A7
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
Caterpillar, Apple among big names hit by trade war
By DAMIAN J. TROISE
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Com-
panies making everything
from computers to construc-
tion cranes are seeing their
profi ts hurt as the United
States’ trade war with China
causes the world’s second
largest economy to slow.
Apple is selling fewer
iPhones in China and Cat-
erpillar fewer bulldozers.
Nvidia, a maker of graphics
chips for video game con-
soles, reported a drop in its
revenue.
Intel and 3M are among
the other big-name compa-
nies who’ve recently blamed
circumstances in China for
their worsening fi nancial
outlooks.
More broadly, any com-
panies making the majority
of their revenue outside the
U.S. fared worse on earn-
ings and revenue growth
during the fourth quarter.
They’ll likely see further
falls this year.
China’s economy grew at
the weakest annual rate last
year since 1990. Demand for
Chinese exports faded last
AP Photo/Andy Wong
Women are refl ected on an advertisement for Apple’s MacBook computer on display near
a shopping mall in Beijing. Companies making everything from computers to construction
cranes are seeing their profi ts hurt as the United States’ trade war with China causes the
world’s second largest economy to slow.
year and the International
Monetary Fund expects Chi-
na’s growth to weaken fur-
ther in 2019.
Much of the current trade
uncertainty hinges on a
deadline, just over a week
away, that could see the U.S.
hike its tariff on $200 bil-
lion worth of Chinese goods
from 10 percent to 25 per-
cent on March 2.
President Donald Trump
imposed the penalties last
year over complaints Bei-
jing steals or pressures for-
eign companies to hand over
technology. Beijing retal-
iated with higher duties
on U.S. goods and told its
importers to fi nd other sup-
pliers. That led to a 40 per-
cent drop in Chinese imports
of American goods in
January.
The dispute has already
raised costs of goods for
companies and consumers.
An escalation of the trade
fi ght would ripple through
the global economy, said
Mark Schofi eld, managing
director at Citi Research.
Citi’s base case for
an immediate resolution
involves a preliminary trade
deal that would likely keep
tariffs, and uncertainty in
place. At worst, an escala-
tion adds costs to compa-
nies and more volatility to
the market, he said.
The two sides are meet-
ing for talks today and Fri-
day in Washington, and
Trump says he might be
willing to push back the
March 2 date if the talks go
well.
Even if a deal is struck,
the broader retraction in
China’s economy will still
be an issue.
Caterpillar was among
the fi rst companies to sound
the alarm. Its fourth-quar-
ter results fell well short of
forecasts and the Deerfi eld,
Illiniois-based
company
warned investors that sales
in China will be fl at in 2019
after two years of growth.
Caterpillar gets between 10
percent and 15 percent of its
construction industry sales
there.
Apple warned inves-
tors about a slowdown in
iPhone and other prod-
uct sales in China as earn-
ings season began. Nvidia
blamed “deteriorating mac-
roeconomic
conditions”
in China for a drop in
revenue.
Chipmaker Intel cited
lower demand in China and
industrial conglomerate 3M
cited weak sales for several
of its units.
While optimism over a
trade deal seems to be the
sentiment on Wall Street,
investors may fare better by
just holding out for a clearer
view.
“Nobody knows what’s
going to come,” said Mark
Stoeckle, CEO and port-
folio manager of Adams
Funds. “Investors are better
served by waiting for data
and facts.”
Boat: Marina is a Coast Guard drop-off for stranded vessels
Continued from Page A1
“We’re stuck with the
boat from there,” Glenn
said.
Since
2012,
Glenn
recalled it happening at
least twice.
More often, the marina
is a drop-off for the Coast
Guard, which brings ves-
sels stranded at sea with
mechanical issues to port,
and sometimes it becomes
a burden.
“It gets tied up at our
dock and we have to rely on
the boat owner to deal with
it responsibly from there
and sometimes they’re not
responsible and the boat is
in bad shape, then we have
to deal with it,” Glenn said.
Sometimes seemingly
sound boats will sink for no
apparent reason, despite the
port staff’s proactive mea-
sures. The last boat to sink
in the marina was the Aries,
a sailboat, in January .
Glenn recalled a few
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
Julio Ojeda in front of the Miss Jess, a 39-foot sailboat he won on a $100 bid at the boat auction
at the Port of Ilwaco.
close calls. On a cou-
ple of occasions, port staff
pumped boats that had
begun to take water, essen-
tially saving them from the
same fate as the Aries.
“It’s an ongoing thing,”
Glenn said.
One of the most notable
vessels to sink at the port
was the Lihue II in Novem-
ber 2017. The 61-foot,
pre-World War II-era boat
created a colossal contam-
ination concern requiring a
concerted cleanup involv-
ing the Coast Guard and
the state Department of
Ecology.
Once a boat owner
becomes delinquent in pay-
ing moorage, costs can
quickly infl ate as accounts
are transferred from an
annual fee to costlier
monthly rates. The accu-
mulated bill sometimes
exceeds the value of the
vessel.
Seizing the boat is con-
sidered a last step.
“We don’t want to go
after people through the sei-
zure process for outstand-
ing bills unless it’s abso-
lutely needed,” Glenn said.
On Wednesday, a pub-
lic auction was held at the
Port of Ilwaco that included
boats that were part of the
seizure process. The auc-
tions are typically held once
or twice a year, depending
on the number of boats.
The auctions serve as a
fi nal attempt for the port
to redeem cash and a last
opportunity for a second life
for the vessels.
“We basically have to
take custody of the boats if
they don’t sell, then we can
move on to destroying them
or trying to resell,” Glenn
said.
