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Scott Tong

Correspondent

Scott Tong is a former correspondent for Marketplace. He reported on sustainability issues (energy, climate, environment, resources) for Marketplace, as well as the U.S.-China technology relationship, frequently described as “fraught.” He is Marketplace’s former China bureau chief. What was your first job? English-language audiotape (yes, tape) voice-over work. Sixth grade.Taiwan. What advice do you wish someone had given you before you started this career? Show up an hour before the interview. Fill in the blank: Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you ______. Gas for kid carpools; Washington Capitals hockey tickets. What is something that everyone should own, no matter how much it costs? Smoker (plus wooden slotted spoon). What’s your most memorable Marketplace moment? Sneaking into Burma for twenty bucks.

Latest from Scott Tong

  • Feb 14, 2019

    U.S. pushes international curbs on Huawei

    U.S. pushes international curbs on Huawei
    WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images

    If you asked the White House to name its global corporate enemy No. 1, the Chinese tech giant Huawei would be at, or near, the top of the list. Washington has pushed for Huawei’s chief financial officer to be arrested on allegations of evading sanctions laws, and it’s charged the company with stealing technology from […]

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  • Feb 9, 2019

    VW invests in more charging stations to tackle "range anxiety"

    Charging plugs sit connected to a Volkswagen e-Golf electric automobile to an electric charging station outside the Volkswagen AG (VW) factory on May 8, 2018 in Dresden, Germany.
    Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images

    A Volkswagen subsidiary is pouring half a billion dollars into more charging stations for electric vehicles as sales grow. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

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  • Feb 8, 2019

    Reporter’s notebook: The first driverless spin

    Waymo self-driving vehicles are displayed in Mountain View, California, in 2018.
    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

    One man's autonomous adventure includes scary left turns, robot rule-followers and teen snark.

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  • Feb 1, 2019

    A turnaround for oil companies?

    Some investors are optimistic that Big Oil has been able to ride out the plummeting prices of late last year.

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  • Jan 31, 2019

    What if U.S.-China trade talks fail?

    Chinese and American trade negotiators meet in Washington Wednesday and Thursday to achieve an amicable end to the two countries’ current trade tensions. It won’t be easy. Sure, the United States might lower tariffs in exchange for China taking more of U.S. fossil fuels and soybeans. But the talks could still fail. The Trump administration […]

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  • Jan 30, 2019

    5 things to know about the Huawei indictments

    A woman uses her smartphone while walking past advertising outside a Huawei store in Beijing on Jan. 29, 2019.
    WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images

    It's about national security, fraud and rogue employees.

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  • Jan 17, 2019

    How much Brexit uncertainty can the global economy take?

    Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the media after her government defeated a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons on Jan. 16, 2019 in London, England. 
    Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

    The turmoil of Brexit continued today with a no-confidence vote attempting to oust Prime Minister Theresa May. She survived by a margin of 19 votes. But the Brexit storm is hardly contained. It remains an uneasy, potentially expensive complication at a time when the world may not be able to afford it. So at what […]

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  • Jan 15, 2019

    Senate confirmation process begins this week for EPA chief

    Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler testifies before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Aug. 1, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
    Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Andrew Wheeler is expected to face tough questions about his former role as a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry.

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  • Jan 8, 2019

    5G wireless without China

    The FCC is considering a ban on Chinese telecom hardware like that made by telecom giant ZTE.
    Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images

    Washington regulators are debating a ban on Chinese telecom hardwire, but rural America may pay the price.

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  • Jan 1, 2019

    EPA decision could make it harder to impose environmental rules

    Coal mining companies and power plants that burn coal are trying to sort out the implications of a deregulatory move by the Trump administration late Friday. The EPA is proposing to re-think rules cutting the air pollutant mercury – it’s a toxin which can impact the brain development of babies. For now, the agency says […]

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