Chrysler’s five weeks of breakneck-speed bankruptcy proceedings came to a screeching — but possibly temporary — halt Monday, when a Supreme Court justice delayed its sale of assets to Italy’s Fiat. The move could derail the government’s ambitious plan for the U.S. automaker to blaze a path to profitability without the burden of many of its debts. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a stay just a week before Chrysler says the government-backed sale must go through. After June 15, Fiat could walk away from the deal and leave the struggling U.S. automaker with little option but to liquidate. It was unclear late Monday just how long the stay would last, or if the high court planned to take up the case.
Resellers in state need a license
Thousands of Washington businesses will be affected by a change in the way sales taxes are collected, in an attempt by the Department of Revenue to recapture some of the estimated $100 million a year that state and local governments fail to collect. Businesses that operated under an honor system tempered by audits will now be required to get a reseller permit to avoid taxes until items are sold. The new rules take effect next January, but notices about the change will be mailed out during the next few months to about 190,000 retail businesses and the permits will be issued this fall. State law requires only the final customer to pay sales tax. Businesses that buy things they plan to resell do not have to pay sales tax until they collect the tax from their customers.
FedEx mounts ad campaign
FedEx Corp. is set to launch a multimillion dollar marketing campaign on Tuesday against chief rival UPS Inc., arguing the shipping carrier is the driving force behind a bill that would make it easier for FedEx workers to unionize. The bill before Congress would switch FedEx to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act from the National Railway Labor Act. The Railway Labor Act allows workers to organize, if all workers vote on a union at the same time. That has been a roadblock to unions that could not afford national campaigns. If FedEx Express workers were to be reclassified under the National Labor Relations Act, they could organize a terminal at a time.
T-bill rates rise in Monday auction
The Treasury Department auctioned three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.19 percent, up from 0.15 percent last week. Six-month bills were auctioned at a discount rate of 0.345 percent, up from 0.290 percent. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,995.20, while a six-month bill sold for $9,982.56. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, edged up slightly to 0.50 percent last week from 0.49 percent the previous week.
From Herald news services
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