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The United States has agreed to allow South Korean workers on short-term visas or a visa waiver program to help build industrial sites in America, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.The announcement came weeks after South Korea flew home more than 300 of its nationals who had been detained in a massive immigration raid at a battery factory being built on Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant campus near Savannah, Georgia.The roundup, along with U.S. video footage showing Korean workers shackled at the hands, ankles and waist, fueled public outrage and a sense of betrayal in South Korea a key U.S. ally that had pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. investments just weeks earlier in hopes of avoiding the Trump administration’s steepest tariffs.The incident also triggered pent-up frustrations in Seoul over Washington’s failure to act on its long-standing request to improve the visa system for skilled Korean workers, even as the United States presses its ally to expand industrial investments.South Korean companies have been mostly relying on short-term visas or a visa waiver program called the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, to send workers needed to launch manufacturing sites and handle other setup tasks, a practice that had been largely tolerated for years.After bilateral visa talks Tuesday in Washington, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said their American counterparts reaffirmed that South Korean companies can use B-1 short-term business visas or ESTAs to send workers to install, service and repair equipment needed for their projects in the United States. The statement was consistent with earlier remarks by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who, after traveling to Washington to negotiate the workers’ release, said that U.S. officials had agreed to allow them to return later to complete their work.South Korea has called for more fundamental steps, such as creating a new visa category to expand access for skilled workers. But U.S. officials at the Washington meeting said major changes would be difficult because of legislative constraints, according to a statement from the South Korean ministry.Most of the Korean workers detained in Georgia were employed by LG Energy Solution and its subcontractors and held ESTAs as well as other visas.LG said in a statement that it will “thoroughly prepare and work diligently to normalize the construction and operation of our factories in the United States.” Kim Tong-Hyung, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Several pharmaceutical companies have said they will sell drugs direct to patients in the U.S. and offered discounts following President Donald Trump’s calls to bring down drug prices and cut out “middlemen” like pharmacies, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. The Trump administration announced on Tuesday plans to launch a government-run website called TrumpRx.gov in early 2026, offering reduced prices for prescription drugs. U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations. Trump sent letters to 17 major companies in July demanding they slash U.S. prescription drug prices. Below is an overview of pharmaceutical companies which recently announced direct-to-consumer sales and price cuts in the U.S: PFIZER Pfizer and President Donald Trump said on Tuesday they had cut a deal in which the U.S.-based drugmaker agreed to lower prescription drug prices in the Medicaid programme to what it charges in other developed countries, in exchange for tariff relief. Pfizer will invest $70 billion in research and development and domestic manufacturing and received a three-year grace period during which its products will not be subject to U.S. tariffs on pharmaceuticals, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said. PhRMA U.S. pharmaceutical lobby group PhRMA said on Monday it would launch a new website, AmericasMedicines.com, next January to help patients buy prescription drugs directly from manufacturers. NOVO NORDISK Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said in August that it would offer its diabetes drug Ozempic for $499 per month to eligible cash-paying patients with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. via its own pharmacy, a tie-up with telehealth service GoodRx and other platforms. It had announced earlier in April that it was working with telehealth firms Hims & Hers, Ro and LifeMD to sell Wegovy to cash-paying US customers. ELI LILLY Eli Lilly said in June it would ship the two highest doses of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound to cash-paying customers on its website starting early August. ASTRA ZENECA AstraZeneca said on Friday it will sell its diabetes and asthma drugs direct to cash-paying U.S. patients at a discount of up to 70% off list prices. SANOFI French drugmaker Sanofi said on Friday it would offer a month’s supply of any of its insulin products for $35 to all patients in the U.S. with a valid prescription, regardless of insurance status. ROCHE Roche is considering selling its prescription medicines in the U.S. directly to consumers to bring costs down for patients, as part of talks with the U.S. government, CEO Thomas Schinecker said in July. The model could appeal not only to the uninsured or under-insured, but also to insured patients comparing the cost of accessing drugs through insurers with cash prices, an industry source told Reuters. ZEALAND PHARMA Zealand Pharma is considering a direct-to-patient sales model as well as traditional insurer channels for the experimental weight-loss drug it is developing with Roche, its CEO told Reuters in September. BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB U.S. pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb will cut prices to eligible U.S. patients for blood clot treatment Eliquis and plaque psoriasis drug Sotyktu, with the latter being offered at a more than 80% discount to the list price, it said in September. WISP Women’s telehealth provider Wisp said in September it expanded its weight-care offerings to include sale and doorstep delivery of Novo Nordisk’s and Eli Lilly’s popular drugs without the need for insurance. It priced Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro at $598, $558, and $489 per month, respectively, with the cost also including consultation, monthly follow-ups, and direct-to-door delivery. ABBVIE AbbVie said on Monday it would launch its ovarian cancer drug Elahere in the UK at a list price matching that in the U.S. following Trump’s demands for drugmakers to offer the U.S. “most-favored-nation” pricing. Javi West Larraaga and Emanuele Berro, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
