WEBVTT - Trump Tax Cuts Rejected by House Panel as Hardliners Dig In 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:10.760 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. This is Bloomberg business Week, 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Daily reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.799 ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:23.760 today's complex economy. Plus global business finance and tech news 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:27.760 as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast with 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:31.760 Carol Masser and Tim Stenebeck on Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.200 Let's now go to Washington for the latest from the Capitol, 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.560 where a key House committee on Friday failed to advance 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.360 House Republicans massive tax and spending bill. This after hardline 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:45.680 conservatives bucked President Trump and block the bill over cost concerns. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:47.680 We got Joe Matthew with us. He's co host of 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:49.639 Bloomberg at Balance of Power. He joins us from our 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:55.320 Washington DC Bureau. Joe Representatives Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, Josh Breacon, 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:58.400 Andrew Clyde joined Democrats to vote against this. 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:03.080 What happens now, Well, that's a great question, and that's 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:04.200 the one we're all asking. 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:07.480 This happened right around noontime. Tim. It's great to be 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:09.120 with you today, and you know you're going to hear 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:09.399 a lot. 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:11.520 Of people speculate about the fate of this bill based 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:13.760 on this failure, and I won't try to do that 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:15.480 right now. What I will tell you is this is 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:17.200 not the way it's supposed to be done. This is 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.440 the easy part getting through committees, like the layup the 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.200 rubber stamp, and it's incredibly rare to see something fail 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:25.800 on this level. The fact that the chairman, Jody Errington, 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:27.840 even brought this to a vote, clearly knowing that he 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:30.240 didn't have the numbers is remarkable. 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:32.240 You mentioned Chip Roy, Ralph Norman. 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:36.440 These are frequent critics of legislation on Capitol Hill that 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:39.160 doesn't cut spending enough, and they know what it's like 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:40.160 to get a phone. 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.160 Call from Donald Trump. Well, just things can happen here, 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:45.440 you know what. Yeah, he's on the plane right now, 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:45.880 by the way. 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:47.240 I don't know if he's taken a nap, tim or 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:49.440 if he's actually on the phone with them, But this 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:51.760 could be a pretty dicey weekend for these guys as 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:53.680 they try to put the pieces back together. Well, that's 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.040 exactly where I wanted to go, Joe, because we saw 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.240 what happened in the last several months when Republican members 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.720 of Congress have not gotten on board all it takes 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.040 is maybe a phone call or too from the President, 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.480 perhaps even maybe from some of his allies or from 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:11.000 Speaker Johnson. What's the president's next move here? What political 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.720 capital does he have to push these guys to get 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:14.200 on board. 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:16.120 Well, it's a great question. 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.720 He was on Truth Social earlier today saying stop talking 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:21.760 and get it done. He was referring to the grand 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:23.800 Standards as he likes to call them, the names that 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:25.359 we've already used here. 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:27.720 The vote was twenty one sixteen, so. 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:30.399 You've got more than a couple Republicans to convince here. 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.560 But there's a lot of moving parts when you're trying 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:36.240 to find balance in something like this, and the whole 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.359 matter of salt that we talk about a lot here 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.120 on Bloomberg is right in the middle of it. If 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:43.760 you're going to make the New York Republicans happy and 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.240 raise the cap on salt, you're going to upset other 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.240 people who want to see steeper cuts to make up 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.760 for that, And that's the balancing act the Speaker Johnson 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.639 is in right now. He clearly hasn't found the balance. 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.120 But just to give you a sense of what this means, 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.600 we had the Budget Committee today it was supposed to 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:01.680 go to the Rules Committee on Monday, which is kind 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.120 of the gatekeeper to the floor. And then as the 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.920 Speaker promised a vote on the floor by Memorial Day, 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.480 they're not going to fool around with that Memorial Day break. 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:11.200 Everyone's going home one way or the other. 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:15.120 So this whole timeline could suddenly be off the rails 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:17.280 when you consider what's coming in terms of the debt 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.960 limit and so forth. It could be a complicated summer 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.680 one that was already complicated, it could be even more so. 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:25.840 Okay, so everyone's not going to be there voting on 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:27.040 this on Memorial. 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:27.200 Day, Joe. 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:30.400 So what do we know about just exactly what happens 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:31.880 next with the timeline here. 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:34.839 Well, they'll probably get a couple of booze when they're 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.080 in the Memorial Day parade if people are actually paying 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:37.839 attention at home. 