so many countries a response is demanded.”

About 100 protesters, including pro-Palestinian groups, gathered outside the conference centre in Darling Harbour in Sydney. New South Wales state police said 10 people were arrested and pepper spray was used after clashes with officers.

Several Israeli companies are exhibiting at the defense conference.

Marles said Australia was increasing its military spending to build a “more capable, lethal, long-range navy”.

This included acquiring frigates from Japan, developing submarine drones with U.S. company Anduril, and expanding its naval shipyards facing the Indian Ocean.

Australia raised concerns with Beijing last month after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares near an Australian maritime patrol plane carrying out surveillance in the South China Sea, the latest in a series of such incidents that Australia has labelled “unsafe and unprofessional”.

Dozens of navy and coast guard chiefs, including from the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Pacific Islands, are attending the conference in Sydney, which comes as Australia prepares to build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet with the US and Britain through the AUKUS partnership. — Reuters

JOHANNESBURG – A G20 taskforce established by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the creation of an international panel to tackle inequality, warning that extreme wealth disparities disrupt democracy and cause economic instability.

“The world understands that we have a climate emergency; it’s time we recognize that we face an inequality emergency too,” said Joseph Stiglitz, who heads the Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality.

The committee’s report – commissioned as part of South Africa’s G20 presidency – found that the richest 1% of the global population captured 41% of new wealth since the year 2000.

By contrast, the poorest 50% increased their wealth by only 1%, according to data from the World Inequality Lab.

“It isn’t just unfair and undermining societal cohesion – it’s a problem for our economy and our politics too,” added Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winning economist.

The taskforce said in a statement that a new panel on inequality should be modelled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It would be responsible for monitoring the causes and impacts of inequality, and providing insights to governments and policymakers.

Its report also warned that 83% of all countries, accounting for 90% of the world’s population, meet the World Bank’s definition of inequality and that countries with high inequality are more likely to experience democratic decline.

The authors cited a “perfect storm” of global shocks such as COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and trade disputes, for worsening poverty and inequality. They noted that one in four people in the world regularly skip meals and that billionaire wealth has hit the highest level in history.

The inequality taskforce was a first for the G20 and is expected to present its findings to G20 leaders convening in Johannesburg in November.

The United States is set to take over the rotating G20 presidency at the end of this year. — Reuters

WASHINGTON – US manufacturing contracted for an eighth straight month in October as new orders remained subdued, and suppliers were taking longer to deliver materials to factories against the backdrop of tariffs on imported goods.

Accounts from manufacturers in the Institute for Supply Management survey on Monday painted a dire picture of the factory sector, which ironically President Donald Trump’s sweeping duties are intended to stimulate. Economists have long argued it was impossible to restore manufacturing to its former glory because of structural issues, including worker shortages.

Some makers of computer and electronic products agreed, and noted last month that “the cost to import in many cases is still more attractive than sourcing within the US” The ISM added to the gloom from other advanced nations’ factory surveys.

“Tariffs have been roiling the sector for much of this year,” said Stephen Stanley, chief US economist at Santander US Capital Markets. “The comments from individual respondents suggest that firms are exhausted by all of the back and forth on tariffs since the beginning of April and are suffering mightily as their customers have pulled back significantly.”

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI fell to 48.7 last month from 49.1 in September. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in manufacturing, which accounts for 10.1% of the economy.

The PMI remained above 42.3, a level that the ISM said over time was consistent with an expansion of the overall economy.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PMI rising to 49.5. Six industries including primary metals, transportation equipment and fabricated metal products reported growth. Among the 12 industries that contracted were textile mills, wood and chemical products as well as electrical equipment, appliances and components, machinery, and computer and electronic products.

Some makers of chemical products said business remained “difficult as customers are cancelling and reducing orders due to uncertainty in the global economic environment and regarding the ever-changing tariff landscape.” Others said “wonder has turned to concern regarding how the tariff threats are affecting our business,” adding that “orders are down across most divisions.”

Machinery manufacturers complained about tariffs, noting “the products we import are not readily manufactured in the US, so attempts to reshore have been unsuccessful.”

Others said the Trump administration’s trade war had hurt agricultural exports, and impacted farmers’ finances and their ability to buy new equipment.

China stopped buying American soybeans amid Washington’s trade war with Beijing. Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China had committed to purchase 12 million metric tons during the current season through January, down from 22.5 million tons in the prior season.

TARIFFS ARE CONSTRAINING PRODUCTION AT FACTORIES
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments on the legality of Trump’s import duties. Trump has defended the tariffs as necessary to protect domestic manufacturing.

The ISM survey’s forward-looking new orders sub-index rose to a still-depressed 49.4 last month from 48.9 in September. This measure has contracted in eight of the last nine months.

“For every positive comment about new orders, there were 1.7 comments expressing concern about near-term demand, driven primarily by tariff costs and uncertainty,” said Susan Spence, chair of the ISM manufacturing business survey committee.

A month-long shutdown of the US government is making it difficult to get a good read of the economy. The shutdown, on track to be the longest on record, has caused a government economic data blackout.

Prior to the shutdown, the economy appeared to be on solid footing for much of the third quarter, spurred by consumer spending and to some extent business investment in artificial intelligence. But the shutdown could undercut consumer spending as food aid for nearly 42 million people lapsed on Saturday.

Consumer spending is mostly being driven by high-income households, who are the biggest beneficiaries of a stock market rally, economists said.

Backlog orders remained subdued last month as did export orders. Production was weak after briefly rebounding in September. Tariffs are gumming up supply chains, resulting in longer delivery times to factories. The ISM survey’s supplier deliveries index increased to 54.2 from 52.6 in September. A reading above 50 indicates slower deliveries.

Manufacturers of transportation equipment said “US trade policy and reciprocal actions by China in the form of export controls on rare earths and semiconductors, as well as ocean freight carrier restrictions, have once again caused a lot of stress in supply lines.”

Factories continued to pay more for inputs, though the pace of price increases moderated. The survey’s prices paid measure eased to a still-high 58.0 from 61.9 in the prior month. That would support some economists’ views that the hit to inflation from tariffs could be a one-time boost to the price level.

Factory employment remained weak, with the ISM noting that manufacturers continued to lay off workers and leave open positions unfilled to manage headcount.

“There have been a lot of deals made with countries committing hundreds of billions of investment in the US, but these plants can take several years to get set up,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS. “Workers will have to wait a while longer to join the assembly line, because there are no good jobs out there yet.” — Reuters