Latest news with #Caijing
South China Morning Post
28-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Tencent, Alibaba buy Nvidia GPUs from ByteDance stockpile, report says
Chinese technology giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding have purchased a substantial number of graphics processing units (GPUs) from TikTok owner ByteDance , which previously stockpiled about 100 billion yuan (US$13.7 billion) worth of chips, according to a report by business news outlet Caijing. Advertisement Social media and video gaming giant Tencent purchased about 2 billion yuan worth of GPUs – primarily Nvidia 's H20 chips – in the first quarter to support the development of artificial intelligence (AI) , including its ChatGPT -like application Yuanbao. E-commerce giant Alibaba, which owns the Post, acquired GPUs from ByteDance for similar reasons, Caijing reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. In addition to its own usage, ByteDance makes less than 10 per cent of its total computing power inventory available for sale, generating revenue for its cloud computing unit, Volcano Engine, according to the report. The news comes amid surging demand for computing power, driven by rapid AI adoption and tighter US export restrictions, which have made access to advanced semiconductor technologies more difficult for Chinese companies. Nvidia's H20 chip, which is slower than the H100 and next-generation Blackwell chips, was until recently the most powerful AI processor that the company was legally permitted to sell in China under US restrictions on exporting the chipmaker's most advanced tech on national security grounds. Nvidia said this month that it now also required approval to export H20 GPUs Advertisement Chinese firms – including ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent – ordered at least US$16 billion worth of Nvidia's H20 chips in the first quarter, according to a report by tech news outlet The Information. Many of these orders were for an upgraded version that integrated the high-bandwidth memory used in Nvidia's Blackwell series, the report said.
New York Post
25-04-2025
- Business
- New York Post
China drops tariffs on US semiconductors, weighs more exemptions as countries attempt to navigate trade war: reports
China has quietly exempted some semiconductors from tariffs, and is considering more exclusions for certain US industries, as the world's two largest economies attempt to navigate a trade war with potentially devastating effects, according to reports. Taxes on at least eight classifications of US microchips have been lowered to zero, a huge drop from China's 125% retaliatory tariff on all other US goods, Caijing, a Chinese financial magazine, reported on Friday. Though the article was later deleted, two importers confirmed that certain semiconductors have been spared from the hefty duties, according to The Washington Post. Advertisement 3 China has reportedly exempted some US semiconductors from hefty tariffs. REUTERS Chinese officials are weighing further exemptions on medical equipment and some industrial chemicals like ethane, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The government is also considering removing the tariff on plane leases, sources said. Chinese airlines, like most other carriers around the world, do not own all of their planes. Instead, they pay leases to third-party companies. Advertisement China's embassy in the US did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment. In the public eye, however, China has appeared resistant to de-escalating heightened trade tensions, claiming that trade talks with the US haven't even started yet after Trump indicated that lower rates on the nation are in the works. The nation called for the US to revoke all 'unilateral' tariffs. Later on Thursday, Trump said that the White House has been meeting with Chinese officials, claiming there had been a meeting that same morning. Shares in Asia soared and the yuan erased losses after news of the potential exemptions circulated. Advertisement 3 President Trump said the US has been meeting with Chinese officials. Getty Images 'It's another step toward a de-escalation of the trade war,' Kok Hoong Wong, head of institutional equities sales trading at Maybank Securities Pte, told Bloomberg. While most believe it's unlikely that US-China tensions will ease quickly, 'it would appear the worst may truly be over,' he added. Neither Beijing nor the US want to be the first to blink in the trade war. But China's exemptions indicate the nation is concerned about layoffs and factory closures slamming their snail-paced economy. Advertisement Its exemptions on semiconductors mirror steps the US took earlier this month, excluding electronics from Trump's 145% levy on Chinese goods – a huge win for Apple and Nvidia, which rely on China for cheap manufacturing. 3 Chinese President Xi Jingping waving from a plane during a send-off ceremony last week. AP And while China is the world's largest plastics manufacturer, those facilities often rely on ethane imported from the US. The nation's hospitals depend on advanced medical equipment, like magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound machines, from the US. During Trump's first term, amid heightened US-China trade tensions, China's Finance Ministry launched a system for companies to request sector-specific tariff exemptions. Taking responses into consideration, it then created exclusions that would prevent certain major industries from suffering large losses, experts told The Washington Post. 'A couple of our member companies have reported that even within the last week, they had a few shipments that were imported that did not have tariffs levied on them,' Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said during a press conference on Friday. 'It does look like both governments are looking carefully and don't want to stop trade overall,' Hart continued.
