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Trump administration renegotiating 'overly generous' Biden Chips Act grants

Trump administration renegotiating 'overly generous' Biden Chips Act grants

CNA3 days ago

WASHINGTON :President Donald Trump's administration is renegotiating some of former President Joe Biden's grants to semiconductor firms that were "overly generous," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at a hearing on Wednesday.
Biden's Chips Act aimed to coax chipmakers to expand production in the U.S., but some of the awards "just seemed overly generous, and we've been able to renegotiate them," Lutnick told lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Are we renegotiating? Absolutely, for the benefit of the American taxpayer," he added.
Lutnick also addressed concerns that deals like the one announced by Trump to allow the United Arab Emirates to buy advanced artificial intelligence chips from U.S. companies last month could lead to an exodus of AI compute from the U.S.
Lutnick said the administration agrees with the goal that more than 50 per cent of global AI computing capacity should be in America.

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Dismay and disbelief as Trump bans visitors from a dozen countries, World News
Dismay and disbelief as Trump bans visitors from a dozen countries, World News

AsiaOne

timean hour ago

  • AsiaOne

Dismay and disbelief as Trump bans visitors from a dozen countries, World News

Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned from visiting the United States expressed dismay and disbelief on Thursday (June 5) at President Donald Trump's new sweeping travel ban as his administration intensifies its immigration crackdown. Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday barring citizens of 12 countries from entering the US starting on Monday, asserting that the restrictions were necessary to protect against "foreign terrorists." The order was reminiscent of a similar move Trump implemented during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, when he barred travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations. That directive faced court challenges and went through several iterations before the US Supreme Court upheld the ban in 2018. Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed that ban in 2021, calling it "a stain on our national conscience." But the new ban is much more expansive and covers Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Citizens of seven other countries - Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela - will be partially restricted. A senior diplomat with the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, who asked not to be named, said Trump's justification did not stand up to scrutiny. "Sudanese people have never been known to pose a terrorist threat anywhere in the world," the official said. Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump's action. "Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride," he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the US a luxury airplane for Trump's use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the US Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban. Fatima, a 57-year-old Afghan women's rights defender waiting in Pakistan for her US visa to be processed, had her dreams shattered overnight after Trump's order. "Unfortunately, the decisions made by President Trump turned all the hopes and beliefs of us into ashes," she told Reuters, asking that only her first name be published for security reasons. Ban to take effect Monday Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbour a "large-scale presence of terrorists," fail to co-operate on visa security, have an inability to verify travellers' identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States. He cited Sunday's incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt was not part of the travel ban. "Because Egypt has been a country that we deal with very closely. They have things under control," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. When asked why he chose this moment to unveil the ban, he said: "It can't come soon enough." The visa ban takes effect on June 9 at 12.01am. Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said. In total, just under 162,000 immigrant visas and temporary work, study, and travel visas were issued in fiscal year 2023 to nationals of the affected countries in the now banned visa categories, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The ban is likely to face legal challenges. But Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School, said he expected those lawsuits to face an uphill climb, because the latest ban contains various exemptions and cited specific security concerns with each country. The ban includes exemptions, such as for dual nationals, permanent residents, immigrant visas for immediate family members of US citizens and athletes travelling for major sporting events like the World Cup. "Trump has learned from the mistakes of earlier travel bans," he said. Some foreign officials said they were prepared to work with the US to address Trump's security concerns. "Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised," Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. [[nid:718800]]

Japan trade negotiator says progress made in US tariff talks
Japan trade negotiator says progress made in US tariff talks

