Latest news with #ChineseCompanies
Washington Post
a day ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump order could end Chinese drone sales in the U.S.
The White House is finalizing multiple executive orders on drones that could lead to Chinese companies being barred from selling new models in the United States, potentially upending the consumer drone market while escalating the growing conflict between the U.S. and China over technology and trade. The draft orders, which President Donald Trump is expected to sign as early as next week, also call on the federal government to invest in the U.S. domestic drone industry, which has struggled to compete with the Chinese drone-makers that currently dominate, people familiar with the matter said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the orders are still being finalized.
Associated Press
a day ago
- General
- Associated Press
Thousands rally in Serbia's capital demanding snap elections after months of protests
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of people rallied on Friday in Serbia's capital demanding early elections following seven months of persistent anti-corruption protests that have shaken the populist rule of President Aleksandar Vucic. The protest in Belgrade was organized by Serbia's university students, who have been a key force behind the nationwide demonstrations triggered by a collapse on Nov. 1 of a concrete train station canopy in the country's north that killed 16 people. Many people in Serbia believe that the deadly crash was the result of flawed renovation work on the station building, and they link the disaster to alleged government corruption in major infrastructure projects with Chinese state companies. Protesting university students have been demanding accountability for the crash and the rule of law in Serbia, a Balkan nation that is formally seeking European Union entry but where the ruling populists have been accused of clamping down on democratic freedoms. After months-long protests drawing hundreds of thousands of people, the student movement is now seeking a snap vote, arguing that the current government cannot meet their demands for justice for the crash victims. Presidential and parliamentary elections are otherwise due some time in 2027. Vucic, whom critics accuse of an increasingly authoritarian rule despite the proclaimed EU bid, initially dismissed early elections but on Friday suggested they may be held, though without saying exactly when. No one has been sentenced in connection with the tragedy in the northern city of Novi Sad. Authorities have indicted over a dozen people but doubts prevail that the proceedings will uncover the alleged corruption behind the crash. A huge, noisy column of protesters in Belgrade marched by the state prosecutor's offices before reaching the government building. They carried a big banner urging elections. Maja Rancic said she was hopeful the protests can bring about changes: 'I really hope and wish, and I think it will happen.' Vucic's government has stepped up pressure on the protesting students and Serbia's universities, claiming without proof that they were instructed by foreign powers to stage a revolution in the country. Students are planning more protests all over the country this weekend.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Trump administration took action against China due to frustration on trade talks, officials say
The flurry of punitive measures taken against China by the Trump administration over the last few days was prompted by a belief among US officials that China has failed to live up to commitments it made in trade talks earlier this month, three administration officials told CNN. This week the administration made moves to revoke visas for Chinese students and suspend the sale of some critical technology to Chinese companies. The officials said they are frustrated that China failed to follow through on the commitments that were meant to deescalate the trade conflict between the two countries, as they seek an overall deal by the middle of August. The dispute underscores the highly fraught relationship between the world's two largest economies. Even as the two sides emerged from the talks in Switzerland having agreed to reduce the withering tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump, the gulf appears to be widening on supply chains that each nation believes are critical to national security. After the talks in Geneva this month — the first substantive meeting on trade since Trump imposed the tariffs — US officials had expected China to ease export restrictions of rare earth minerals, which are an essential part of everything from iPhones and electric vehicles to big-ticket weapons like F-35 fighter jets and missile systems. But the restrictions haven't been lifted, causing intense displeasure inside the Trump administration and prompting the recent series of costs imposed on China, the three administration officials said. The decisions in Washington to limit critical technology sales to China and restrict the number of Chinese students studying in the US reveals just how central the trade war is to the administration's overall foreign policy towards China. It is a 'unified administration strategy,' said one senior administration official in describing the connective tissue. The actions taken in the last week will have a significant impact on Chinese tech companies and students. The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Trump had effectively cut off some American companies from selling software used to design semiconductors to China. A Siemens spokesperson later told CNN that the US government on Friday informed the industry about new export controls on chip designing software to China and Chinese military end users globally. Just days later Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Trump administration will 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,' including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields. 'On day one, the President signed an Executive Order directing the Secretary of State to enhance federal screening and vetting of aliens coming to the United States, including visa holders. The Secretary made this decision in the Administration's ongoing effort to protect our homeland from espionage and other hostile actions,' said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who Trump tapped to lead the talks and run point on the bilateral relationship, has highlighted the importance of the process the Geneva talks put into place for negotiations to take place in the months ahead. But he has stressed the value of the 'mechanism' established between the US and Chinese sides to prevent future escalations that would derail future talks or any eventual outcome. Bessent, who led the Geneva talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, has maintained a focus on a functioning relationship and has said a second in-person meeting between the two sides is likely in the future. But Bessent has also calibrated his public comments to make clear the US has no plans to slow or stop a strategic effort to decouple from China on supply chains deemed critical to US national security. 