Iran's Oldest Tire Factory Shuts Down

Michelin Formula One tires are prepared for racing in the pits at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, June 29, 2006. REUTERS/John Gress/File Photo
Michelin Formula One tires are prepared for racing in the pits at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, June 29, 2006. REUTERS/John Gress/File Photo
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Iran's Oldest Tire Factory Shuts Down

Michelin Formula One tires are prepared for racing in the pits at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, June 29, 2006. REUTERS/John Gress/File Photo
Michelin Formula One tires are prepared for racing in the pits at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, June 29, 2006. REUTERS/John Gress/File Photo

Iran's oldest tire factory has shut down due to "financial problems", state news agency IRNA reported Wednesday.

Kian Tire was once the "largest producer of off-road tires in Iran" but closed its doors several days ago due to "financial problems and difficulties in the supply of raw materials", AFP quoted IRNA as saying.

Founded in 1958 as a joint American-Iranian enterprise according to its website, the company was known for making tires for "military vehicles and large trucks", IRNA said.

But due to outstanding bank debts, Kian Tire was expropriated and had been run by the state for the past few years, the agency added.

Iran's economy has suffered under stringent sanctions that were reimposed by the United States after it unilaterally pulled out of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018.

Kian Tire workers had gathered Sunday to urge the state to save the factory, local media said.

More than 1,200 employees are now out of work, according to IRNA.



World Shares Deepen Losses, with Tokyo’s Nikkei Down Nearly 4%, as Latest US Tariffs Take Effect 

A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
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World Shares Deepen Losses, with Tokyo’s Nikkei Down Nearly 4%, as Latest US Tariffs Take Effect 

A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)

Asian and European shares slid on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 closing almost 4% lower after launch of the latest set of US tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports took effect.

Chinese markets advanced after regulators appeared to intervene, urging state-owned companies to buy shares.

Germany's DAX lost 2.1% to 19,857.36. In Paris, the CAC 40 declined 2.1% to 6,949.92. Britain's FTSE 100 gave up 2% to 7,753.42.

The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.7% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%.

Markets have been wobbly for days, with investors flummoxed over what to make of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 dropped 1.6% after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%. That took it nearly 19% below its record set in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8%, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%.

Stocks had rallied globally on Tuesday, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris and 1.6% in Shanghai. Any optimism or buying enthusiasm appeared to have dissipated by the time the sharply higher tariffs became reality.

The Nikkei 225 fell 3.9% to 31,714.03.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 20,205.04, while the Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses, gaining 1.3%. to 3,186.81.

Taiwan led losses in Asia, as its Taiex plunged 5.8%. Big tech manufacturers were among the biggest decliners. Computer chip giant TSMC Corp. dropped 3.8% while iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry plunged 10%.

South Korea's Kospi lost 1.7% to 2,293.70, and the government said it would provide help for its beleaguered automakers.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.8% to 7,375.00. Shares in New Zealand also fell.

In India, the Sensex declined 0.5% as the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate, while Bangkok's SET shed 0.8%.

Analysts have been warning to expect more swings up and down in markets given the uncertainty over how long Trump will keep the stiff tariffs on imports, which will raise prices for US shoppers and slow the economy. If they last a long time, economists and investors expect them to cause a recession. If Trump lowers them through negotiations relatively quickly, the worst-case scenario might be avoided.

Hope still remains on Wall Street that negotiations may be possible, which helped drive the morning’s rally. Trump said Tuesday that a conversation with South Korea’s acting president helped them reach the “confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries.”

On Tuesday, Japanese stocks led global markets higher after the country’s prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, appointed his trade negotiator for talks with the United States following a conversation with Trump.

China said it will “fight to the end” and warned of countermeasures after Trump threatened on Monday to raise his tariffs even further on the world’s second-largest economy.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump’s threats of even higher tariffs on China will become reality after midnight, when imports from China will be taxed at a stunning 104% rate.

That would coincide with Trump’s latest set of broad tariffs, which are scheduled to kick in at 12:01 a.m. And Trump has made clear that he does not intend to have any exemptions or exclusions, according to the top US trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer.

The US trade representative also said in testimony before a Senate committee that roughly 50 countries have already been in contact, and he’s told them: “If you have a better idea to achieve reciprocity and to get our trade deficit down, we want to talk with you, we want to negotiate with you.”

Trump’s trade war is an attack on the globalization that’s shaped the world’s economy and helped bring down prices for products on store shelves but also caused manufacturing jobs to leave for other countries. Trump has said he wants to narrow trade deficits, which measure how much more the United States imports from other countries than it sends to them as exports.

In other dealings early Wednesday, US benchmark crude oil fell $1.82 to $57.76 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed $1.81 to $61.01 per barrel.

The US dollar fell to 145.09 Japanese yen from 146.29 yen. The euro rose to $1.1060 from $1.0995.

The price of gold rose $71 to $3,061 an ounce.