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:39.160 But we have to remind ourselves. 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:44.200 This is the signature piece of legislation for the Trump administration. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.360 This is what he calls one big, beautiful bill. This 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.680 is to extend or make permanent the Trump tax cuts. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.680 Think about the promises on the trail, no taxes on tips, 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:59.080 no taxes on overtime. We already went through salt. They 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.720 kind of have to get this done. And when we 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:03.480 find out in a couple of weeks what the real 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.360 x state is on the debt ceiling, that's going to 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:08.760 be maybe the gas on the fire that gets people together. 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.240 The fact of the matter is, though, I'll make this 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.000 even more difficult. Once all this is potentially done in 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:16.279 the House, it goes to the Senate and they're going 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.560 to rewrite the whole thing. They're going to make all 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.359 kinds of changes and probably turn back some of the 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:23.880 cuts that were made to Medicaid to pay for some 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:26.320 of this stuff. And all these same guys in the 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.240 House who didn't like this bill today will like it 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:29.080 even less then. 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:30.160 And then where are. 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.039 We Well, Joe, Well, you're talking to us. Kaylee's sending 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:37.320 us tweets. This one coming from NBC News reporting that 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.600 the House Budget Committee Republicans are going to try to 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.320 reconvene on Sunday at ten pm. 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.800 Oh, that'll go, well, what happened to account? And then 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:48.839 they don't have bedtimes. 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.800 They had a couple of overnight committee hearings already this week, 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:56.240 you know, like sixteen hours long. We had lawmakers fallen 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.360 asleep at four in the morning. They're good at this. 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.159 It's hydro. They'll bring in the takeout and the wine 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:04.479 and maybe the cots. Then it'll make for great TV 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.800 on Monday morning. Whether they can actually get anything done though, 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.360 we saw them bring it to a vote today without 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.719 being able to answer that. So what changes in the 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:15.720 next couple of days aside from aside from some arm 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:16.960 twisting from President Trump. 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:17.440 I don't know. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:19.400 Hey, Joe, Before we let you go, we got about 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:21.880 a minute left. We wanted to talk to you also 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:26.280 about takeaways from President Trump's overseas trip four days in 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:30.839 the Middle East, the tour that really focused on making deals. 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:33.960 How would you just describe for us the view of 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.960 this region by this administration and how it differs from 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:38.080 previous administrations. 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.359 You know, we talked to former Congressman Denver Riggleman about 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:43.360 that today. He joined us live on Balance of Power 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.320 from Dubai. He's actually founded an AI company of his own, 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:47.880 and he's in the mix over there, and he was 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:51.600 talking about this incredibly important moment as this region has 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:54.040 opened up to the likes of Nvidia, AMD on the 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:55.760 friendly list, if you will. 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.040 When it comes to high tech chip exports. 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.560 This is an incredible moment of opportunity, I think, not 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:02.880 only for the administration but for the industry here as 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:06.520 we look for options to turn away from China. Pretty 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.320 incredible the dollar figures that we saw announced on this trip, 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.560 and it's also a whole new look optically at what 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.839 a presidential trip could look like here leading with the 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.640 dollar signs and kind of backstopping with the politics. 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:18.839 I'll say one thing. 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:21.720 Though, nobody got to Turkey today named Trump or Putin 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:24.680 for Ukraine peace talks. That was something we were holding 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:26.719 out for and it's not going to happen this time. 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:28.239 That will remain on a lower level. 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.680 Okay, Well, thanks for the updated Joe from Washington really appreciated. 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:33.200 I want you to get some rests this week, and 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:35.120 because I know you're going to be busy following all 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.800 the happenings in Washington, DC. Also, don't miss Joe and 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:39.839 Kayley to the late edition of Balance of Power. 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.280 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast. Catch 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.080 US Live weekday afternoons from two to five Easter and 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:51.159 listen on Applecarplay and Android Otto with the Bloomberg Business app, 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.960 or watch US Live on YouTube. 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.480 Well, President Trump said on Thursday that India has made 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.880 an offer to drop tariffs on US goods, is then 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:03.480 negotiates a deal to a higher import taxes. We know 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.920 our next guest is watching this closely. He's featured in 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:09.400 the upcoming weekly CFO Briefing newsletter. It's written by Nina 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.760 Treatmanchi's Bloomberg News senior editor. You can also sign up 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.679 for it at Bloomberg dot com slash CFO Dash of Briefing. 