US says Department of Commerce employee subjected to exit ban in China
"We can confirm that a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office employee, while traveling to China in a personal capacity, was made subject to an exit ban in China. We are tracking this case very closely and are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible," a State Department spokesperson said.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is part of the federal Department of Commerce.
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Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Tesla says it started building initial versions of an affordable car; posts a steep sales decline
July 23 (Reuters) - Tesla(TSLA.O), opens new tab said on Wednesday it has built initial versions of an affordable car, a move likely meant to stem the steep decline in sales the company has experienced in markets across the world. Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker posted the worst quarterly sales decline in more than a decade and profit that missed Wall Street targets, but its profit margin on making cars was better than many feared. Tesla shares were down 2.6% in after-hours trading. Tesla said it expects volume production of the long-promised cheaper vehicle in the second half of this year, raising hopes it will rekindle demand as it battles rising competition from cheaper EVs, especially in China, and a persistent backlash against Musk's far-right political views. Tesla Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said on a call with investors that production of the cheaper car would ramp up next quarter, slower than initially expected, and the company did not provide an update on its full-year deliveries forecast. "Tesla's disappointing results aren't surprising given the rocky road it's traveled recently," said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne. "A truly affordable model will hit the bullseye in terms of boosting sales if Tesla can effectively position it right without detracting from its higher-priced models." The second straight quarterly revenue drop, with a 12% fall, comes despite rolling out a refreshed version of its best-selling Model Y SUV that investors had hoped would help revive demand. A 51% dive in sales of automotive regulatory credits, which other automakers who have difficulty complying with government emissions rules buy from Tesla, also hurt revenue and profit. Revenue fell to $22.5 billion for the April-June quarter from $25.50 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $22.74 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Adjusted profit per share of 40 cents lagged the consensus of 43 cents per share. The automotive gross margin, which excludes regulatory credits, was 14.96%, above Wall Street estimates, helped in part by lower cost per vehicle. Tesla global deliveries dropped 13.5% in the second quarter, which was below Wall Street targets. Tesla had said in April it would start producing the more affordable model by the end of the first half and sources had told Reuters the vehicle, a stripped-down version of its Model Y SUV, would be delayed by at least months. Tesla on Wednesday did not disclose any details on the model, how many units it had made, or how it would be priced. The company said it continued to expect volume production of its custom-built robotaxi - called the Cybercab - and Semi truck in 2026. Much of the company's trillion-dollar valuation hangs on its bet on its robotaxi service - a small trial of which was started in Austin, Texas, last month with about a dozen Model Y SUVs - and on its development of humanoid robots. Investors are concerned about whether Musk will be able to devote enough time and attention to Tesla after he locked horns with President Donald Trump by forming a new political party this month. He had promised weeks earlier that he would cut back on government work and focus on his companies. A series of high-profile executive exits, including a longtime Musk confidant who oversaw sales and manufacturing in North America and Europe, is also adding to the concerns.
BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
Trump tariffs: They made America's clothing. Now they are getting punished for it.
Already living from hand to mouth, millions of garment workers across Asia fear for their jobs as a deadline to strike a trade deal with the US - or face punishing tariffs - looms 9 July, following a 90-day pause on tariffs for countries to negotiate deals, the US president notified several countries in the region of new levies set to begin on 1 August. The new rates, while lower than those proposed in April, have done little to allay nations that received letters from Donald Trump were apparel hubs like Cambodia and Sri Lanka, which are heavily dependent on the US as an export market. The letters said that the two nations would face tariffs of 36% and 30% Levi's and Lululemon are among big-name US brands that have the bulk of their clothing made in these countries. "Can you imagine what will happen if [we] lose our jobs? I'm so worried, especially for my kids. They need food," says Nao Soklin, who works in a garment factory in southeastern Soklin and her husband Kok Taok make a living sewing bags for 10 hours a day. Together, they earn about $570 a month – barely enough to cover rent and provide for their two young sons and aged parents."[I want to] send a message to President Trump, to tell him to please lift the tariff on Cambodia... We need our jobs to support our families," she told the which has become a popular alternative to Chinese retailers because of its ready supply of low-wage labour, exported more than $3bn worth of apparel to the US last year, according to the Asean Statistics Division. The sector, which employs more than 900,000 people, makes up more than a tenth of the country's overall Sri Lanka, exports to the US helped the garment industry – which directly employs some 350,000 people – earn $1.9bn last year, making it the country's third-largest foreign exchange earner."If [30%] is the end number, Sri Lanka is in trouble because our competitors, such as Vietnam, have received lower tariffs," Yohan Lawrence, secretary general of Sri Lanka's Joint Apparel Association Forum, told the Reuters news agency. Last-ditch negotiations Sri Lankan authorities are hopeful of negotiating a further reduction to the tariffs but have not disclosed what they would consider an acceptable of its leaders have noted that the country has received the highest concession – of 14 percentage points – so far as a result of earlier negotiations. "We see this as the beginning of a very good situation," secretary to the Finance Minister Harshana Suriyapperuma said last which got a 13 percentage point concession, is also seeking further talks. "We are doing everything we can to protect the interests of investors and workers," said Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, who leads the negotiating team."We want the tariff to be zero... But we respect their decision and will continue trying to negotiate a lower rate," he said. Trump says the tariffs are needed to reduce the gap between the value of goods the US buys from other countries and those it sells to them."Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal," the US leader wrote in letters to various countries last week, which he also posted on his Truth Social analysts tariffs overlook the benefits that the US enjoys from existing trade agreements, including lower-priced clothing and higher profits for US companies sourcing from countries like Sri Lanka or Cambodia, says Mark Anner, dean at Rutgers' School of Management and Labor decades, the US, European Union and Canada had in place a quota system that reserved a certain share of their markets for developing countries like Sri Lanka. The system, which was phased out in 2005, helped Sri Lanka's garment sector flourish despite stiff competition."For the US to now impose prohibitive tariffs that effectively shut these countries out of the market goes against the very development path it once prescribed," Prof Anner said. It is unrealistic to expect small, developing economies to not run a trade deficit with the US, says Sheng Lu, a professor at the University of Delaware's Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies."How many Boeing airplanes does Cambodia or Sri Lanka need and can afford to purchase each year?" he Prof Lu believes the strategic rivalry between the US and China is also a factor in trade talks, given how these garment-exporting countries are integrated into supply chains that rely heavily on Chinese now have to "strike a delicate balance" between maintaining economic ties with China while also meeting new US demands, which may include cutting the use of Chinese inputs in production, he says. Women bear the brunt Washington's tariffs add new pressures to familiar challenges in the industry: poverty and weak labour rights in Cambodia, and an ongoing economic crisis in Sri who make up seven in 10 of garment workers in the region, are set to bear the brunt of the tariffs. More downward pressure on their already chronically low wages mean their children could go hungry, while potential layoffs would be even more devastating. Surangi Sandya, who works in a factory in the Sri Lankan town of Nawalapitiya, says she feels an axe hanging over her."Companies don't work at a loss... If orders decrease, if there is a loss, there may be a possibility that the company will shut down," she says. Ms Sandya started out as a rank-and-file seamstress in 2011, then worked her way up to become the supervisor of a 70-women push comes to shove, some Cambodian workers say they will consider moving to Thailand to find jobs – even if they must do it illegally."Our livelihoods depend on the garment factory. We won't survive if our boss shuts it down," An Sopheak tells the BBC from her tiny 16 sq m room in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh."We have little education. We can't find other jobs. We pray every day that President Trump will lift the tariff. Please think about us and our poor country."
Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump administration to supercharge AI sales to allies, loosen environmental rules
July 23 (Reuters) - The Trump administration released a new artificial intelligence blueprint on Wednesday that aims to loosen environmental rules and vastly expand AI exports to allies, in a bid to maintain the American edge over China in the critical technology. President Donald Trump marked the plan's release with a speech where he laid out the stakes of the technological arms race with China, calling it a fight that will define the 21st century. "America is the country that started the AI race. And as President of the United States, I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it," Trump said. The plan, which includes some 90 recommendations, calls for the export of U.S. AI software and hardware abroad as well as a crackdown on state laws deemed too restrictive to let it flourish, a marked departure from predecessor Joe Biden's "high fence" approach that limited global access to coveted AI chips. "We also have to have a single federal standard, not 50 different states regulating this industry in the future," Trump said. Michael Kratsios, head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, told reporters on Wednesday the departments of Commerce and State will partner with the industry to "deliver secure full-stack AI export packages, including hardware models, software applications and standards to America's friends and allies around the world." An expansion in exports of a full suite of AI products could benefit AI chip juggernauts Nvidia and AMD (AMD.O), opens new tab as well as AI model giants Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, OpenAI and Facebook parent Meta (META.O), opens new tab. Biden feared U.S. adversaries like China could harness AI chips produced by companies like Nvidia and AMD to supercharge its military and harm allies. The former president, who left office in January, imposed a raft of restrictions on U.S. exports of AI chips to China and other countries that it feared could divert the semiconductors to America's top global rival. Trump rescinded Biden's executive order aimed at promoting competition, protecting consumers and ensuring AI was not used for misinformation. He also rescinded Biden's so-called AI diffusion rule, which capped the amount of American AI computing capacity some countries were allowed to obtain via U.S. AI chip imports. "Our edge (in AI) is not something that we can sort of rest on our laurels," Vice President JD Vance said in a separate appearance at the event, which was organized by White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and his co-hosts on the "All-In" podcast. "If we're regulating ourselves to death and allowing the Chinese to catch up to us, that's not something ... we should blame the Chinese for..., that is something we should blame our own leaders for, for having stupid policies that allow other countries to catch up with America," Vance said. The AI plan, according to a senior administration official, does not address national security concerns around Nvidia's H20 chip, which powers AI models and was designed to walk right up to the line of prior restrictions on Chinese AI chip access. Trump blocked the export of the H20 to China in April but allowed the company to resume sales earlier this month, sparking rare public criticism from fellow Republicans. The plan also calls for fast-tracking the construction of data centers by loosening environmental regulations and utilizing federal land to expedite development of the projects, including any power supplies. The administration will seek to establish new exclusions for data centers under the National Environmental Policy Act and streamline permits under the Clean Water Act. Trump directed his administration in January to develop the plan. Trump is expected to take additional actions in the upcoming weeks that will help Big Tech secure the vast amounts of electricity it needs to power the energy-guzzling data centers needed for the rapid expansion of AI, Reuters previously reported. U.S. power demand is hitting record highs this year after nearly two decades of stagnation as AI and cloud computing data centers balloon in number and size across the country. The export expansion plans take a page from deals unveiled in May that gave the United Arab Emirates expanded access to advanced artificial intelligence chips from the United States after previously facing restrictions over Washington's concerns that China could access the technology.