Its a familiar frustration: You miss your connection because of a delayed flight. The line at the customer assistance desk is 30 people deep. The airline app offers little help, and the call center puts you on hold for half an hour. Will you ever escape Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)? Enter Hopper Technology Solutions (HTS) Assist, a new generative AI travel agent that helps customers with post-booking travel questions, changes, and disruptions. HTS assist was built by Hopper, the mobile-only travel-booking platform thats known for its intuitive, user-friendly interface and for predicting flight prices with near-flawless accuracy and pinging users when its time to book. A few clicksmy trips and contact supportfrom Hoppers main page now opens an interface where travelers can talk to or text the AI assistant for help with things like rebooking missed connections and processing refunds for canceled trips. HTS Assist is built to converse in natural languageits been trained on millions of real-world conversationsand is capable of communicating in 30 different languages. Hopper says it has taken a model-agnostic approach to creating HTS Assist, working with leading large language models and its own travel-specific training data. Crucially, the chatbot is plugged directly into the complex travel tech stack of airline booking platforms, hotel reservation systems, car rental options, payments, and more, allowing other travel companies to offer customers their own version of the customer service chatbot. [Image: Hopper Technology Solutions] HTS Assist already lives inside a couple of partner platformsKorean credit card company Lotte Card and Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking (SMB)with more deals in the works, according to Hopper. These partnerships are handled by Hoppers B2B arm, Hopper Technology Solutions, or HTS, which currently powers the travel portals of Capital One, Uber, Lloyds, and others with personalized booking software. HTS is now responsible for 90% of Hoppers revenue. This new agent could unlock even more. A growing demand for shrinking customer service Over the past few decades, the number of frontline service reps has steadily shrunk, even as passenger numbers climb. (American Airlines, for example, cut 8.2% of its customer service positions last year.) Automated phone trees and maddening chatbots have taken their place, infamous for endless loops and little transparency, leaving travelers stranded at the exact moment they need help most. Travel is one of the most stressful, emotionally charged, and operationally complex industries, says Jo Lai, head of AI solutions and customer Experience at HTS. Unlike other consumer categories, when things go wrong in travel, peoples lives are immediately disrupted. Hopper believes HTS Assists capabilities are uniquely suited to bridge the gap between customer demandhalf of travelers require some kind of servicing during their tripand rising expectations: travelers want instant, consistent resolutions across various platforms. The assistant can be scaled during peak surges without requiring an army of new hires, and it resolves issues with the same tools human agents use. HTS Assist doesnt mind if its helping one person or 65,000, says Frederic Lalonde, Hopper founder and CEO. Its there for you immediately, and stores all of your information in one place. According to Hopper, HTS Assist works four times as fast as traditional customer service channels. And cost savings for companies could be meaningful. Thanks to fewer backlogs, lower error rates, and less reliance on constantly hiring and retraining agents, Hopper estimates that airlines and travel providers could reduce service costs by up to 65%. Assist could also drive ancillary revenue. If a passenger misses a flight, the agent will first comb through available benefits like meal or hotel vouchers. If those fall short, it offers hotel stays or car rentals that feel like natural extensions of the interaction. So far, 15% of AI agent conversations have led to ancillary sales. Putting the assistant to the test The travel industry is already awash in chatbots offering to help with everything from travel planning to booking. Tripadvisor has an AI assistant tailor-made for trip planning. Marriott is testing a personalized chatbot for its loyalty program members that can act as both a booking agent and concierge. Airlines of all stripes, meanwhile, have debuted chatbots, with varying degrees of success. As they’re discovering, a good chatbot can solve problems and smooth travel hiccups. A bad one just makes things worse. To get a sense of HTS Assist’s capabilities, Fast Company participated in a few live demos to test the system against common traveler frustrations: missed flights, refund requests, and alternative plans. Prompted by Lai, the virtual assistant worked fluidly through a casual back and forth. The first demonstration was based on Hopper Technology Solutions flagship design for potential external partners. Playing the part of the rushed traveler, Lai interrupted HTS Assist (it recovered easily) and asked it to handle trickier tasks, like rerouting rental cars to different drop-off locations and syncing with friends travel plans. The assistant also asked helpful questionsa manual or automatic car?that trimmed down options. The design interface, which shifted colors and communicated behind-the-scenes thinking with a trio of merging dots, was almost meditative. We can also dial up or down the assistants formality and empathy level, says Lai, depending on a companys culture, branding, and voice. A second set of self-led demos via Hoppers in-app chat and customer service phone line was a bit more clunky, and has yet to incorporate HTS Assists new design and feel (that will roll out in the coming days). The assistant couldnt upgrade a flight to business class, for example, without canceling and rebooking the flight altogether. It also couldnt add a day to a hotel reservation without also canceling and rebooking new dates. Still, it was compellingit listed airline baggage fees associated ith our reservation, for example, and it had tips for going through security in Canada, the flights country of origin. HTS Assist also cant replicate the sympathetic agent who ignores an overweight bag or lets you change seats free of charge (yet). But it is designed to escalate to a live agent when needed. And while the technology is currently focused on post-booking fallouts rather than the travel planning journey, the ladder is certainly on the horizon. Were really excited about the AI commerce category and conversational commerce as a whole, says Lai. For now, at least, you wont be stuck at EWR.