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.400 Nina joins us now along with Kabir Ahmed Shakir, CFO 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.000 of Tatak Communications. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:22.560 Nina, I want to start with you. 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.120 Why did you choose to feature Kabir in the upcoming 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:26.280 CFO Briefing newsletter. 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.240 Well, it seems as it's good timing right, India is 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:32.040 in the news. We've also seen a fair amount of 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:36.080 tensions recently in between India and Pakistan, so we're also 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.920 talking talked about risks to Kabir, So yeah, it seemed 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.840 to be a good time. Kabir, thank you very much 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.880 for staying up so late. It's I think around midnight 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.160 in Mumbai, so thank you very much for joining us. 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.560 We've just heard from Tim on on the outlook for 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.440 for India. Just wondering what that means for your business 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.080 as as you're growing your business at Tata. 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:00.760 Thanks Leinaim for having me on the show. Yeah, and 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.720 it's almost going to be midnight here, But quite excited 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.680 to be on the show. As we spoke you know 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:12.120 earlier as well, I'm cautiously optimistic about what the what 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:16.440 the year will unfold for us. We are working tirelessly 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:21.520 on our strategy and executing on our strategy, and and 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:24.600 of course business is not ever going to be static. 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.920 The environment is going to go keep throwing challenges at us. 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.720 But I guess we have a resilient business. We are 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:34.680 in the in the B two B space and we 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.480 are here to serve our customers, and our products and 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:41.559 services help our customers both on the revenue side and 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.280 the cost side outcome. So managing volatility, helping them grow, 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:48.840 helping them manage their their bottom line and their risk 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.440 is what we do day in and day out. So 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.319 I'm excited to continue to partner and and help our customers. 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:59.319 I'm curious about how terraiffs specifically affect you. Even though 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.520 you're based in any you're a global company. You essentially 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:07.319 connect eighty percent of mobile customers worldwide. You serve three 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:10.880 hundred of the Fortune five hundred companies in some way. 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:17.600 But tariffs affect products, hardware, infrastructure, technology. How would tariffs 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:19.600 affect your business? How do they affect your business? 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:22.640 Well, there are two ways in which it could affect 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.679 our business. One is directly, you know, because we are 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.520 in the telecom space and we do procure hardware equipment 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:33.360 which we deliver as part of the overall service to 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:37.360 our customers. So it does impact there, but that impact 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:42.520 is very negligible and insignificant. So I'm literally not worried 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:48.120 about the direct impact. What worries me is even so 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:52.000 much so not the tariffs but the volatility, the uncertainty 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:55.559 leading up to it. So from the time President announced 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:58.000 and then there was a pause and now there is 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.400 a bit of a you know of a withdraw So 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:03.840 we don't know when this turbidity is going to you know, 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.320 going to stop and when there's going to be more clarity. 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.839 So when we see this uncertainty with our customers, the 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.880 delay in decision making is something that is likely to 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:19.160 push you know, revenue or although as of no I 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.920 have not seen this in our autobook as yet. And 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.440 that's the reason why I use the word cautiously optimistic, 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.160 right that we would like to be cautious to see 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:31.200 what's that that conversation that's happening in our customer boardrooms 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:33.000 and how we can, you know, help them. 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.760 Maybe I can jump in here, career just thinking about 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.760 the relationships between India and the US. I'm wondering how 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.080 you're seeing additional growth opportunities for your business. I know 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.560 you've told me the US is an important part for 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.760 your business. You've done two transactions here recently. Just talk 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.400 to us a little bit about how you're seeing that develop. 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:56.600 Yeah, US is a very very important market for US, 0:10:56.760 --> 0:11:01.120 and we want to grow US to to billion dollars 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.760 of our business. We are currently about little under two 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.040 and a half billion dollars for now and US kind 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:09.400 of totals up to around seven hundred sound fifty. So 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:12.480 we'd like to take it to to billion dollars in 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:15.720 the very near future. So we've invested both in terms 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:20.440 of product capabilities for the business, go to market capabilities, 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:22.880 feet down street and everything that we can. 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:23.800 Do to grow the business. 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:29.600 So therefore, our strategy is still steadfast and we will 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:33.560 look for both organic and inorganic opportunities to grow our 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:34.679 footprint in the US. 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:35.719 So we are committed to that. 