Cameras Made in China Used to Spy on US Infrastructure: DHS | Business Matters (Feb. 7)

and let's talk about today's business matters Google and Amazon stocks down today revenue from cloud services disappointing investors but it's not that people don't want their cloud services it's that they can provide what people are looking for both companies blame the revenue misses on an inability to meet demand for AI services so they're scrambling to put in place the infrastructure needed Amazon will spend over $100 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 and most of that will go towards Ai and data center spending that's 40% more than they spent in 2024 uh a big Jump by the way so Google is expected to spend over 50% more this year and the world's largest beauty group of L'Oreal is reassessing its Global markets in the wake of a potential trade War L'Oreal CEO said today the group plans to reduce its Reliance on the Chinese market while describing the us as quote the land of opportunity the CEO added that the company is seeing burgeoning opportunities in the US market L'Oreal saw a continuous decline in North Asia sales last year also last year the CEO toad CNBC that Chinese consumer confidence is a major issue causing the Market's performance to contrast sharply with other regions where the company operates China's consumer confidence declined to 86.2 last November approaching the country's all-time low in 2022 meanwhile gold soared to a new high after China imposed retaliatory tariffs on exports from the United States the precious metal is in high demand as central banks and investors increase their gold reserves in anticipation of a us China trade War now according to a February 5th report by the world gold Council Global investment demand for gold increased by 20 5% year onye in 2024 reaching a 4-year high of 1,300 tons central banks increased their gold Holdings for three consecutive years totaling more than 1,000 tons last year and early last month Goldman Sachs revised its gold price forecast to reach $3,000 per ounce by mid 2026 half a year later than its previous Outlook now if you were planning to take your gold out of storage at the bank of England you better get in line it says all existing slots to withdraw gold bars are booked up investors are apparently scrambling to take advantage of high gold prices in America prices are higher in the US than anywhere else in the world investors are seemingly worried the price of gold will increase if Trump puts a tariff on Imports of the precious metal the bank of England boasts the world's second largest storage of gold uh it looks after more than 400,000 gold bars worth billions of pounds the New York Federal Reserve is the top custodian president Trump has outlined his tax agenda he met with Republican lawmakers at the White House yesterday White House Press Secretary Caroline levit breaks down the key Provisions no tax on tips which is obviously a very public campaign promise that the president made no tax on seniors Social Security no tax on overtime pay renewing president Trump's 2017 middle class tax Cuts again these are the president's priorities adjusting the salt cap eliminate all the special tax breaks for billionaire sports team owners close the carried interest tax deduction loophole tax cuts for made in America Products this will be the largest tax cut in history for middle class working Americans now the president is pushing tax incentives for us made products he also wants changes to the state and local tax deduction cap and this is a priority for republicans in high tax states meanwhile GOP lawmakers remain divided on strategy they're debating whether to combine tax cuts with border security measures or pass them separately Trump is urging quick action saying he'll sign the bill as soon as Congress sends it to his desk Republicans will need near total party Unity to advance Trump's tax cuts and immigration policies given the gop's narrow majorities in both the house and the Senate Trump's tariffs are having an instant impact the maker of Sharpie pen says it will shift some of its production out of China after Trump sweeping 10% tariff new old Brand's CEO said on Friday the company is aiming to reduce its Reliance on Chinese suppliers it's following its unexpectedly quarterly loss forecast its shares fell almost 30% on the news newel's manufactures and sources products from China by the end of the year it PL to bring down the cost of finished goods imported to the US by a third the company also makes Rubbermaid Tupperware and grod children's products the Trump Administration is halting funding for building more electric vehicle charging stations the federal government had dedicated $5 billion to the program in 2021 the program's goal is to create a network of Rapid charging stations every 50 mies on major highways but the program was slow to roll out no Chargers were built in the first two years Trump recently signed an executive order on leashing American Energy that specifically targeted the program's funds also told agencies to freeze funding from the inflation reduction Act and the infrastructure law two courts subsequently order the administration to Halt its funding freeze now what would happen if all illegal immigrants working in construction were deported well we might just just find out the answer during Trump's second term on the campaign Trail he vowed to execute the largest deportation operation in American history in his first few days in office he issued a slew of executive orders just to that end the American Immigration Council