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US government halts nearly complete offshore wind farm. Is Virginia’s next?


SUMMARY:

  • The Trump administration halted the nearly complete Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut
  • Pause raises questions about whether Dominion ‘s $10.9 billion project in will share the same fate
  • Dominion says is critical for Virginia’s economy, jobs and energy goals

After the Trump administration has ordered a halt to construction of a nearly complete $4 billion farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut, it’s reasonable to wonder whether Dominion Energy’s $10.9 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach could be in similar peril.

On Aug. 22, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stopped Orsted’s Revolution Wind project, which already has 45 of 65 turbines installed, along with all underwater foundations. Citing a January memorandum by , BOEM told Orsted North America to “halt all ongoing activities related to the Revolution Wind Project” while the federal government reviews potential national security concerns.

According to CNBC, the Revolution Wind project was about 80% complete when the Trump administration forced it to stop construction. Meanwhile, the Trump administration also filed court documents Aug. 22 stating it intends to revoke federal approval for US Wind’s planned Maryland Offshore Wind Project, which has not begun construction.

Large, ocean-based wind farms are part of utilities’ plans to shift to renewable energy, particularly in populous East Coast states with limited land for onshore wind turbines or solar arrays. But President Donald Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects. Those include reviewing wind and solar energy permits, canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopping work on another offshore wind project under construction for New York. However, construction was later allowed to resume.

“Americans deserve energy that is affordable, reliable, and built to last — not experimental and expensive wind projects that are proven failures,” Interior Department Deputy Press Secretary Aubrie Spady said in a statement distributed to media.

In Virginia, construction on Richmond-based Fortune 500 Dominion Energy’s CVOW wind farm 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast is about 60% complete. As of Monday, the CVOW project remained on schedule for full completion in late 2026, according to Dominion spokesperson Jeremy L. Slayton. Once operational, CVOW will consist of 176 wind turbines generating up to 9.5 million megawatt-hours per year of energy, or enough to up to 660,000 homes.

Dominion would not directly address whether it thought the Virginia offshore wind project is at risk of a similar stop-work order from BOEM. However, Slayton provided the following statement: “Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind is a customer-driven project only months away from delivering its first power to Virginia’s economy. Virginia’s shipyards, military bases, defense manufacturers and data centers are depending on power from CVOW to fuel Virginia’s growing economy. The project is supporting thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment in . It has broad, bipartisan support and is a critical part of Virginia’s all of the above energy strategy.”

Brett Massimino, chair of the department of supply chain management and analytics at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he’s not optimistic about the project being completed as originally planned.

About six months ago, Massimino spoke with Dominion officials who indicated that the project “wasn’t going as planned” and expressed concerns about its cost.

Since that time, Massimino said, those concerns have become amplified by events such as Trump’s “crackdown” on alternative energy sources and Dominion stating that Trump’s trade war would likely increase CVOW’s cost by $500 million.

Now, Massimino thinks the project “could be either paused or killed.”

In his opinion, he said, “I don’t see … Dominion finishing the project out the way it was originally planned to be. Whether that is just stopping at this point, wherever they are in construction, and running with what they have, or if it involves terminating the project entirely and shutting it down, I don’t know.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Youngkin has previously expressed support for offshore wind in Virginia. However, Massimino said he believes the governor will be “limited” in preventing the federal government from halting CVOW if the Trump administration chooses to intervene.

“I think the federal government is going to do what they want to do,” Massimino said, “and I think Youngkin’s voice is going to be kind of marginalized right now because of the end of his term coming up.”

and Trump’s policies will continue to impact offshore wind projects nationwide, he added: “I think by holding these projects, I think the progress, or the hope of establishing any significant offshore wind program nationally, all those hopes are kind of getting dashed at this point.”

Dominion incurred $73 million in tariffs through the end of the second quarter of this year. If the current tariff policy continues through the end of the third quarter, tariff costs would increase to $193 million and if policy continues through the end of 2026, total tariff costs would be $506 million, Slayton said in an email.

Accounting for tariff costs through the end of this year’s third quarter, Dominion increased the total project cost estimate from $10.8 billion to $10.9 billion. Slayton said that will add an average of 3 cents to residential customers’ monthly bills over the life of the project.

Revolution Wind pause

Meanwhile, Democratic governors, members of congress and union workers have called for the Trump administration to let construction resume on the Revolution Wind project. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee says Revolution Wind is critical to the region’s economy and energy future.

