Central Texas Global Business Pulse - July 1st 2025 - Big Plan

Central Texas Global Business Pulse

Big Plan Highlights

The End of Solar & Battery Manufacturing in America?

A manufacturing renaissance is unfolding in America—especially in clean energy—but it faces real threats. Over the weekend, Senate Republicans proposed a surprising new tax on wind and solar projects, risking the momentum built through historic investments.

Texas energy expert Doug Lewin breaks it down with OCI Energy’s Sabah Bayatli in a must-listen conversation on what's at stake in the federal budget bill—from reliability concerns to the future of renewable innovation. Big Plan continues to follow these developments closely as we support infrastructure and energy growth across the U.S.

News & Updates

International

China Confirms Breakthrough on Rare-Earth Exports to U.S.

China on Friday pledged to approve export applications for rare earths to the U.S., potentially easing a major irritant in the countries’ trade negotiations that has also become a source of deepening concern for American manufacturers.

China’s Commerce Ministry, in a written statement carried by state media, appeared to confirm details of a deal alluded to by President Trump hours earlier, with Beijing promising to “review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items in accordance with the law.”

G7 Backs Plan for ‘Side-by-Side’ Tax System to Avoid U.S. Fight

The Group of 7 nations will say in a joint statement on Friday that the group has agreed to exclude American companies from penalties related to enforcement of a global minimum tax and move forward with “side-by-side” tax systems, according to a draft reviewed by The New York Times.

The agreement follows months of negotiations between the Trump administration and its counterparts about taxes that the U.S. finds to be discriminatory. The agreement should ease concerns among multinational corporations about the potential for a global tax war. To ease the deal, the Trump administration agreed this week to drop its support of a so-called revenge tax that Congress was considering in response to international efforts to raise taxes on American businesses.

Canada Loads First Ever LNG Cargo to Asia

Canada has shipped its inaugural cargo of liquefied natural gas, kicking off operations at its first large-scale LNG export facility.

The Asia-bound cargo was loaded from the LNG Canada export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia.

LNG Canada is a joint venture led by Shell via its Canada affiliate, and includes Malaysia’s Petronas, Chinese oil major PetroChina, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and South Korean utility Korea Gas.

There’s a Race to Power the Future. China Is Pulling Away.

In China, more wind turbines and solar panels were installed last year than in the rest of the world combined. And China’s clean energy boom is going global. Chinese companies are building electric vehicle and battery factories in Brazil, Thailand, Morocco, Hungary and beyond.

At the same time, in the United States, President Trump is pressing Japan and South Korea to invest “trillions of dollars” in a project to ship natural gas to Asia. And General Motors just killed plans to make electric motors at a factory near Buffalo, N.Y., and instead will put $888 million into building V-8 gasoline engines there.

USA

Where Things Stand on the GOP Megabill’s Most Contentious Proposals

Republicans looking to get their sprawling tax and spending bill to President Trump’s desk by July 4 need to quickly resolve a series of long-running fights over some of their most contentious proposals.

Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate and two GOP senators, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky, are already firmly opposed. The House is also narrowly split.

Here are some of the most fiercely debated provisions in the megabill, and the changes some Republicans are still seeking.

Trump says he’s not planning to extend a pause on global tariffs beyond July 9

President Donald Trump says he is not planning to extend a 90-day pause on tariffs on most nations beyond July 9, when the negotiating period he set would expire, and his administration will notify countries that the trade penalties will take effect unless there are deals with the United States.

Letters will start going out “pretty soon” before the approaching deadline, he said.

Those letters, he said, would say, “Congratulations, we’re allowing you to shop in the United States of America, you’re going to pay a 25% tariff, or a 35% or a 50% or 10%.”

Google Signs Deal to Buy Fusion Energy From Bill Gates-Backed Nuclear Startup

Google signed one of the world’s first commercial deals for fusion energy, in an agreement with nuclear startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

It is a bet on future technology. Nuclear fusion—the process that fuels the stars—has never been used for commercial energy production. CFS, which is backed by Bill Gates’s technology fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures, is aiming to start producing commercial fusion energy in the 2030s.