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.240 Kare what is the M and A outlook like, because 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.199 at least in the US we had a pretty big 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.640 media deal announced today with Charter and cocks. Are you 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:47.960 looking at any potential M and A activity? 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:53.880 We are continuously scanning if I may, and there are 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:55.280 you know, targets. 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:56.640 That we will look at. 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.760 If you if you look at our business, our data 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.760 business has two chunky parts. There's a core connectivity part 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:07.079 of the business, our traditional telecom point to point connectivity 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.240 and you know and Ethernet and you know international these 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.920 lines and then something in cable that we that we have. 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:17.160 So that's you know, roughly about half of our business 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.320 and the other half is a digital portfolio which we 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.800 call the overlay services, where we use the connectivity as 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.920 a foot in the door and then provide valuated services 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.439 to our customers, whether it is whether it's the customer 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.960 interaction you know, suite offerings that we have, whether it's 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:38.040 IoT move cloud security, you know, and all of those 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:39.080 offerings that we do. 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.160 It is in that space that I would. 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:46.480 Be we would be really looking for any potential targets 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:51.520 that could either I would say, bolt on and fill 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:55.000 any portfolio gaps I may have in my product offering 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:58.640 or even help us with the go to market you 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.640 know offering. I'll give you an recent example when we 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:05.800 boxed Switch, and it was a primarily a US based business. 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:07.520 Switch gave us two capabilities. 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:11.600 One we were It gave us the media transmission business 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:16.520 in the US and that was very very important for us. 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:20.040 Plus it also gave us the media production you know capability, 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:23.360 so we could backward integrate and offer more, you know, 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.720 more product offerings to our customers, and we could take 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.200 that globally as well. So it made a lot of 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:33.640 sense for us to get a footprint in the US 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:37.199 geography and then use that capability to even go global. 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:39.920 So assets like that will be of interest for us, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:41.320 and we continuous to scan for them. 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.320 Yeah, Kabir, just wondering based on the fact that you're 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.280 based in India. We've seen some geopolitical tensions there recently, 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:51.439 not the only place in the world where we're seeing 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:54.760 that flare up recently. Just wandering from a CFO perspective, 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:58.440 how do you navigate these kind of geopolitical risks and 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.640 how far has has risked management become more important to us, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.840 to you and also sort of how does that work? 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.440 Uh you know, I mean, I would say we have 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.880 a very very robust risk management framework and today it 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:17.000 is geopolitical risk. Yesterday it was something called COVID pandemic, 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:20.400 and not more than a decade ago, it was a 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.720 Layman collapse, and you know, and the crude oil crisis. 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.360 So we've seen and every time when this event. 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.400 Happens, we call it a one off event, a black 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:34.040 Swan event. But I guess all organizations you know sailed 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:38.360 through this. They have a resilient, resilient PNDL and balance 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:42.240 sheet and resilient culture that helps them navigate through this. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:43.800 And we are no different. 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.680 And we are a global organization, so therefore we are 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:50.640 not insulated to only domestic you know issues. Every morning 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.600 we wake up with something happening, you know, across the world, 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:55.680 the geopolitical conflict. 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:56.280 As when we. 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.400 Spoke and I mentioned, uh, it never has ever it 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.840 happened that we had three cable systems go down at 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:04.680 the same point in time in the last twenty year 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.520 history ever, which happened about nine months ago, and that's 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:08.840 because of the Red Sea conflict that. 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:10.720 You actually, you know, actually see. 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.560 So we have woken up to the reality that despite 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.840 these pressures, we need to continue to be you know, 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:22.000 serving our customers, providing them you know, diverse paths, giving 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.360 them alternatives so that their business you know, keeps running. 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:27.200 That's the reason why they come to come to us 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.600 in the first place. So when we chop out plants, 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.320 we of course look at the likelihood and the impact 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.120 of any of these events occurring, and depending on the severity, 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:37.880 either we are acting on them. 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.080 Right now, having a plan A plan B plan. 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:44.320 See ready, or or if not, you know, keep watching 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:48.200 that space if it develops in any way disadvantaging us 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:50.080 and have mitigation plans. 