Revolution Wind is expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first large offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. Power would be provided at a rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour, locked in for 20 years. That is cheaper than the average cost of electricity in New England.

The developer, Danish energy company Orsted, is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and considering legal proceedings.

The project site is more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles (51 kilometers) southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm in state waters, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.

The Trump administration previously stopped work on Empire Wind, the New York offshore wind project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals, although the developer Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits. Construction was allowed to resume in May after two of the state’s Democratic leaders, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, intervened.

Elon Musk sues Apple, OpenAI in antitrust AI lawsuit

Summary

  • Musk files against and
  • Claims iPhone maker favors in rankings
  • Lawsuit alleges AI partnership stifles competition
  • OpenAI calls Musk’s legal move harassment; Apple silent

on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in .

The 61-page complaint filed in Texas federal court follows through on a threat that Musk made two weeks ago when he accused Apple of unfairly favoring OpenAI and ChatGPT in the iPhone’s app store rankings for top AI apps.

Musk’s post insinuated that Apple had rigged the system against ChatGPT competitors such as the Grok chatbot made by his own xAI. Now, he is detailing a litany of grievances in the lawsuit — filed by xAI and another of his corporate entities, X Corp. — in an attempt to win monetary damages and a court order prohibiting the alleged illegal tactics.

The double-barreled legal attack weaves together several recently unfolding narratives to recast a year-old partnership between Apple and OpenAI as a veiled conspiracy to stifle competition during a technological shift that could prove as revolutionary as the 2007 release of the iPhone.

“This is a tale of two monopolists joining forces to ensure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created: artificial intelligence,” the lawsuit asserts.

The complaint portrays Apple as a company that views AI as an “existential threat” to its future success, prompting it to collude with OpenAI in an attempt to protect the iPhone franchise that has long been its biggest moneymaker.

Some of the allegations accusing Apple of trying to shield the iPhone from do-everything “super apps,” such as the one Musk has long been trying to create with X, echo an antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple last year by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The complaint casts OpenAI as a threat to humanity bent on putting profits before public safety as it tries to build on its phenomenal growth since the late 2022 release of ChatGPT. The depiction mirrors one already being drawn in another federal lawsuit that Musk filed last year, alleging OpenAI had betrayed its founding mission to serve as a nonprofit research lab for the public good.

OpenAI has countered with a lawsuit against Musk accusing him of harassment — an allegation that the company cited in its response to Monday’s antitrust lawsuit. “This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment,” OpenAI said in a statement.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The crux of the lawsuit revolves around Apple’s decision to use ChatGPT as an AI-powered “answer engine” on the iPhone when the built-in technology on its device couldn’t satisfy user needs. The partnership announced last year was part of Apple’s late entry into the AI race that was supposed to be powered mostly by its own on-device technology, but the company still hasn’t been able to deliver on all its promises.

Apple’s own AI shortcomings may be helping drive more usage of ChatGPT on the iPhone, providing OpenAI with invaluable data that’s unavailable to Grok and other would-be competitors because it’s currently an exclusive partnership.

The alliance has provided Apple with an incentive to improperly elevate ChatGPT in the AI rankings of the iPhone’s app store, the lawsuit alleges. Other AI apps from DeekSeek and Perplexity have periodically reached the top spot in the Apple app store’s AI rankings in at least some parts of the world since Apple announced its deal with ChatGPT.

The lawsuit doesn’t mention the potential threat that ChatGPT could also pose to Apple and the iPhone’s future popularity. As part of its expansion efforts, OpenAI recruited former Apple designer Jony Ive to oversee a project aimed at building an AI-powered device that many analysts believe could eventually mount a challenge to the iPhone.

MasterBrand to acquire American Woodmark in $3.6B deal


SUMMARY:

  • to acquire -based in $3.6 billion all-stock deal, closing in 2026
  • Combined company keeps MasterBrand name, with headquarters in Ohio
  • Impact on American Woodmark’s 7,800 employees not yet revealed

Ohio-based cabinet giant MasterBrand announced this month that it plans to acquire Winchester-based cabinet manufacturer American Woodmark in an all-stock , creating a company valued at $3.6 billion.

The boards of directors of both companies approved the transaction, which is expected to close in early 2026, pending shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. MasterBrand intends to pay off American Woodmark debt at the close of the transaction.