says 13.7% of construction workers are illegal immigrants so Trump's deportation plan could have a significant impact on the industry entities Chris beers spoke with Chad PR founder and CEO of well-built Construction Consulting Chad pry is the founder and CEO of well-built Construction Consulting he specializes in helping small to midsized construction companies grow so he has a highly specialized Bird's eyee view of America's Builders his outlook for construction industry without illegal immigrants is not Rosy I hesitate to make a bold Proclamation because I I believe in America's resilience and I believe that we find ways to get things done but on its face this would be catastrophic for the construction industry that industry is already facing labor shortages pry says there aren't enough of every kind of worker from plumbers and electricians to roofers and drywallers in some pockets of our industry the entire Workforce is uh on documented you know or or the large majority of the workforce is undocumented and and you know everything from single family homes to Apartments a lot of woodf frame construction is almost exclusively done that way again depending on where you are in the country the Construction Consulting CEO tells us that unionized cities like Dallas or Washington DC wouldn't be as heavily affected as less unionized ones uh in these areas where there are mostly open shops in the woodf frame construction industry in particular it is I mean almost exclusively in an illegal immigrant Workforce pry told CNBC Mass deportations would shut down every project in cities like Austin Texas but would president Trump really Deport every single illegal immigrant he is focused on launching the largest mass deportation operation in American history of illegal criminals and if you are an individual ual a foreign National who illegally enters the United States of America You Are by definition a criminal and so therefore you are subject to deportation the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are 6.5 million unemployed people in the United States while Pew research estimates there are 8 million illegal alien workers it doesn't take complex math to see the problem here I think really what we need to be looking at is how can we create a legal status for people who are here in contributing and adding a lot to our economy uh who we really don't want gone we just want here kind of the right way we want here legally there could be plenty of construction projects under Trump 2.0 his deregulation and tax cutting efforts are already attracting significant investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure he may have to find a way to balance deportations with America's appetite for growth Chris beers NTD news us job growth slowed more than expected in January it follows robust gains in November and December but a 4% unemployment rate probably will give the FED more cover to hold off cutting interest rates that could be at least until June figures from the labor department show non-farm payrolls increased by 143,000 jobs last month labor Department's employment report also showed strong wage growth last month and the Trump administration's recently imposed 10% tariff on Chinese Imports could make your next smartphone more costly but don't panic just yet because there's a silver lining here uh and some important caveats so uh it may be a while before smartphone prices start to rise and those higher costs might not sting as much as expected the phone you want may already be in the US and promotional discounts May partially make up for price increases and if you pay in installments the price increase may only amount to a few dollars per month if the tariffs impact phone prices some analysts say consumers won't likely see price hikes until the fall or holiday season because that's when the latest batch of iPhones typically launches now according to ABC News a DHS bulletin says Internet connected cameras that are made in China give the Chinese regime the ability to quote conduct espionage or disrupt us critical infrastructure the bulletin goes on to say that there are potentially tens of thousands of Chinese made cameras on critical us infrastructure networks which include the chemical and energy sectors for more insight on this issue I spoke earlier with Rick delator former CIA senior operations officer and Senior vice president of strategic risk and intelligence and Continental strategy take a look Rick good to have you here so what your concern level right now hearing this well this is something that I've um many of us in in the intelligence Community especially here in the United States have have known about and and and have been concerned about for for quite some time I'm encouraged to see that the bulletin that was in uh that was issued by the Department of Homeland Security that underscores this as a as a serious threat I think uh to to not just Americans but us inst installations and anyone that that that that is can be construed by the Chinese government to be critical of of their actions or how they think um right now if you if you look at these cameras and and where they're manufactured they're manufactured generally um in factories in China um some of these some of these businesses have been sanctioned in Europe and in other places uh for uh for having chipsets that that allow the Chinese uh uh companies or servers to communicate back and forth without the user ever even knowing about it um other concerns obviously are that these cameras can be turned on uh remotely uh you can look at the footage you can