Category:
E-Commerce
The U.S. federal government shut down one minute into October, bringing with it uncertainty about jobs and the economy. The shutdown hasnt brought significant turmoil to the stock market as of yet. Most notably, futures have dropped but not significantly, with the Dow shrinking 0.41%, the S&P 500 down 0.45%, and the Nasdaq losing 0.50%, at the time of publishing. Meanwhile, gold prices have skyrocketed in response to the shutdown, reaching an all-time high early Wednesday morning that neared $4,000. Just after the days 12:01 a.m ET shutdown, spot gold reached over $3,894, while U.S. gold futures hit $3,922. Both have since dropped slightly, but remained at significant highs at the time of publishing. Gold prices have risen significantly this year amid increasing economic uncertainty and a weaker dollar. As of early Wednesday, they were up roughly 46% year to date. Investors tend to gravitate toward so-called safe-haven assets during times of uncertainty. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were also up on Wednesday as the shutdown began. How bad could depend on how long Historically speaking, a typical government shutdown shouldnt have a lasting impact on the economy, experts point out. Government shutdowns tend to be high profile though low-impact market events, according to a report last week from financial company Truist. In the previous 20 shutdowns, there has been almost no change, on average, for the S&P 500, while it has been in positive territory 50% of the time during the shutdown period. However, Truist notes that this is barring a prolonged shutdown. Most government shutdowns have gone on for less than a few days, though the most recent oneduring President Trump’s first term in officelasted from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019. That’s a record total of 35 days. The Congressional Budget Office reported that it cut $3 billion in real GDP for the last quarter of 2018. At the time, about 300,000 employees were furloughed, while another approximately 500,000 individuals had to work without pay. All federal workers received back pay once the shutdown was over. As Truist notes, this influx of payments should allow the GDP to recover on its own. But this time around, the shutdown could bring permanent job loss, according to a memo viewed by Politico ahead of the shutdown. Under Director Russ Vought, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructed agencies to look at removing employees working on programs, projects, or activities that have another source of funding, will see their discretionary funding lapse on October 1, and dont align with Trumps priorities. Pushback has been swift. On Tuesday, U.S. Representative James Walkinshaw, a Democrat from Virginia, called the OMBs order an illegal power grab in an MSNBC opinion piece. The same day saw the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) sue the Trump administration for these mass firing threats. The groups claim that the administration is misusing the shutdown process for partisan ends and violating the very laws that govern how shutdowns are supposed to function.