After the transaction is completed, the combined company will be known as MasterBrand and will be headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio. However, the merged company plans to maintain “a significant presence” in Winchester.

The combined company will have a pro forma equity value of $2.4 billion and an enterprise value of $3.6 billion.

Upon closing the deal, American Woodmark shareholders will receive 5.150 shares of MasterBrand common stock for each share of American Woodmark common stock they own. Ultimately, MasterBrand shareholders will own approximately 63% of the combined company, while American Woodmark shareholders will own approximately 37% of the company, on a fully diluted basis. There is expected to be $90 million in cost savings by the third year following the merger.

“Bringing together MasterBrand and American Woodmark will be a transformative step for both of our organizations that will even better position us to serve the evolving needs of our customers and provide consumers with more choice and access,” said MasterBrand President and CEO Dave Banyard in a statement.

In a statement, American Woodmark President and CEO said combining the companies will enhance offerings for customers while improving value for shareholders.

“With MasterBrand, we are joining a partner that shares our commitment to investing for growth, investing in associates, and investing for the future,” Culbreth said. “Together, we will create an even stronger company that is able to provide a broader product portfolio across expanded channels, advance our innovation capabilities, and create exciting opportunities for team members.”

Through the acquisitions, American Woodmark will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of MasterBrand. MasterBrand’s board of directors, which currently has eight members, will be expanded to include three directors from American Woodmark.

Barnyard will be CEO of the combined company and current board member David Petratis will serve as board chair.

It is unclear whether Culbreth will remain with the company after the merger. In the coming weeks and months, the companies will establish an integration planning team to evaluate the necessary resources for the combined company. Executive management roles beyond those outlined in the announcement made earlier this month will be determined as part of the planning process.

Specific details on how American Woodmark products will be branded after the merger have yet to be determined. The companies don’t expect any immediate footprint changes after completing the merger.

An American Woodmark spokesperson did not answer whether there would be relocations or layoffs in store for any of American Woodmark’s roughly 7,800 employees.

“MasterBrand shares our commitment to investing for growth, investing in employees and investing for the future and we expect the transaction to create exciting new opportunities for team members,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

American Woodmark reported $1.7 billion in net sales for the fiscal year ending on April 30. That’s down from the $1.85 billion at that same point the previous year, and $2.07 billion in 2023. The company, founded in 1980 and headquartered in Winchester, has 18 and distribution facilities, as well as eight service centers.

Meanwhile, MasterBrand bills itself as the largest manufacturer of residential cabinets in North America, offering cabinetry products for the kitchen, bathroom and other areas of the home. Its products are delivered through a distribution network of over 7,700 dealers, retailers and builders. The company employs over 13,000 people across more than 20 manufacturing facilities and offices.

Henrico EDA head to leave in 2026

SUMMARY:

  • to leave role as EDA executive director in early 2026
  • Executive search committee formed to find his successor
  • Accomplishments include landing Fortune 1000 headquarters, planned data center campus

Anthony Romanello, the ‘s executive director, plans to step down from the role early next year.

Romanello submitted his letter to the EDA’s board on Aug. 21, stating his last day will be Jan. 16, 2026, although he said he told the board he would be willing to stay longer if at that point he has not accepted a different job and the EDA has not identified a successor.

“I’ve got almost 34 years in public service,” Romanello said. “I started full-time when I was 21, and [I’m] excited to think about doing something different, maybe outside of government.”

The EDA’s board has formed an executive search committee to identify Romanello’s successor. The committee is set to meet with Manager John Vithoulkas Tuesday to discuss next steps.

Romanello became executive director of the Henrico EDA in 2019, after joining the county in 2016 as deputy county manager. Under his tenure, Henrico has landed giant corporate headquarters relocations, including Fortune 1000 IT company ASGN in 2020 and solutions company Owens & Minor’s 2024 move from Hanover County.

Earlier this year, the county launched a global business gateway program for internationally headquartered companies seeking to establish a presence in the U.S.

For fiscal 2025, Henrico saw more than $8 billion in private investment, expected to create 1,445 jobs. That includes Iron Mountain’s planned $1 billion data center complex in Henrico’s White Oak Technology Park, where QTS Data Centers and Meta also have data centers.