look at the the storage access the network that these cameras are connected to and and have some control over all these systems um there then there's the obvious data privacy rights um since many of these servers transmit excuse me since many of these cameras transmit to servers in China and the Chinese government has uh laws on theat that allow them uh uh to force companies in China to turn over uh access to to those files to that data uh well you you really Americans don't have any control now at that stage so yeah there a number of of concerns with this so you mentioned earlier that you've known about this for a while now why is this still happening what is the US response too slow and why I I believe it is I believe it's been very slow we've know about this uh about uh Chinese manufacturing and particularly and things like laptops computers um routers cameras um chipsets that people can't seem to identify you know chipsets inside these the these electronics that no one knows why they're even there or what they do um and and and there there have been documented cases uh of of electronics uh pinging back sending information back uh to Chinese servers when when they were uh when it was never intended to do so so the DHS mentions white labeling uh as a way for Chinese cameras to bypass us bands can you tell us a little bit more about that what is it so white labeling basically means you could have uh you know you could create a company anywhere anywhere in the world here in the United States you could call the company ABC company and then uh you buy the same camera uh that a number of other people are buying me in one or two different factories in China and then you just simply put the label logo of your newly made minted company on it so these are the kinds of cameras that I think you would buy if you were buying them from uh from online retailers and particularly online retailers that that are primarily uh based in China um and you would see the same camera if you look at the photo it's the exact same camera but just under five or six different names so that that's what they mean by white labeling in other words even though the company could be a us-based company Corporation or or somewhere else in the world the actual components and the manufacturing of that of that camera is only made in you know in in one or two facilities in China okay so let's take a step back then broadly speaking do you think the US is doing enough to prevent these security threats or even future threats from Bad actors I do not no no I I I think there's much more that that should be done um in particularly uh with simple things like the apps we have on our phones the software we download on our computers and things like this that that are manufactured in China things like like cameras cell phones uh laptops um equipment that transmits or receives is something that that that any consumer should have some concerns about there needs to be some hard choices that consumers and corporations have to make if consumers however lead the way and they actively start to uh vote with their hard-earned currency and purchase equipment manufactured not in China say manufactured either here in the United States or in Europe or elsewhere um then corporations and manufacturers will hear that message and they will appeal to that customer base well all right Rick that's our time today it was great speaking with you thanks good talking to you next Amazon could be on its way to becoming the world's largest retailer you may think it's already there because Amazon's market capitalization has long been higher than Walmart's but SE Walton's company is still considered by many the biggest retailer because of its Revenue this quarter though Amazon is expected to report $187 billion in sales Walmart is forecast to bring in 180 billion still most analysts measure revenue on an annual basis and Walmart is expected to hit 681 billion for last year and Amazon has forecast to come in short of that at 6 38 billion that's still a big window for Amazon because it marks the first time the company will surpass $600 billion now let me ask you this are you more used to drinking from a plastic straw or a paper straw well president Trump will be signing an executive order to end the federal support for paper straws the president posted on Truth social today that quote I'll be signing an executive order next weekending the ridiculous by push for paper straws which don't work back to plastic now late last year former President Biden announced a national strategy to end a federal Reliance on single use Plastics Trump's plan is part of his broader push to reverse Biden's environmental regulations liberated brands has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to court documents you may recognize their popular brand names of Quicksilver bbong and vol connected to the surfing and skateboarding Industries and tia Marshall has details as these brands are closing all their stores here in the US Quicksilver bong and Volcom which have sold popular Surfer and skateboard inspired clothing for the last couple of decades are permanently closing all of their stores more than 100 locations across the United States will be shutting down in the weeks to come the Brand's operator liberated Brands LLC filed for bankruptcy blaming fast fashioned Rivals and other economic factors for its Financial struggles in bankruptcy filings the CEO said that a dramatic rise in interest rates persistent inflation and supply chain delays put significant pressure on libera's cost and revenue he also laid some of