'I would say that they are a bit stalled,' Bessent said of the China talks Thursday on Fox News. 'I believe that we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks. And I believe we may, at some point, have a call between the president and party chair Xi (Jinping).' 'I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other,' Bessent said. Growing concern within the administration in the leadup to the talks over China's moves to cut off access to rare earth minerals sparked a wide-ranging effort behind the scenes to find potential workarounds, officials said. That effort, which included officials from several agencies and the West Wing, wasn't halted after the trade talks and remains a focus. But there was a view that the immediate pressure would ease as a result of the agreement reflected in the joint statement. When that did not happen, the US began to think about ways to impose costs on China. US officials said they were not concerned about the one-two hit derailing the future of the US-China trade talks. Instead, officials are looking to make clear that not effectively engaging in the ongoing trade talks comes with consequences for the country. 'It is clearly an escalation. But if you look at what Trump does when he thinks he is getting close to securing a deal, and it's not there yet, he tries to elevate the rhetoric. They think that elevated rhetoric and action will move a deal faster,' said one person close to the White House. There were signs that Beijing was initially caught off guard by the visa announcement. For much of Thursday, China's state-controlled media remained largely silent on the news that will significantly impact the fate of hundreds of thousands of Chinese students. Then China's foreign ministry spokesperson came out calling the move 'politically motivated and discriminatory.' Any path towards steadying the relationship across the board remains uncertain. 'The Geneva agreement was a major first step towards securing a final, comprehensive trade deal with China,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. 'Discussions continue, and the Administration is monitoring compliance with the agreement.' It isn't clear when the next round of trade talks between the US and China will take place. And despite saying for weeks he would talk soon with President Xi Jinping, Trump and the Chinese leader have not yet spoken amid the trade conflict.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Trump administration took action against China due to frustration on trade talks, officials say
The flurry of punitive measures taken against China by the Trump administration over the last few days was prompted by a belief among US officials that China has failed to live up to commitments it made in trade talks earlier this month, three administration officials told CNN. This week the administration made moves to revoke visas for Chinese students and suspend the sale of some critical technology to Chinese companies. The officials said they are frustrated that China failed to follow through on the commitments that were meant to deescalate the trade conflict between the two countries, as they seek an overall deal by the middle of August. The dispute underscores the highly fraught relationship between the world's two largest economies. Even as the two sides emerged from the talks in Switzerland having agreed to reduce the withering tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump, the gulf appears to be widening on supply chains that each nation believes are critical to national security. After the talks in Geneva this month — the first substantive meeting on trade since Trump imposed the tariffs — US officials had expected China to ease export restrictions of rare earth minerals, which are an essential part of everything from iPhones and electric vehicles to big-ticket weapons like F-35 fighter jets and missile systems. But the restrictions haven't been lifted, causing intense displeasure inside the Trump administration and prompting the recent series of costs imposed on China, the three administration officials said. The decisions in Washington to limit critical technology sales to China and restrict the number of Chinese students studying in the US reveals just how central the trade war is to the administration's overall foreign policy towards China. It is a 'unified administration strategy,' said one senior administration official in describing the connective tissue. The actions taken in the last week will have a significant impact on Chinese tech companies and students. The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Trump had effectively cut off some American companies from selling software used to design semiconductors to China. A Siemens spokesperson later told CNN that the US government on Friday informed the industry about new export controls on chip designing software to China and Chinese military end users globally. Just days later Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Trump administration will 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,' including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields. 'On day one, the President signed an Executive Order directing the Secretary of State to enhance federal screening and vetting of aliens coming to the United States, including visa holders. The Secretary made this decision in the Administration's ongoing effort to protect our homeland from espionage and other hostile actions,' said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who Trump tapped to lead the talks and run point on the bilateral relationship, has highlighted the importance of the process the Geneva talks put into place for negotiations to take place in the months ahead. But he has stressed the value of the 'mechanism' established between the US and Chinese sides to prevent future escalations that would derail future talks or any eventual outcome. Bessent, who led the Geneva talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, has maintained a focus on a functioning relationship and has said a second in-person meeting between the two sides is likely in the future. But Bessent has also calibrated his public comments to make clear the US has no plans to slow or stop a strategic effort to decouple from China on supply chains deemed critical to US national security. 