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The Senate was unable to finalize a deal to extend the amount of time companies have to spend loans obtained through the Paycheck Protection Program, putting off the likely passage of revised small-business aid rules to next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. Amid broad bipartisan support, senators worked on Thursday to coalesce around a plan to double the time period to 16 weeks, but failed to garner unanimous consent on the agreement before leaving for a Memorial Day recess. The PPP is intended to help small businesses keep workers employed and pay other expenses during the coronavirus pandemic. Under the current rule, the earliest recipients of PPP funds must finish using them by May 29. Senators also sought to extend the deadline for program applications to Dec. 31 from June 30, and allow businesses to use funds to pay for investments needed to reopen safely and buy personal protective equipment for employees. ”I don’t think we’re going to have a problem getting something done one way or the other on it,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), the chairman of the small-business committee. Some senators had hoped to pass new PPP legislation before the break, even as GOP leaders have urged a go-slow approach on a broader aid package. Separately, House Democrats are expected next week to vote on a bill to change the $660 billion program’s time frame, and change some of the repayment terms. The House proposal has support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Restaurant Association, the National Retail Federation and several other outside groups.

President Trump said yesterday that “we’re not gonna close the country” again if the coronavirus sees a resurgence, the Boston Globe reported. During a tour of a Ford plant in Michigan, a reporter asked the president if he was concerned about a potential second wave of the illness. “People say that’s a very distinct possibility. It’s standard. And we’re going to put out the fires. We’re not gonna close the country. We’re going to put out the fires — whether it’s an ember or a flame, we’re going to put it out. But we’re not closing our country.” Trump’s administration in March issued cautionary guidelines — which were originally supposed to last 15 days and were then extended an additional 30 — aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, such as encouraging Americans to work and study from home and to avoid restaurants and discretionary travel. The federal guidelines also recommended against group gatherings larger than 10 and urged older people and anyone with existing health problems to stay home. The guidelines expired in late April, leaving any further restrictions or advisories up to individual states.

Murray Energy Corp. acknowledged on Wednesday that it has defaulted on its $440 million bankruptcy financing package, setting up a pivotal month for the nation’s largest private coal producer as it aims to leave chapter 11 amid a market downturn exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Murray’s lawyers said during a telephone hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Columbus, Ohio, that the company is negotiating with its lenders to roll over the loans funding its operations in chapter 11 into an exit financing package that would propel it out of bankruptcy. Founded by coal-industry booster and prominent Trump supporter Robert Murray, the company filed for chapter 11 protection in October and it has pursued a takeover offer from a group of lenders to get out of bankruptcy. But one lender, Great American Capital Partners LLC, which isn’t part of that group, has said that an agreement on financing terms might not be reached before Judge John E. Hoffman Jr. is scheduled to consider the company’s chapter 11 exit plan in mid-June.

Companies from major retailers and package carriers to local restaurants and hair salons are awakening to a new economic reality in the age of the new coronavirus: Being open for business is almost as hard as being closed, the Wall Street Journal reported. Facing higher costs to keep workers and customers safe and an indefinite period of suppressed demand, businesses are navigating an ever-narrower path to profitability. To make the math work, some businesses are cutting services and jobs. Others are raising prices, including imposing coronavirus-related fees aimed at getting customers to share some of the expenses. Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and Home Depot Inc. this week said they absorbed more than $2 billion combined in added expenses for wages, bonuses and other benefits for workers during the early months of the pandemic. McDonald’s Corp. laid out conditions for franchisees to reopen their dining rooms that include cleaning bathrooms every half-hour and digital kiosks after every order. Ford Motor Co. this week opened its American assembly plants for the first time in two months, and promptly had to idle factories in Michigan and Illinois after employees tested positive for Covid-19. The stakes can be higher for small businesses, which tend to operate on thinner profit margins and smaller cash reserves. As they begin to reopen after weeks of being shut down, they are confronting a cost-revenue ratio that is increasingly out of whack. Prices of food and other items have risen. Employees need protective equipment at work. Rising unemployment, safety concerns and limits on the number of customers a business is allowed to serve are setting a cap on sales. Some have tried to raise prices to bridge the divide, but greeting consumers who have been staying at home with higher costs is a delicate proposition.

General Motors Co. said yesterday that it was gradually restarting the transmission and motor lines at its Mexican facilities in Silao and Ramos Arizpe, while U.S. auto parts maker Lear Corp. also geared up for production, Reuters reported. GM Mexico said the assembly plants at Ramos Arizpe in the northern state of Coahuila, and Silao in the central state of Guanajuato, could restart operations on Friday depending on suppliers, and that it was assessing when to reopen plants in the central state of San Luis Potosi, and in Toluca, near Mexico City. The steps to restart production are welcome news for the North American auto sector, with supply lines highly interconnected among the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Automotive factories in Mexico have been idled for weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected 59,567 people and killed 6,510 in Mexico so far. GM staff returning to work in Mexico must use personal protective equipment at all times, keep a “safe distance” of 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) from each other, and have their temperatures checked when entering the plant, a message to workers showed. The government said last week that Mexico’s automotive industry could exit the coronavirus lockdown before June 1 if firms had approved safety measures in place.

The novel coronavirus could slow investigations into corporate wrongdoing by prosecutors, regulators and federal agents as shelter-in-place orders and other restrictions force delays to crucial steps in their work, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some investigative activities, including ones requiring travel or face-to-face meetings, are taking more time, and that could raise concerns for time-sensitive cases, said Daniel Kahn, a senior deputy chief in the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal fraud section. “The most difficult part of this is doing in-person interviews,” Kahn said. He added that getting documents from overseas also is proving more difficult than usual. “For the most part we are finding ways to do that,” he said. “It just sometimes can be a little bit slower.” By contrast, much of the government’s investigative work, such as issuing subpoenas, executing email search warrants, reviewing documents and meeting with defense counsel can be done remotely and is continuing as normal, Kahn said.