the blame on Fast fashion rals that let Shoppers cheaply quickly and easily order lowquality clothing garments while being able to adapt to micro Trends more quickly than brick and mortar companies between 2021 and 2022 liberated Revenue grew by 20% pushed by increased demand during the pandemic liberated CEO said sales increased from $350 million in annual revenue to 422 million the company who selling products at 400 stores worldwide including 124 in the US despite liberated demise and store closures the three brands aren't disappearing authentic Brands groups the parent company is moving the licenses to another operator to keep making the clothes and they'll be sold at specialty retailers department stores and online Sean Marshall ND news well that's a shame I used to go to their stores next Tesla raised the prices of its model X cars in the United States by $5,000 today the model X all-wheel drive will now cost $84,999 the high performance played variant will now cost buyers $99,999 Tesla did not provide a reason for the price increase last December Tesla increased the prices of its Model S cars in the US by 5,000 the company is working to reduce car production costs and said in January that the average cost of materials and labor for manufacturing its Vehicles reached its lowest point in the fourth quarter due to a slump in raw material prices accounting giant PWC appears to be selecting students from certain races to attend its job fair here's the story accounting giant PWC appears to be only admitting Black and Hispanic students at its job fair called pwc's Career preview a 3-day seminar in June on the application ation for it asks if the applicant self-identifies as a member of traditionally underrepresented groups in the Professional Services industry then has black or Latino in parenthesis this excludes people from other races such as Caucasians and Asians on a very fundamental level discriminating on the basis of race and sex is illegal legal expert Stefan padfield says he thinks this is discrimination in the name of anti-discrimination he says there are other ways to help certain groups without explicit excluding other races from career opportunities you can target areas that have low socioeconomic uh you know features and you can try to lift those areas up say through charity you can intervene in schools in the pipeline one of the key problems here is there are pipeline problems pfield says companies could help earlier in the pipeline when people from underrepresented groups are in grade school he also encourages promoting trade skills such as truck driving and carpentry at pwc's career preview attendees will network with a firm's employees in Orlando Florida it will pay for all travel expenses and accommodation PWC has not responded for comment diversity equity and inclusion or Dei programs surged in 2020 during black lives matter protests supporters say it helps historically discriminated groups opponents say it's special treatment to certain people just for being part of a certain group and deemphasizes Merit and now couples can say I do while chowing down on chalupas tackle Bell Cantina is helping love birds tie the knot with the wedding package at its location on the Las Vegas Strip a wedding chapel is on the second floor all the fast food restaurant Taco Bell's Chapel features an Elvis officient Vegas J girls and a sauce packet bouquet of course tacos are also included in the $777 price after the ceremony a quick reception is held in a private area of the restaurant for the couple and up to 25 guests Taco Bell weddings can be booked same day with at least 4 hours notice the NFL will play its first regular season game in Dublin Ireland in 2025 the Pittsburgh Steelers are confirmed as one of the teams to play The League announced the game but did not name an opponent for the Steelers or a game date details will come when NFL announces his schedule in the spring the Steelers and Chicago Bears played a preseason game in 1997 in the same Dublin venue which is the largest in Ireland the family that owns the Steeler has ties to Ireland team's late chairman Daniel M Rooney was US ambassador to Ireland and a co-founder of the Ireland funds charity the US state department will host over 50 Super Bowl watch parties across six continents that's in support of the League's mission to bring Sunday's championship game to every corner of the globe the Chiefs Eagles matchup will be shown at gatherings in countries like Australia Bolivia and Mongolia Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was grateful to the NFL for helping to make the watch parties possible he also said the Super Bowl captures the spirit of America where hard work pays off last year Super Bowl drew a record 62.5 million views outside the US the data shows the NFL's Global reach is growing Christmas Day game streamed on Netflix saw viewers from 218 countries and territories tune in okay on to Wall Street all three major stock indexes closed lower today and this comes after president Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff announcement following weak jobs consumer and uh sentiment data so a majority of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded lower with consumer discretionary leading losses now worth mentioning earlier job support showed us job growth slow more than expected in January and the final employment report under former President Joe Biden's Administration showed 598 th000 fewer jobs were created in the 12 months through last March than previously estimated and with that all on today's business matters