Currently, Henrico is working toward the redevelopment of the former Best Products corporate headquarters on a 93-acre site after the GreenCity development failed. Announced in late 2020, GreenCity was supposed to be an environmentally friendly development anchored by an arena and including two hotels, approximately 2.2 million square feet of office space, 280,000 square feet of retail space and 2,100 residential units.

The would-be arena operator, ASM Global, sued the developers. The Henrico EDA sued two LLCs linked to the developers after they failed to make more than $5 million in overdue payments to the county by a March deadline, but the mid-August settlement agreement between the developers and ASM cleared the way for the county to reacquire the land. The transaction is expected to close Sept. 5.

Along with working “hand in glove” with the county government, Romanello said, “I believe the EDA has become an indispensable contributor to quality of life in Henrico. That is what I’m most proud of.”

Beyond bringing jobs and private investment to the county, the EDA has contributed to quality of life for Henrico residents through assisting with county projects, including providing tax-exempt financing for affordable housing projects and being the fiscal agent for the Henrico County Detox & Residential Treatment Center under construction.

Before joining Henrico County government, Romanello was deputy county administrator and then county administrator for Stafford County. Previously, he worked for West Point and for Richmond city government. His first full-time government job was as a food stamp worker for the City of Richmond, which he worked while pursuing his master’s degree in public administration at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“It’s been a phenomenal opportunity, and hopefully I’ve made an impact in the communities I’ve served,” Romanello said about his career in public service.

Regarding next steps, Romanello said he “had been privileged to do some teaching for Virginia Tech and George Mason, and I’d love to do more of that. I’ve published a couple of books, and I love writing … and that’s another passion of mine that I’d like to explore a little further.”

Romanello has written two books: “Random Thoughts: Reflections on Public Service, Fatherhood and Middle Age,” a collection of monthly reflections he sent to his team in Stafford County (a tradition he continues today), and “The Girl Who Lived on the Third Floor,” a children’s book about his fifth and youngest child, whom Romanello and his wife took in as an 11-day-old foster child before the couple adopted her.

Romanello teaches virtual classes for Virginia Tech’s certificate of local government program, designed for people transitioning to the Master of Public Administration program. While in Stafford, he taught three classes at George Mason University.

Besides time in class, “the other aspect of it that’s so much fun is staying in contact with students over the years,” Romanello said. “The ongoing relationship with the students has been really fun,”

Stocks slip on Wall Street after last week’s rally

Summary

Stocks wavered in afternoon trading on Monday, after a big jump last week on hopes for interest rate cuts from the .

The S&P 500 was down 0.2%, hovering around its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 301 points, or 0.7% as of 3:09 p.m. Eastern time, pulling back from the record it set on Friday. The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%.

stocks were the biggest drag on the market. Pfizer fell 2.5% and Eli Lilly and Co. was 2.2% lower.

Gains for several big technology stocks helped offset broader losses in the market. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, rose 1.3%. Technology heavyweight Nvidia rose 1.9%.

Keurig Dr Pepper sank 11.4% after saying it will buy Peet’s Coffee owner JDE Peet’s in a deal worth about $18 billion.

Railroad stocks fell following a report that Warren Buffett informed CSX management that he is not looking to buy the railroad. Shares in CSX fell 4.7%. Union Pacific dropped 2.2% and Norfolk Southern was 2.4% lower.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market following their big drop on Friday amid expectations that the Fed will cut its benchmark interest rate in September.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.28% from 4.25% late Friday. The two-year Treasury yield rose to 3.73% from 3.70% late Friday.

European markets mostly closed lower after Asian markets finished lower overnight.

Wall Street is still overwhelmingly betting that the Fed will cut at its next meeting in September. Traders see an 86% chance that the central bank will trim its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point, according to data from CME Group.

The Fed has been maintaining rates at their current level since the end of 2024 amid worries about heating up as work their way through the economy to businesses and households.

The central bank has grown increasingly concerned about the state of the job market in the U.S. Its two main focuses are keeping inflation low and supporting conditions for strong employment.

Recent signals have show that the job market is seemingly stagnating and could possibly weaken, which could prompt the central bank to cut rates. Lower interest rates make borrowing easier, helping to spur more investment and spending, but that could also potentially fuel inflation.

So far, consumer confidence remains mostly solid, though concerns about inflation linger. Wall Street and the Fed will get an update on consumer confidence in the U.S. when business group The Conference Board releases its monthly survey for August on Tuesday. Economists expect overall confidence to remain mostly unchanged from July.