CNA

time4 hours ago

  • CNA

Japan trade negotiator says progress made in US tariff talks

TOKYO: Japan had made some progress in a fifth round of trade talks with United States officials aimed at ending tariffs that are h urting Japan's economy, Tokyo's chief tariff negotiator said. "Tariffs have already been imposed on autos, auto parts, steel and aluminum, and some of them have doubled to 50 per cent along with 10 per cent general tariff. These are causing daily losses to Japan's economy," Ryosei Akazawa, said in Washington on Friday (June 6) after talks with officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Akazawa declined to say what progress they had made. The latest round of talks may be the last in-person meeting between senior Japanese and US officials before the Group of Seven (G7) leaders summit that starts on June 15, where US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Japan also faces a 24 per cent tariff rate starting in July unless it can negotiate a deal with Washington. "We want an agreement as soon as possible. The G7 summit is on our radar, and if our leaders meet, we want to show what progress has been made," Akazawa said. "Still we must balance urgency with a need to guard our national interests," he added. Last month Japan's trade negotiator said US defence equipment purchases, shipbuilding technology collaboration, a revision of automobile import standards and an increase in agricultural imports could be bargaining chips in tariff talks. In a bid to reach an agreement with the US, Japan is also proposing a mechanism to reduce the auto tariff rate based on how much countries contribute to the US auto industry, the Asahi newspaper reported on Friday.

Trump signs orders to bolster US drone defences, boost supersonic flight
Trump signs orders to bolster US drone defences, boost supersonic flight

Straits Times

time5 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Trump signs orders to bolster US drone defences, boost supersonic flight

Mr Trump sought to enable routine use of drones beyond the visual sight of operators and reduce US reliance on Chinese drone companies. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on June 6 signed executive orders to bolster US defences against threatening drones and to boost electric air taxis and supersonic commercial aircraft, the White House said. In the three executive orders, Mr Trump sought to enable routine use of drones beyond the visual sight of operators - a key step to enabling commercial drone deliveries - and reduce US reliance on Chinese drone companies as well as advance testing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The order should boost eVTOL firms including Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation. Mr Trump is establishing a federal task force to ensure US control over American skies, expand restrictions over sensitive sites, expand federal use of technology to detect drones in real time and provide assistance to state and local law enforcement. Mr Trump also aims to address the 'growing threat of criminal terrorists and foreign misuse of drones in US airspace,' said Mr Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. 'We are securing our borders from national security threats, including in the air, with large-scale public events such as the Olympics and the World Cup on the horizon.' The National Football League praised the executive order, saying it was critical to protecting fans. 'Over the past several years, an increasing number of drones have flown into restricted airspace during our games. This executive order is the most significant step taken to address the issue,' the NFL said, adding Congress should also take action. Mr Sebastian Gorka, senior director of counterterrorism at the National Security Council, cited the use of drones in Russia's war in Ukraine and threats to major US sporting events. 'We will be increasing counter-drone capabilities and capacities,' Mr Gorka said. 'We will increase the enforcement of current laws to deter two types of individuals: evildoers and idiots.' The issue of suspicious drones also gained significant attention in 2024 after a flurry of drone sightings in New Jersey. The Federal Aviation Administration receives more than 100 drone-sighting reports near airports each month. Drone sightings have at times disrupted flights and sporting events. Mr Trump also directed the FAA to lift a ban imposed in 1973 on supersonic air transport over land. Supersonic aircraft have been criticised by environmentalists for burning more fuel per passenger than comparable subsonic planes. 'The reality is that Americans should be able to fly from New York to LA in under four hours,' Mr Kratsios said. 'Advances in aerospace engineering, material science and noise reduction now make overland supersonic flight not just possible, but safe, sustainable and commercially viable.' The order directs FAA to repeal the supersonic speed limit as long as aircraft do not produce an audible sonic boom on the ground. Airplane manufacturer Boom Supersonic welcomed the move. Its CEO, Mr Blake Scholl, said: 'The supersonic race is on and a new era of commercial flight can begin.' The era of regular commercial supersonic flights ended in 2003 when Concorde, flown by Air France and British Airways, was retired after 27 years of service. The Trump orders do not ban any Chinese drone company, officials said. In 2024, former President Joe Biden signed legislation that could ban China-based DJI and Autel Robotics from selling new drone models in the US. DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer, sells more than half of all US commercial drones. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

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