US will push China to change policy that threatens American jobs, Treasury Secretary Yellen says

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the Biden administration will push China to change an industrial policy that poses a threat to U.S. jobs. Yellen said this on Monday after four days of talks with Chinese officials. She also said during her visit to Beijing that they had “difficult conversations” about national security, including American concerns that Chinese companies are supporting Russia in its war in Ukraine. But the focus of her trip was industrial policy, and what the U.S. and Europe describe as manufacturing overcapacity in China. Wealthy nations fear a wave of low-priced Chinese exports that will overwhelm factories at home.

Two years after its historic win, a divided Amazon Labor Union lurches toward a leadership election

The first labor union for Amazon workers in the United States is divided, running out of money and still does not have a contract two years after clinching a historic victory in New York City. Despite campaigns at several facilities in the past few years, a Staten Island warehouse still is the only site in the U.S. where the retail giant’s workers have voted in favor of union representation. Cracks emerged within the Amazon Labor Union ranks after it lost votes at two other warehouses, spurring strategy disagreements. Prominent members resigned quietly or left to form a dissident labor group. The union also continues to face roadblocks from Amazon.

Spain will scrap ‘golden visas’ that allow wealthy non-EU residents to stay if they buy real estate

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government says it will scrap so-called “golden visas” that allow wealthy people from outside the European Union to obtain residency permits on investing more than half a million euros (dollars) in real estate. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his minority coalition government would study the reform in the weekly Cabinet meeting Tuesday. Sánchez said the reform was part of the government’s push to make housing a right not a speculative business. The government says some 10,000 such visas have been issued since the measure was brought into law in 2013 by a previous right-wing Popular Party government as a means to attract foreign investors. “Golden visas” are strongly criticized for spurring price hikes and speculation in the housing sector.

Key lawmakers float new rules for personal data protection; bill would make privacy a consumer right

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two lawmakers from opposing parties are floating a new plan to protect the privacy of Americans’ personal data. The draft legislation was announced Sunday by two lawmakers from Washington state — Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell. Their proposal would make privacy a consumer right and set new rules for companies that collect and transfer personal data. Congress has long debated ways to safeguard personal data, but partisan disputes have doomed previous proposals. The new measure from Cantwell and McMorris Rodgers hasn’t been introduced yet, but their bipartisan support indicates the measure is likely to get serious consideration.

Biden administration announces $6.6 billion to ensure leading-edge microchips are built in the US

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The Biden administration has pledged to provide up to $6.6 billion so that a Taiwanese semiconductor giant can expand the facilities it is already building in Arizona and better ensure that the most-advanced microchips are produced domestically for the first time. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that Monday’s announced funding for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. means the company can expand on its existing plans for two facilities in Phoenix and add a third, newly announced production hub. Raimonda said, “These are the chips that underpin all artificial intelligence,” and she added that they also “underpin our economy.”

— Bulletin wire reports