The bigger update will come on Friday, when the government releases an inflation report that is closely monitored by the Fed. An update on inflation earlier in August showed that consumer prices remained modestly higher in July, compared with a year ago. The government’s report on Friday, the personal consumption expenditures price index, is expected to show a similar result.

Economists expect the PCE to show that prices rose 2.6% in July, compared with a year ago. That’s unchanged from the rate in June and hovering just above the Fed’s preferred target of 2%.

Wall Street has a few more corporate earnings updates this week, essentially wrapping up the latest round of profit reports and forecasts from U.S. companies.

Nvidia will report its latest results on Wednesday. The company’s role as a key supplier of chips for artificial intelligence and its heavy weighting give it outsized influence as a bellwether for the broader market. It has been a driving force for much of the market’s gains, along with several other tech giants with pricey stock values.

On Thursday, Wall Street will get earnings updates from electronics retailer Best Buy and discount retailer Dollar General. Retailers are being closely watched as Wall Street tries to gauge the current and potential future impact on costs and prices from tariffs.

Powell signals possible Fed rate cut, faces Trump pressure

Summary

  • Powell signals Fed could cut rates at September meeting
  • Move risks appearing as a response to Trump’s pressure
  • Fed must weigh persistent against growth outlook
  • Decision seen as one of Powell’s toughest challenges yet

WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that Chair has signaled that the central bank could soon cut its key interest rate, he faces a new challenge: how to do it without seeming to cave to the White House’s demands.

For months, Powell has largely ignored ‘s constant hectoring that he reduce borrowing costs. Yet on Friday, in a highly-anticipated speech, Powell suggested that the Fed could take such a step as soon as its next meeting in September.

It will be a fraught decision for the Fed, which must weigh it against persistent inflation and an economy that could also improve in the second half of this year. Both trends, if they occur, could make a cut look premature.

Trump has urged Powell to slash rates, arguing there is “no inflation” and saying that a cut would lower the government’s interest payments on its $37 trillion in debt.

Powell, on the other hand, has suggested that a is likely for reasons quite different than Trump’s: He is worried that the economy is weakening. His remarks on Friday at an economic symposium in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming also indicated that the Fed will move carefully and cut rates at a much slower pace than Trump wants.

Powell pointed to economic growth that “has slowed notably in the first half of this year,” to an annual rate of 1.2%, down from 2.5% last year. There has also been a “marked slowing” in the demand for workers, he added, which threatens to raise unemployment.

Still, Powell said that have started to lift the price of goods and could continue to push inflation higher, a possibility Fed officials will closely monitor and that will make them cautious about additional rate cuts.

The Fed’s key short-term interest rate, which influences other borrowing costs for things like mortgages and auto loans, is currently 4.3%. Trump has called for it to be cut as low as 1% — a level no Fed official supports.

However the Fed moves forward, it will likely do so while continuing to assert its longstanding independence. A politically independent central bank is considered by most economists as critical to preventing inflation, because it can take steps — such as raising to cool the economy and combat inflation — that are harder for elected officials to do.

There are 19 members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee, 12 of whom vote on rate decisions. One of them, Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve’s Cleveland branch, said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press that she is committed to the Fed’s independence.

“I’m laser focused … on ensuring that I can deliver good outcomes for the for the public, and I try to tune out all the other noise,” she said.

She remains concerned that the Fed still needs to fight stubborn inflation, a view shared by several colleagues.

“Inflation is too high and it’s been trending in the wrong direction,” Hammack said. “Right now I see us moving away from our goals on the inflation side.”

Powell himself did not discuss the Fed’s independence during his speech in Wyoming, where he received a standing ovation by the assembled academics, economists, and central bank officials from around the world. But Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that was likely a deliberate choice and intended, ironically, to demonstrate the Fed’s independence.

“The not talking about independence was a way of trying as best they could to signal we’re getting on with the business,” Posen said. “We’re still having a civilized internal discussion about the merits of the issue. And even if it pleases the president, we’re going to make the right call.”

It was against that backdrop that Trump intensified his own pressure campaign against another top Fed official.

Trump said he would fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook if she did not step down from her position. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to head the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, alleged Wednesday that Cook committed mortgage fraud when she bought two properties in 2021. She has not been charged.

Cook has said she would not be “bullied” into giving up her position. She declined Friday to comment on Trump’s threat.

