The daily business briefing: December 10, 2018

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1. Elon Musk slams SEC in 60 Minutes interview
2. China summons U.S., Canadian ambassadors over Huawei executive arrest
3. Top EU court rules that U.K. can cancel Brexit
4. Trump to meet with Democratic leaders to avert a Christmas government shutdown
5. Yearly domestic box office to soar past $11 billion sooner than ever before

published 10 December 2018

1. Elon Musk slams SEC in 60 Minutes interview

In a 60 Minutes interview Sunday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in no uncertain terms that he has little love for the Securities and Exchange Commission. "I want to be clear. I do not respect the SEC," he said. The defiant statement came after a turbulent summer for Musk, who has been criticized for erratic behavior and was sued by the SEC after he impulsively tweeted about taking the electric-car company private but later reneging on that plan, possibly defrauding investors. "I'm just being me," Musk told CBS's Lesley Stahl. "I mean, I was certainly under insane stress and crazy, crazy hours. But the system would have failed if I was truly erratic." Musk said no one is screening his tweets. Musk also suggested Tesla might purchase some of the General Motors factories that are set to close next year. Tesla shares rose slightly in U.S. premarket trading to $359.30.

China's Foreign Ministry has summoned the U.S. and Canadian ambassadors to China to protest the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies. Meng was taken into custody in Vancouver, Canada, on Dec. 1, at U.S. direction. She faces extradition to the United States, where she is accused of helping Huawei, a major electronics manufacturer, evade American sanctions on Iran. Beijing said the arrest "severely violated the Chinese citizen's legal and legitimate rights and interests," calling it "lawless, reasonless, and ruthless, and ... extremely vicious."

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Early Monday, the European Court of Justice ruled that Britain can unilaterally call off its exit from the European Union without input from the 27 other EU members, and without altering the terms of Britain's EU membership. On Tuesday, Britain's House of Commons was scheduled to vote on, and expected to reject, Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiated Brexit plan, which would have thrown Britain's exit from the EU into further uncharted waters. But May reportedly pulled the vote Monday morning. The deal under consideration was settled with EU leaders late last month. Revoking the Article 50 exit clause would have to "follow a democratic process," the court ruled, meaning that in Britain, Parliament would have to approve calling off Brexit. The upshot is that staying in the EU is now "a real, viable option," BBC Brussels correspondent Adam Fleming notes, cautioning that "a lot would have to change in British politics" for Brexit to be actually called off.

Lawmakers are considering a wide range of legislation in the final days of the current Congress, but the only bills they need to pass are the seven remaining spending measures to keep the federal government running past a current deadline of Dec. 21. The most contentious of the remaining spending bills is for the Department of Homeland Security, with President Trump demanding $5 billion for his proposed border wall and Democrats saying no. Trump is set to meet with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — likely the incoming House speaker — and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week to discuss the impasse. Democrats say that, based on Trump's past reneging on legislative deals, they have low expectations for the talks.

The domestic box office could reach $11 billion by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, the quickest it has ever reached that amount. The $11 billion total will be reached long before the massively profitable Christmas season, and this year, Star Wars' absence from cinemas has left room for five major blockbusters: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Mortal Engines, Aquaman, Bumblebee, and Mary Poppins Returns. The box office is currently on pace to finish the year somewhere around $11.7 billion or $11.8 billion, which would already be the best year ever, but Deadline writes that depending on how this upcoming holiday brawl shakes out, it's entirely possible 2018 could reach $12 billion for the first time in history.

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