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E-Commerce
Washington is bracing for what could be a prolonged federal shutdown after lawmakers deadlocked and missed the deadline for funding the government.Republicans supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through Nov. 21, but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care. They want to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer and extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions of people who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.Republicans called the Democratic proposal a nonstarter that would cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion.Neither side shows any signs of budging.Here’s what to know about the shutdown that began Wednesday: What happens in the shutdown? Now that a lapse in funding has occurred, the law requires agencies to furlough their “non-excepted” employees. Excepted employees, which include those who work to protect life and property, stay on the job but don’t get paid until after the shutdown ends.The White House Office of Management and Budget begins the process with instructions to agencies that a lapse in appropriations has occurred and they should initiate orderly shutdown activities. That memo went out Tuesday evening.The Congressional Budget Office estimates that roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day of the shutdown, with the total daily cost of their compensation at roughly $400 million. What government work continues during a shutdown? A great deal, actually.FBI investigators, CIA officers, air traffic controllers and agents operating airport checkpoints keep working. So do members of the Armed Forces.Those programs that rely on mandatory spending generally continue during a shutdown. Social Security payments still go out. Seniors relying on Medicare coverage can still see their doctors and health care providers can be reimbursed.Veteran health care also continues during a shutdown. Veterans Affairs medical centers and outpatient clinics will be open, and VA benefits will continue to be processed and delivered. Burials will continue at VA national cemeteries. Will furloughed federal workers get paid? Yes. In 2019, Congress passed a bill enshrining into law the requirement that furloughed employees get retroactive pay once operations resume.While they’ll eventually get paid, the furloughed workers and those who remain on the job may have to go without one or more of their regular paychecks, depending upon how long the shutdown lasts, creating financial stress for many families.Service members would also receive back pay for any missed paychecks once federal funding resumes. Will I still get mail? Yes. The U.S. Postal Service is unaffected by a government shutdown. It’s an independent entity funded through the sale of its products and services, not by tax dollars. What closes during a shutdown? All administrations get some leeway to choose which services to freeze and which to maintain in a shutdown.The first Trump administration worked to blunt the impact of what became the country’s longest partial shutdown in 2018 and 2019. But on Tuesday, Trump threatened the possibility of increasing the pain that comes with a shutdown.“We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them,” Trump said of Democrats. “Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”Each federal agency develops its own shutdown plan. The plans outline which workers would stay on the job during a shutdown and which would be furloughed.In a provocative move, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has threatened the mass firing of federal workers in a shutdown. An OMB memo said those programs that didn’t get funding through Trump’s mega-bill this summer would bear the brunt of a shutdown.Agencies should consider issuing reduction-in-force notices for those programs whose funding expires, that don’t have alternative funding sources and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities,” the memo said.That would be a much more aggressive step than in previous shutdowns, when furloughed federal workers returned to their jobs once the shutdown was over. A reduction in force would not only lay off employees but eliminate their positions, which would trigger another massive upheaval in a federal workforce that’s already faced major rounds of cuts due to efforts from the Department of Government Efficiency and elsewhere in Trump’s Republican administration. What agencies are planning Health and Human Services will furlough about 41% of its staff out of nearly 80,000 employees, according to a contingency plan posted on its website.As part of that plan, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would continue to monitor disease outbreaks, while activities that will stop include research into health risks and ways to prevent illness.Meanwhile, research and patient care at the National Institutes of Health would be upended. Patients currently enrolled in studies at the research-only hospital nicknamed the “house of hope” will continue to receive care. Additional sick patients hoping for access to experimental therapies can’t enroll except in special circumstances, and no new studies will begin.At the Food and Drug Administration, its “ability to protect and promote public health and safety would be significantly impacted, with many activities delayed or paused.” For example, the agency would not accept new drug applications or medical device submissions that require payment of a user fee. National Park Service: As the shutdown neared, the National Park Service had not yet said whether it will close its more than 400 sites across the U.S. to visitors. Park officials said Tuesday afternoon that contingency plans were still being updated and would be posted to the service’s website.Many national parks including Yellowstone and Yosemite stayed open during a 35-day shutdown during Trump’s first term. Limited staffing led to vandalism, gates being pried open and other problems including an off-roader mowing down one of the namesake trees at Joshua Tree National Park in California. Smithsonian Institution: In the event of a government shutdown, our museums, research centers, and the National Zoo will remain open through at least Monday, Oct. 6. Impact on the economy Phillip Swagel, director of the Congressional Budget Office, said a short shutdown doesn’t have a huge impact on the economy, especially since federal workers, by law, are paid retroactively. But “if a shutdown continues, then that can giverise to uncertainties about what is the role of government in our society, and what’s the financial impact on all the programs that the government funds.”“The impact is not immediate, but over time, there is a negative impact of a shutdown on the economy,” he added.Markets haven’t reacted strongly to past shutdowns, according to Goldman Sachs Research. At the close of the three prolonged shutdowns since the early 1990s, equity markets finished flat or up even after dipping initially.A governmentwide shutdown would directly reduce growth by around 0.15 percentage points for each week it lasted, or about 0.2 percentage points per week once private-sector effects were included, and growth would rise by the same cumulative amount in the quarter following reopening, writes Alec Phillips, chief U.S. political economist at Goldman Sachs. Associated Press writer Ali Swenson, Fatima Hussein, Matthew Brown and Annie Ma contributed to this report. Kevin Freking, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
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