International
Mexico OK's Trump trademarks
On Feb. 19, 2016, at a campaign rally in North Charleston, S.C., then-candidate Donald Trump gave a stump speech in which he railed against American jobs moving to Mexico: ‘‘We lose our jobs, we close our factories, Mexico gets all of the work,’’ he said. ‘‘We get nothing.’’ That same day a law firm in Mexico City quietly filed on behalf of his company for trademarks on his name that would authorize the Trump brand to set up shop in a country with which he has sparred over trade, migration, and the planned border wall. Four Trump trademarks have now been granted by the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, the last three on Feb. 21. The same four previously expired in 2015. Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten said the Mexican government’s decision was not a special favor to the president. ‘‘We’re not being granted anything we didn’t have before,’’ he said. The original trademarks came ‘‘years before [Trump] even announced his candidacy.’’ Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, said the Mexican grants are in an ethical ‘‘gray’’ area. ‘‘To what extent is this appropriate? I don’t know,’’ Painter said. ‘‘We never had Obama running around the world locking up his name, or Bush.’’ — ASSOCIATED PRESS
International
China reins in overseas investment
China struck $225 billion in deals to acquire companies abroad last year, a record-breaking number that signaled to the world that Chinese business leaders were hot to haggle. Now, China — with a worried eye on the money leaving its borders — is telling some of its companies to cool it down. On Saturday, in the strongest public signal yet that Beijing was changing course, China’s commerce minister castigated what he called “blind and irrational investment.” At a news briefing during the annual meeting of China’s congress, Zhong Shan, the minister, said officials planned to intensify supervision of what he called a small number of companies. Just a day earlier, Zhou Xiaochuan, the country’s top central banker, also questioned the wisdom of some recent Chinese overseas deals. The comments are the clearest confirmation that the government is hitting the brakes on the rush overseas by deep-pocketed Chinese companies with a reputation for having more money than deal-making aptitude. — NEW YORK TIMES
Gasoline
US prices rise 2 cents over two weeks
The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline rose 2 cents nationally during the past two weeks, to $2.35. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that despite the rise, gas prices are poised to dip slightly because crude oil costs are falling and refinery production is strong. The national average is up 51 cents per gallon over the price a year ago. Gas in San Francisco was the highest in the contiguous United States at an average of $3.03 a gallon Friday. The lowest was in Baton Rouge, La., at $2.03 per gallon. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Transportation
Upstart ride-hailing services fail in South by Southwest Test
Startups Fasten and RideAustin saw South by Southwest, the annual technology, film, and media gathering in Austin, Texas, as their biggest test since they replaced Lyft and Uber as the city’s predominant ride-hailing services last May. Neither one got high marks on Saturday night. Drivers and passengers complained that the apps were down for an hour or two on a rainy evening. In addition to general outages, some riders complained of very high surges in pricing and of being charged for cars that never arrived. Uber and Lyft abruptly stopped operating in Austin almost a year ago in protest of a law that required drivers to be fingerprinted. Fasten, in particular, was looking at SXSW as a coming-out party of sorts as it attempts to raise a $20 million fund-raising round and move into new markets. — BLOOMBERG NEWS