Business Highlights: Infrastructure, Fed tapering outlook

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Big win for $1T infrastructure bill: Dems, GOP come together

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a robust vote after weeks of fits and starts, the Senate has approved the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan. A rare coalition of Democrats and Republicans joined together Tuesday to deliver a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda. Passage provides momentum as it’s now headed to the House. The package would provide almost $550 billion in new spending over five years for roads, bridges, broadband internet, water pipes and other public works systems. Biden said it shows that “democracy can still work.” The Senate turns next to Biden’s bigger package, a $3.5 trillion plan with debate likely to extend into the fall.

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Bullard: Robust job growth supports Fed tapering ‘soon’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last week’s jobs report demonstrated the ongoing strength of the U.S. economy and underscored the need for the Federal Reserve to rein in its stimulus efforts, a Fed official said Tuesday. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said that Friday’s report, which showed a healthy gain of 943,000 jobs last month, means the economy is making sufficient progress to start reducing, or tapering, the Fed’s $120 billion in monthly bond purchases. Those purchases are intended to lower longer-term interest rates and bolster the economy.

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Tenn. Nissan plant to close for 2 weeks due to chip shortage

DETROIT (AP) — Nissan says its huge factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, will close for two weeks starting Monday. The shutdown is due to computer chip shortages brought on by a coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia. The shutdown is among the longest at any U.S. auto plant of this size since the semiconductor shortage started to hit late last year. The shortage has hobbled auto production worldwide. Nissan said in a statement Tuesday that it ran short of chips due to a COVID-19 outbreak at a chip factory in Malaysia. It expects production to resume Aug. 30. The 6 million-square-foot Tennessee factory employs 6,700 people and makes six Nissan models including the Rogue small SUV, its top-selling vehicle.

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Facebook bans firm behind Pfizer, AstraZeneca smear campaign

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Facebook has removed hundreds of accounts linked to a disinformation network operating out of Russia that sought to smear COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The company said Tuesday that it has banned the advertising firm behind the campaign, which had offered to pay social media influencers in Europe if they posted their misleading content. The plan backfired when two of those influencers exposed the network. Facebook said it traced the content to a firm called Fazze which operates from Russia. Messages left seeking comment from Fazze’s parent company, were not returned Tuesday.

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Railroad bidding war for Kansas City Southern is reignited

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Canadian Pacific has jumped back into the bidding war for Kansas City…