Amazon Is on the Cusp of Using More Robots Than Humans in Its Warehouses

The e-commerce giant, which has spent years automating tasks previously done by humans in its facilities, has deployed more than one million robots in those workplaces, Amazon said. That is the most it has ever had and near the count of human workers at the facilities.

Company warehouses buzz with metallic arms plucking items from shelves and wheeled droids that motor around the floors ferrying the goods for packaging. In other corners, automated systems help sort the items, which other robots assist in packaging for shipment.

Crypto Industry Moves Into the U.S. Housing Market

The nation’s largest mortgage finance firms will begin accepting crypto as an asset on a mortgage application, another significant step by the Trump administration to bring digital currencies into mainstream finance.

This week, President Trump’s housing director, William Pulte, said he would direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the nation’s big mortgage finance firms — to consider home buyers’ crypto investments as part of their overall wealth in assessing whether they can afford a mortgage. Traditionally, a home buyer’s cash savings and stock investments are what mortgage lenders consider.

Trump’s justice department issues directive to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship for criminal offenses

The Trump administration has codified its efforts to strip some Americans of their US citizenship in a recently published justice department memo that directs attorneys to prioritize denaturalization for naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes.

The memo, published on 11 June, calls on attorneys in the department to institute civil proceedings to revoke a person’s United States citizenship if an individual either “illegally procured” naturalization or procured naturalization by “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation”.

At the center of the move are the estimated 25 million US citizens who immigrated to the country after being born abroad, according to data from 2023– and it lists 10 different priority categories for denaturalization.

Texas

Texas Legislature closes out. Here are major bills signed this session.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced the final list of 1,155 bills signed into law on Monday, June 23. The 89th Regular Legislative Session has ended, but Abbott did call for a special session to revisit vetoed or filed without signature bills. Below is an explainer of the special session and the key bills signed into law.

Samsung supplier in Killeen nabs state grant for expansion

Killeen-based MGC Pure Chemicals America Inc. has received a $5.3 million grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to expand, making the company at least the fourth area supplier to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to receive grants from the fund. MPCA, a subsidiary of Japanese-based chemical giant Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc., was established in the U.S. to provide ultra-clean chemicals like hydrogen peroxide and ammonium hydroxide that are used to clean micro-dust particles and organic matter from semiconductor chips. Its U.S. headquarters is in Phoenix, and it produces hydrogen peroxide and ammonium hydroxide for Samsung, Intel Corp. and others, primarily in the southwestern and central part of the country, officials have previously said.

Austin

SXSW unveils plans for the 2026 festival

Some of the changes to next year's South by Southwest festival are coming to light as planners determine how to host one of Austin's most prominent events without the Austin Convention Center.

SXSW will run from March 12 to 18 next year, shorter than this year's nine-day run, festival organizers announced June 24. Organizers also plan to create themed, badge-specific neighborhoods throughout the city that will highlight specific creative industries.

U.S.-China trade war has Austin companies on edge

A number of Austin-based companies are pulling back from China amid the festering U.S.-China trade war and the Trump administration's shifting tariff policies toward it, although few view leaving the country altogether as an option.

Trade between the U.S. and China is hugely important because of China's immense manufacturing and industrial capacity, which has made it a go-to for many companies based in the Austin metro. But, as the first few months of the Trump administration has demonstrated, it's a volatile relationship and tariffs on Chinese imports are high relative to other countries.

Events

48th Austin Symphony Orchestra July 4 Concert & Fireworks Celebration (July 4, 2025)

Women in Business Awards 2025 (August 22, 2025)

Bastrop County Growth Summit 2025 (September 23, 2025)

Austin-San Antonio Growth Summit 2025 (October 8, 2025)

IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Expo (Oct 19 - 23, 2025)

Williamson County Growth Summit 2025 (December 18, 2025)

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