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:54.480 We're speaking with Kabira Ahmed Shakir, CEO of Taught Communications. Kabir, 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:59.400 you have this perch as CFO of the company that 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.400 operates or has business i should say, and close to 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.960 two hundred countries around the world, so you understand where 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:09.400 there's weakness, where there's strength. What are you hearing from 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.520 customers right now? This isn't exactly discretionary spending that they 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.479 do when it comes to it, When it comes to telecom. 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.840 But are there areas of the world where you're seeing 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:20.880 strength or the areas of the world where you're seeing 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:21.800 weakness right now? 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:26.160 Look when when we look at any of these things 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:31.000 impacting like the tariffs. Of course there's a prediction on 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:35.560 especially in the US, the very recent goldment As Sects 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:40.240 report of last month suggests that spend levels are going 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.920 to be pretty static compared to last year. So and 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.720 the probability of CAPEX coming down is at high as 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.200 forty five percent. So you see all those you know 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.160 statistics coming in and I can understand why because of 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.960 the uncertainty and if people, if customers need to rewire 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.800 their supply chains, then they would rather preserve the cash 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:01.920 for that than you know spending on important but non 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:06.240 urgent you know it spends. So that's one dilemma. The 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.560 other conundrum that they actually have is clearly there is 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.800 a pomo I mean, with the with the buzzword of 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.720 AI going through every you know, organization is also looking 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:20.800 at our investing in AI and our future proving our business. 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:25.240 So therefore not investing and not spending on that space 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.720 is not an option either. So that's the kind of 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:31.160 conundrum that the customers are in and and we are 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:35.200 helping our customers to look through this bring clarity as 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.000 soon as possible so that they do not you know, 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:42.080 suffer the consequences of an intercision on and not spending 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:42.960 in time. 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:45.000 So it's a it's a tricky situation. 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:48.320 So I'm not saying it's easy, but you see that 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:54.119 consistently across you know, industries quite often with network it 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:58.400 so happens. You know, tim is if it ain't broken, 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:00.800 why fix it. You know, that's the kind of attitude 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.359 you know people have. So it's very normal too to 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:07.040 try and push back that spend, but as I said, 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.840 with a coming in, it's very difficult for them to 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:11.080 push back for too long. 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:13.000 Yeah, certainly a theme that we saw when it came 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.680 to the most recent round of earnings reports from companies 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.120 here in the US that that AI spend is continuing. 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.000 Kabir Amtshakier, thanks so much for joining us CFO of 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.600 tak Talk Communications. Also a big thank you to Nina Trentman, 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.360 senior editor at Bloomberg News. Check out the CFO briefing 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.200 by Nina Trentman. You can sign up at Bloomberg dot 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.800 com slash newsletters, or go directly there at Bloomberg dot 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:33.960 com slash cf. 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:39.200 This is the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast. Listen live 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.480 each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on Applecarplay and 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.480 Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. You can also 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:49.320 listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station. 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:53.560 Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty And we. 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.520 Got a special guest for our Drive to the Close today. 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.439 That's Craig Moffatt. He's founding partner and senior analyst at 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:02.920 Mofitt Nathan and he joins us from Craigs. Deal such 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.960 as this in the year twenty twenty five, could it 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.119 face regulatory scrutiny? 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.160 Hey Tim, good to be here. You know, you wouldn't 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:17.000 think so Cox and Charter are adjacent. They don't directly 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:21.399 compete with each other. Charters pricing strategies in their go 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:25.280 to market strategy is pro competitive and pro consumer. So 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:28.920 you wouldn't think that this deal would face any challenges 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:31.600 even at the state level, because they'll also have to 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.800 get approvals from the Public Service Commissions and public utility 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:38.480 commissions in the individual states involved. You wouldn't think it 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:43.200 would see any challenges, but again, things have been sort 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:47.439 of unpredictable when you get DEI considerations and things like 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:50.600 that that can hang up. Otherwise, big deals that are 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:53.280 ready for approval, you do have to be at least 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:57.560 some somewhat circumspect about what kind of process it will face. 0:19:57.640 --> 0:19:59.960 Okay, that's a deep tease for the Horizon Frontier conmerce 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:01.960 we're going to have in a few minutes. But we 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:04.080 want to stick on Charter and Cox right now because 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:05.679 that is the big deal of the day, right. 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.600 And Craig, so you joined the show in January. I 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:10.840 think Carol Masser was here. It wasn't me. I'm filling 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.439