The boats up for auction
included:
• a 1969 51-foot steel
commercial fi shing vessel
named the Annie Marie
• a 1994 39-foot sailboat
named the Miss Jess
• a 1975 28-foot fi ber-
glass vessel named Y Knot
• a 1977 36-foot fi ber-
glass vessel named Billy I
The delinquent bills
ranged from $5,000 to more
than $18,000 .
“It could be that the boats
are aging and the people
don’t have the means to take
care of it, personal health
issues or a change of owner-
ship,” Glenn said.
“Every boat is a different
story.”
Pier: ‘This is the minimum rating for a bridge to remain in service’
Continued from Page A1
But an inspection late last
year found 48 bents “with
minimal or no bearing
under the timber posts or
on top of the timber piles,”
Johnson wrote.
“Due to the deteriorated
condition of this bridge,
with each major portion of
the bridge being in ‘serious’
condition, we recommend
the bridge be posted again
at 3 tons for all vehicles,”
he wrote. “This is the min-
imum rating for a bridge to
remain in service.”
Along with the East
Mooring Basin causeway,
the issues on the east side of
Pier 2 are compounded by
the deteriorating dock on
the west side. The Port has
estimated $7 million to fi x
problems throughout Pier 2.
The Port had received
a $1.5 million grant in
2016 from the state’s Con-
nect Oregon infrastructure
improvement program to
repair about 30,000 square
feet of dock on the west
side of Pier 2.
But after December
2015 storms left dam-
age throughout the cen-
tral waterfront, the Port
attempted to use the state
grant instead as a local
match on a larger pot of
relief money it has unsuc-
cessfully sought from the
Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency.
Knight has blamed
delays with FEMA for why
he decided to return the
state grant money. He was
not immediately available
for comment Wednesday .
At the meeting Tues-
day, Hunsinger ran through
a list of complaints about
Knight’s past actions and
unsuccessfully attempted
to have the Port Com-
mission schedule a spe-
cial meeting to review his
employment.
“Sometimes when you
have a basketball team
failing, you replace the
coach,” he said.
Commission
Presi-
dent Frank Spence, a stal-
wart supporter of Knight,
declined
Hunsinger’s
request, saying Knight has
a contract and deserves due
process.
Commissioner
Rob-
ert Stevens said that while
Hunsinger makes good
points, he weakens them
with character assassina-
tion against Knight and the
Port staff.
“We’ve got to pull our-
self out of this hole, and
we’re going to do it with
staff,” he said.
Commissioner
Dirk
Rohne concurred with Ste-
vens. Commissioner James
Campbell had left the
meeting by the point of the
exchange over Knight.
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
The Port of Astoria has cordoned off part of Pier 2, which
the state has recommended be held to a 3-ton weight limit
because of a rotting substructure.
Center: Group has yet to apply for tax-exempt status
Continued from Page A1
with the community,” Mof-
fett said.
The group has yet to
apply for tax-exempt status
or establish a formal board of
directors.
Members include repre-
sentatives from social ser-
vice organizations, including
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care and Clatsop Community
Action, as well as Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in
Astoria.
Erin Clausen, of Filling
Empty Bellies, a nonprofi t
that provides lunch to any-
one in need and offers other
services to the homeless in
Astoria, is involved with the
group, along with Vernon
Hall, a homeless advocate
who was formerly home-
less and served on the Filling
Empty Bellies board.
Last year, Filling Empty
Bellies made some headway
toward opening a drop-in
center, even partnering with
an employment agency to
lease property off state High-
way 202.
But the nonprofi t later
learned the property own-
ers faced foreclosure from
Clatsop County for unpaid
property taxes, throwing the
future of the site in ques-
tion. Plans to open the cen-
ter stalled and, ultimately, did
not proceed.
Moffett and Bowers’
group still has a long way to
go. It will need to develop a
business plan and secure for-
mal commitments from part-
ner agencies and social ser-
vice organizations . They
have yet to fi nd a building
and will need to consider
fundraising strategies.
Moffett and Bowers have
spoken to the city about
where, and in what kinds of
zones, a drop-in center could
be located. There appear to
be options in two types of
commercial zones for a pub-
lic access-type facility.
“Before we do any of
those things, however, we
need to ensure that there is
support in the community,”
Moffett said.
Moffett and Bowers have
expressed frustration with
some of the city’s decisions
regarding the homeless — in
particular a sweep of camps
in the woods last year —
and wanted to see the task
force take on more concrete
projects.
Former Mayor Arline
LaMear has said a drop-in
center is critical in address-
ing homelessness and it
was something she would
have liked to see established
during her time as mayor.
But she and other city lead-
ers were doubtful that city
resources could create and
maintain a facility.
However, LaMear did
believe the city could play
an important role in support-
ing and advocating for the
efforts of a group or organi-
zation interested in opening a
drop-in center.
FREE
WORK
SHOP
Local Impacts to Water Quality
How you can make a difference
Wednesday, February 27 th • 10 AM -2:30 PM
Mary Blake Playhouse, 1215 Broadway, Seaside, OR
LEARN MORE ABOUT:
• Cost-share funding for restoration projects
• Salmon fisheries and how you can help in their recovery
• Agricultural practices that can reduce soil runoff
• State requirements for working in wetlands and waterways
• The Seaside osprey nest and current restoration projects
• Stormwater permitting and requirements
• NRCS funding opportunities
To register for this FREE EVENT
Call 503-325-4571 or Email cswcd@clatsopswcd.org
FREE LUNCH
INCLUDED