RTÉ News
25-04-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
China considers exempting some goods from US tariffs
China is considering exempting some US imports from its 125% tariffs and is asking businesses to identify goods that could be eligible in the biggest sign yet that Beijing is worried about the economic fallout from its trade war with Washington. A Ministry of Commerce taskforce is collecting lists of items that could be exempted from tariffs and is asking companies to submit their own requests, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Financial news magazine Caijing reported on Friday citing sources that Beijing was preparing to include eight semiconductor-related items, although not memory chips. "The Chinese government, for example, has been asking our companies what sort of things are you importing to China from the US that you cannot find anywhere else and so would shut down your supply chain," American Chamber of Commerce in China President Michael Hart said on Friday. Some chamber members say they have imported goods in the past week without the new tariffs being applied, Hart added. A list of 131 categories of products eligible for exemptions was circulating widely on social media and among businesses and trade groups on Friday. Reuters could not verify the list, whose items ranged from vaccines and chemicals to jet engines. While Beijing's ultimate course of action remains unknown, Huatai Securities analysed the list circulating in trade groups and said it corresponded to $45 billion worth of imports last year. Repeated phone calls to China's customs department were not answered. Customs and the Ministry of Commerce did not respond to faxed questions. While Washington has said the current status quo is economically untenable and already offered tariff exemptions to some electronic goods, China has repeatedly said it is willing to fight to the end unless the US lifts its tariffs. But beneath the bombast, China's economy is entering the trade war flirting with deflation. Demand is weak and consumer spending and sentiment have never properly recovered from the pandemic levels. The government is pushing tariff-hit exporters to pivot to local markets, but companies say profits are lower, demand weaker and customers less reliable. Exemptions are a bigger gesture of support, although by allowing some trade to resume, they also reduce the pain for the US economy and take some pressure off the White House. Many imports, ranging from petrochemical ethane to pharmaceuticals have few easy alternatives or could take years to manufacture outside the United States. Big pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca and GSK have at least one manufacturing site in the US for drugs sold in China, according to Chinese government data.
The Sun
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Sun
China mulls exempting some US goods from tariffs
SHANGHAI: China is considering exempting some US imports from its 125% tariffs and is asking businesses to identify goods that could be eligible in the biggest sign yet that Beijing is worried about the economic fallout from its trade war with Washington. A Ministry of Commerce taskforce is collecting lists of items that could be exempted from tariffs and is asking companies to submit their own requests, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Financial news magazine Caijing reported yesterday citing sources that Beijing was preparing to include eight semiconductor-related items, although not memory chips. 'The Chinese government, for example, has been asking our companies what sort of things are you importing to China from the US that you cannot find anywhere else and so would shut down your supply chain,' American Chamber of Commerce in China president Michael Hart said yesterday. Some chamber members say they have imported goods in the past week without the new tariffs being applied, Hart added. A list of 131 categories of products eligible for exemptions was circulating widely on social media and among businesses and trade groups yesterday. Reuters could not verify the list, whose items ranged from vaccines and chemicals to jet engines. While Beijing's ultimate course of action remains unknown, Huatai Securities analysed the list circulating in trade groups and said it corresponded to US$45 billion (RM197 billion) worth of imports last year. Repeated phone calls to China's customs department were not answered. Customs and the Ministry of Commerce did not respond to faxed questions. While Washington has said the current status quo is economically untenable and already offered tariff exemptions to some electronic goods, China has repeatedly said it is willing to fight to the end unless the US lifts its tariffs. But beneath the bombast, China's economy is entering the trade war flirting with deflation. Demand is weak and consumer spending and sentiment have never properly recovered from the pandemic levels. The government is pushing tariff-hit exporters to pivot to local markets, but companies say profits are lower, demand weaker and customers less reliable. Exemptions are a bigger gesture of support, although by allowing some trade to resume, they also reduce the pain for the US economy and take some pressure off the White House. Many imports, ranging from petrochemical ethane to pharmaceuticals have few easy alternatives or could take years to manufacture outside the US. Big pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca and GSK have at least one manufacturing site in the US for drugs sold in China, according to Chinese government data. Major ethane processors have already sought tariff waivers from Beijing because the US is the only supplier. – Reuters
Washington Post
25-04-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
China quietly exempts some U.S.-made semiconductors from tariffs
China has quietly exempted from tariffs some semiconductors made in the United States, in an attempt to protect its leading technology companies from a bitter trade showdown with President Donald Trump. Levies on at least eight classifications of U.S.-made microchips have been dropped to zero, instead of the 125 percent retaliatory tariff rate Beijing has imposed on all other U.S. goods, Caijing, a Chinese financial media outlet, reported Friday.