If Cook is somehow removed, that would give Trump an opportunity to put a loyalist on the Fed’s governing board. Members of the board vote on all interest rate decisions. He has already nominated a top White House economist, Stephen Miran, to replace former governor Adriana Kugler, who stepped down Aug. 1.

Trump had previously threatened to fire Powell, but hasn’t done so. Trump appointed Powell in late 2017. His term as chair ends in about nine months.

Powell is no stranger to Trump’s attacks. Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, noted that the president also went after him in 2018 for raising interest rates, but that didn’t stop Powell.

“The president has a long history of applying pressure to Chairman Powell,” Strain said. “And Chairman Powell has a long history of resisting that pressure. So it would be odd, I think, if on his way out the door, he caved for the first time.”

Still, Strain thinks that Powell is overestimating the risk that the economy will weaken further and push unemployment higher. If inflation worsens while hiring continues, that could force the Fed to potentially reverse course and increase rates again next year.

“That would do further damage to the Fed’s credibility around maintaining low and stable price inflation,” he said.

European postal services halt U.S. package shipments

Summary

  • Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy suspend U.S. shipments
  • France, Austria and UK to follow in coming days
  • New begin Aug. 29
  • Packages over $800 subject to ; small items exempt

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The end of an exemption on tariff duties for low-value packages coming into the United States is causing multiple international postal services to pause shipping as they await more clarity on the rule.

The exemption, known as the “ de minimis” exemption, allows packages worth less than $800 to come into the U.S. duty free. A total of 1.36 billion packages were sent in 2024 under this exemption, for goods worth $64.6 billion, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency.

It is set to expire on Friday. On Saturday, postal services around Europe announced that they are suspending the shipment of many packages to the United States amid confusion over new import duties.

Postal services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy said they will stop shipping most merchandise to the U.S. effective immediately. France and Austria will follow on Monday.

The U.K.’s Royal Mail said it would halt shipments to the U.S. on Tuesday to allow time for those packages to arrive before duties kick in. Items originating in the United Kingdom worth over $100 — including gifts to friends and family — will incur a 10% duty, it said.

“Key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be carried out,” DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, said in a statement.

The company said starting Saturday it “will no longer be able to accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business customers destined for the US.”

A trade framework agreed on by the U.S. and the European Union last month set a 15% tariff on the vast majority of products shipped from the EU. Packages under $800 will now also be subject to the tariff.

The U.S. duty-free exemption for goods originating from China ended in May as part of the ‘s efforts to curb American shoppers from ordering low-value Chinese goods. The exemption is being extended to shipments from around the world.

Many say they are pausing deliveries now because they cannot guarantee the goods will enter the U.S. before Aug. 29. They cite ambiguity about what kind of goods are covered by the new rules, and the lack of time to process their implications.

Postnord, the Nordic logistics company, and Italy’s postal service announced similar suspensions effective Saturday.

“In the absence of different instructions from US authorities … Poste Italiane will be forced, like other European postal operators, to temporarily suspend acceptance of all shipments containing goods destined for the United States, starting August 23. Mail shipments not containing merchandise will continue to be accepted,” Poste Italiane said Friday.

Shipping by services such as DHL Express remains possible, it added.

Björn Bergman, head of PostNord’s Group Brand and Communication, said the pause was “unfortunate but necessary to ensure full compliance of the newly implemented rules.”

In the Netherlands, PostNL spokesperson Wout Witteveen said the Trump administration is pressing ahead with the new duties despite U.S. authorities lacking a system to collect them. He said that PostNL is working closely with its U.S. counterparts to find a solution.

“If you have something to send to America, you should do it today,” Witteveen told The Associated Press.

Austrian Post, Austria’s leading logistics and postal service provider, stated that the last acceptance of commercial shipments to the U.S., including Puerto Rico, will take place Tuesday.

France’s national postal service, La Poste, said the U.S. did not provide full details or allow enough time for the French postal service to prepare for new customs procedures.

″Despite discussions with U.S. customs services, no time was provided to postal operators to re-organize and assure the necessary computer updates to conform to the new rules,″ it said in a statement.

PostEurop, an association of 51 European public postal operators, said that if no solution can be found by Aug. 29 all its members will likely follow suit.

