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The Indiana Daily Student

Business Brief

Gold resigns from Disney corporation\nLOS ANGELES -- Stanley Gold, a key ally of former Walt Disney Co. vice chairman Roy E. Disney, resigned from the media conglomerate's board Monday, becoming the second vocal opponent of chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner to quit the board in two days.\nGold issued a long rebuke to Eisner and the board, seconding complaints made Sunday by Roy Disney and further criticizing the board as being a rubber stamp to senior management.\nGold also repeated Roy Disney's calls for Eisner to resign. Gold accused the board of being too cozy with Eisner, despite the departure of several key Eisner allies over the past year and the addition of new, independent directors.

SH: White House urges Bush to lower tariffs\nWASHINGTON -- White House advisers are urging President Bush to head off a global trade war by rolling back steep tariffs on imported steel, administration and industry officials said Monday.\nIf he concurs -- he is still reviewing the matter, the White House spokesman said -- Bush risks alienating steel companies and workers in states that are important for his re-election. If he doesn't, a broad range of U.S. products could face retaliatory sanctions from Europe and elsewhere, angering other voters.\nA senior Bush adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several key aides and agencies, including the office of the U.S. trade representative, have urged the president to drop the tariffs, imposed in March 2002 to ease foreign competition while the beleaguered U.S. steel industry consolidates and restructures.

SH: DuPont announces layoffs, international rebalancing\nWILMINGTON, Del. -- DuPont announced Monday that it will use job cuts and other "aggressive actions" to trim $900 million in costs over the next two years.\nDuPont also said it hopes to increase annual revenue by six percent. The steps being taken by the company include rebalancing resources toward emerging markets, where it expects much of its growth in the coming years. Initial focus will be on China, with other areas of interest being Central and Eastern Europe and Brazil.

Levi Strauss replaces CFO after turnaround falters\nSAN FRANCISCO -- Levi Strauss & Co. is replacing its chief financial officer with a specialist from a troubleshooting firm as its turnaround efforts continue to falter.\nHaving just completed its seventh consecutive year of declining sales, Levi's decided it need the help of an outsider -- Alvarez & Marsal, a New York-based consultant that has counseled dozens of struggling companies during the past 20 years.\nThe firm's co-founder, Tony Alvarez, recently revamped The Warnaco Group, the maker of Calvin Klein jeans and other apparel. Alvarez became Warnaco's CEO after the company went bankrupt in 2001. He left Warnaco after guiding the New York company out of bankruptcy earlier this year.

Kerkorian accuses Daimler-Benz of fraud\nWILMINGTON, Del. -- Executives from Daimler-Benz engaged in "plain, old-fashioned fraud" during merger talks with Chrysler five years ago, an attorney representing billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian told a federal judge Monday.\n"Because of the lies, defendants were able to take over Chrysler, drive out the senior leaders at Chrysler and replace them with Daimler executives from Germany," Terry Christensen, who represents Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., said during opening arguments in U.S. District Court.\nMonday marked the first day of a trial that is the culmination of a three-year battle between Tracinda and German-American automaker DaimlerChrysler AG.

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