Keurig Dr Pepper buys Peet’s for $18 billion and plans split into coffee and beverage companies

Summary

  • to acquire for $18B
  • Company will split into coffee and beverage businesses
  • Coffee unit projected to generate $16B in sales
  • Beverage unit to focus on Dr Pepper, 7Up, Canada Dry and drinks

Less than a decade after their , Keurig and Dr Pepper plan to become separate companies again.

Keurig Dr Pepper said Monday it is buying the owner of Peet’s Coffee for $18 billion (15.7 billion euro). Then it will break itself in two, with one company selling coffee and the other selling cold beverages like Snapple, Dr Pepper, 7UP and energy drinks.

The agreement unwinds the 2018 merger of Keurig and Dr Pepper. Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper fell 11% in afternoon trading Monday.

Investors were concerned about the company’s plan to finance the with a mix of cash and debt. S&P Global placed Keurig Dr Pepper on a credit watch with negative implications Monday, saying it was concerned about the increase in debt and the complexity of the two-step transaction.

Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Timothy Cofer said the separate coffee and beverage businesses would be more nimble and better able to focus on growth opportunities in their own markets.

“Following the separation, each stand-alone entity will lead its industry with a sharp strategic focus and with operating models that are finely calibrated to their unique categories and markets,” Cofer said Monday during a conference call with investors.

The combination with Peet’s parent JDE Peet’s, which is based in Amsterdam, significantly expands Keurig’s presence beyond North America, where it’s known for its single-serve coffee machines. JDE Peet’s owns the brands L’OR, Jacobs, Douwe Egberts, Kenco, Pilao, OldTown, Super and Moccona.

Cofer said the combined coffee business will generate $16 billion in annual net sales. The combined buying will help Keurig and Peet’s compete with other large coffee players like Nestle and Starbucks, especially as rising demand and poor weather conditions push coffee prices near record highs.

Cofer said the coffee company will also be able to focus on meeting demand, especially in developing markets. Around 40% of the company’s sales will come from North America, 40% from Europe and 20% from emerging markets.

“We like, and I like, the coffee category. Why? It’s huge. It’s ubiquitous,” Cofer said. “Obviously, we’ve up to this point focused on North America. But the global data shows coffee is consistently growing on a volume basis above population.”

The merger could also help the company cushion the impact of . President imposed a 50% tariff this summer on most imports from Brazil — the world’s leading coffee producer — for an investigation of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally.

In a conference call with investors in July, Cofer said the impact of would be “more prominent” in the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, sales of Dr Pepper’s traditional soft drinks have been slowing as health-conscious consumers look for new alternatives. The newly formed beverage company, with $11 billion in annual sales in the U.S. and Mexico, can continue to pivot to its faster-growing beverages, like the energy drinks Ghost and C4 and the hydration drink Electrolit.

The companies said they expect to save around $400 million over three years because of the merger, which is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Once the two companies are separated, Cofer will become CEO of the cold beverage business, which will be based in Frisco, Texas. Keurig Dr Pepper’s chief financial officer, Sudhanshu Priyadarshi, will lead the coffee business, which will be located in Burlington, Mass. Its international headquarters will be in Amsterdam.

The deal is the latest big maneuver in the food and , which has been trying to keep up with changing consumer tastes.

In 2023, Kellogg Co. split into two companies. Mars bought Kellanova, the owner of snack brands like Pringles, last year. Italian confectioner Ferrero announced in July that it planned to buy WK Kellogg, the cereal company.

Struggling Kraft Heinz has also been considering a split.

Companies have also been snapping up fast-growing brands. Keurig Dr Pepper’s rival PepsiCo acquired the prebiotic soda brand Poppi in March to gain a foothold in the fast-growing functional beverage space. And in July, Keurig Dr Pepper acquired Dyla, a maker of powdered drink mixes and water enhancers.

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Chesterfield planners approve $2.5B+ nuclear fusion plant

SUMMARY:

  • Chesterfield County’s approved a permit for ‘ planned 400-megawatt ARC fusion plant
  • The $2.5+ billion project could become the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion facility
  • Citizens praised the project’s economic and educational benefits

Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ planned $2.5 billion-plus Chesterfield County facility, which could be the world’s first grid-scale commercial plant, is advancing through the county’s approval process.

The county’s planning commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the 400-megawatt facility, dubbed ARC, during its Aug. 19 meeting. The nuclear fusion power plant is slated to be built on a roughly 94-acre property at 1201 Battery Brooke Parkway in the James River Industrial Center. Energy owns the site, but — a Massachusetts-based fusion energy company that spun out of research done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — has signed an option-to-lease agreement for the site.

Commission Vice Chair Gib Sloan said he was “very appreciative” that CFS chose Chesterfield for the project: “They have chosen us to be a place to create something groundbreaking that could benefit the rest of the globe. So, when I think about where we came from, where we are and where we can be, I think it’s just freaking awesome.”

The fusion plant’s permit now heads to the county’s board of supervisors on Sept. 17 for approval.
During a public hearing before the commission’s vote, several people voiced support for the project, citing potential economic benefits and educational opportunities.

Lane Carasik, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the fusion plant can “put Chesterfield on the map” and “make it the epicenter of future fusion energy.” He said there are learning opportunities for VCU students to communicate with the plant’s scientists and engineers.

Chesterfield Chamber President Karen Webb, who supported the project, praised CFS for engaging with the community in the planning process and addressing concerns they may have had about the plant.

One resident, however, spoke against the project, citing concerns about it generating nuclear waste.

The project’s application says, “Fusion energy is considered inherently safe because it does not involve chain reactions or decay heat and therefore cannot melt down, and generates no high-level, long-lived radioactive waste.”

Chesterfield’s director, Garrett Hart, previously said the plant will likely cost more than $2.5 billion. During a presentation on Tuesday, attorney Ann Neil Cosby of law firm GreeneHurlocker, representing CFS, said that CFS would “finance, own and safely operate this power plant.”

CFS plans to begin construction in the late 2020s and anticipates that ARC will start generating carbon-free power for the grid in the early 2030s.

ARC will use magnetic fields in the fusion process. Two forms of hydrogen — deuterium and tritium — fuse, creating helium and releasing neutrons. A “molten salt liquid ‘blanket’ surrounding the plasma will capture the energy of the neutrons in the form of heat,” according to CFS’ permit application. The molten salt then circulates through heat exchangers — systems that transfer heat between fluids — to produce steam, which turns a turbine connected to an generator.

Earlier this summer, signed an agreement to buy 200 megawatts of electricity (half the facility’s expected power output) from the facility. Google will also have the option to offtake power from future ARC plants.

Spun out of MIT in 2018, CFS has more than 1,000 employees, according to Cosby. It has raised more than $2 billion from high-profile investors including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Tiger Global Management, Khosla Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital. It is one of more than 40 companies currently developing fusion technologies.

Luminoah wins Virginia Startup World Cup

Charlottesville-based medical technology company won first place at the Virginia World Cup on Aug. 21 and will now advance to the global finals in San Francisco this October.

The competition, organized by California-based global venture capital firm Pegasus Tech Ventures and co-hosted locally by nonprofit and the government, drew 10 finalists from across Virginia to pitch at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach.

executive launched Luminoah in 2020, following a personal crisis. In 2019, Piper’s 3-year-old son, Noah, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor that left him dependent on enteral nutrition, also known as tube feeding. Unfortunately, that involved him being tethered to an IV pole or carrying a bulky backpack. Wanting a better solution, Piper launched Luminoah to reinvent care for patients nationwide.

The company’s signature innovation is a small, lightweight and portable enteral pump that’s compatible with smartphones and able to track nutritional intake. Piper said the product “feels more like a smartphone than medical equipment” and will allow children to attend school and adults to spend time with friends instead of being fed on a bedside.

“This is going to completely change the way people live,” he said.

The winner of the global finals on Oct. 17 will win a $1 million investment prize.

Zack Miller, an affiliate of Innovate who helped organize the Virginia competition, said that more than 100 Virginia applied for this year’s event. A panel of judges with experience in judging startups narrowed the field to 10 finalists. On Aug. 21, each of those finalists delivered a 4-minute pitch on the problem they are trying to address, their company’s solution, and the traction they have achieved.

Miller said the event is beneficial even for those who don’t win, as it offers exposure and fundraising connections. Last year’s Virginia winner, ivWatch of Newport News, went on to place third worldwide, while other 2024 Virginia participants collectively raised over $24 million after competing.

For Piper, advancing to the global competition was “extremely humbling.” While his son is now cancer-free, he hopes his product can benefit millions of other patients. Luminoah is targeting Food and Drug Administration clearance in early 2026 and has plans to expand globally.

“I’m just proud to represent the commonwealth in this competition,” Piper said. “Let’s take home the big prize here at the in October.”