'I would say that they are a bit stalled,' Bessent said of the China talks Thursday on Fox News. 'I believe that we will be having more talks with them in the next few weeks. And I believe we may, at some point, have a call between the president and party chair Xi (Jinping).' 'I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other,' Bessent said. Growing concern within the administration in the leadup to the talks over China's moves to cut off access to rare earth minerals sparked a wide-ranging effort behind the scenes to find potential workarounds, officials said. That effort, which included officials from several agencies and the West Wing, wasn't halted after the trade talks and remains a focus. But there was a view that the immediate pressure would ease as a result of the agreement reflected in the joint statement. When that did not happen, the US began to think about ways to impose costs on China. US officials said they were not concerned about the one-two hit derailing the future of the US-China trade talks. Instead, officials are looking to make clear that not effectively engaging in the ongoing trade talks comes with consequences for the country. 'It is clearly an escalation. But if you look at what Trump does when he thinks he is getting close to securing a deal, and it's not there yet, he tries to elevate the rhetoric. They think that elevated rhetoric and action will move a deal faster,' said one person close to the White House. There were signs that Beijing was initially caught off guard by the visa announcement. For much of Thursday, China's state-controlled media remained largely silent on the news that will significantly impact the fate of hundreds of thousands of Chinese students. Then China's foreign ministry spokesperson came out calling the move 'politically motivated and discriminatory.' Any path towards steadying the relationship across the board remains uncertain. 'The Geneva agreement was a major first step towards securing a final, comprehensive trade deal with China,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. 'Discussions continue, and the Administration is monitoring compliance with the agreement.' It isn't clear when the next round of trade talks between the US and China will take place. And despite saying for weeks he would talk soon with President Xi Jinping, Trump and the Chinese leader have not yet spoken amid the trade conflict.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Sales Growth Of Chinese EVs Slows In Europe While ‘Social Leasing' Gains Support
Lease a car Europe's electric vehicle sales are accelerating again, but the growth of EVs from China has slowed in Europe while plug-in hybrids have a new lease of life. The era of easy sales to so-called early adopters has come to an end while an idea to use government funds to subsidize EV leases is gaining support. Forecasters still expect a healthy overall increase in the European EV market in 2025, although longer-term targets based on European Union CO2 emissions rules still look impossibly high. Investment bank UBS slashed almost two million EVs from its sales forecast for Europe in 2030. That now stands at 6.4 million EV sales in Europe in 2030, down from 8.3 million forecast in February for a market share of 37.8% (48.6%). According to Schmidt Automotive Research, Chinese companies' share of the EV market share in Western Europe held steady at 1.6% in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter, while sales of ICE, hybrid and PHEVs from China accelerated to 3.2% from 2.2%. European EV makers might be feeling less pressure, but it's not really good news for them. 'The threat is now coming from ICE, hybrids and PHEVs, which avoid anti-subsidy tariffs, in place since November. However, unfortunately for incumbents, this is where high profit margins are still made and where the transition (to EVs) funds were due to be harvested from,' said Matt Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Automotive Research. Last October, the EU raised tariffs on Chinese EVs ranging from 17% to 35.3% on top of the existing 10% import duty, potentially reaching a total of 45.3% for some manufacturers. The totals depended on the degree of cooperation with an EU investigation. Schmidt expects EV sales in Western Europe to rise 30% to 2.52 million in 2025 to account for 21.5% of the market compared with 16.7% in 2024. Western Europe includes the big five markets of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain. Autovista Group, part of expects sales of EVs in all of Europe of 2.5 million in 2025 and 8.5 million in 2030, closer to UBS's old forecast. At an Autovista Group webinar, chief economist Christof Engelskirchen referring to pluses and minuses of EV sales development, said sales forecasts remained intact, PHEVs are regaining popularity, while buyers of EVs express strong intent to repurchase. On the negative side, sales were getting harder because early adopters were now satisfied. In the second-hand market the difficulty in establishing the quality of batteries was holding sales back. The high cost of public charging was also a negative. PHEV icon. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Electric energy and fuel engine. Vector stock ... More illustration. An article in the Sunday Times of London quoted a report from energy consultant BFY Group that said using rapid public charging in Britain could cost up to 10 times more than home charging. This is the case in Britain where home charging carries a lower rate of tax, and an accusation that's repeated across Europe. The British Parliament's Public Accounts Committee has said this cost disparity is probably the biggest challenge to the electric vehicle transition in Britain. The webinar was told the EU's CO2 emissions rules, designed to force new car buyers to only have a zero emissions choice by 2035, was coming under pressure. This year, a tightening in the rules was changed to allow compliance over two more years. Political pressure was building to water down the rules and extend the use of ICE beyond 2035. One idea being pushed by green lobbyists is 'social leasing," which uses subsidies to help those on lower incomes buy electric. France had a scheme, which expired last year, that allowed participants to lease an EV for a monthly fee between 100 euros and 150 euros ($114 to $170), with the right to buy or renew after three years. Brussels-based Transport & Environment said social leasing could provide affordable EVs for 3 million households in Europe. It could be financed by revenues from the EU's carbon market and Social Climate Fund, T&E said, quoting data from the Oko-Institut. France is expected to renew the program later this year. 'To put an end to dependence on fossil fuel cars and the threat of rising costs, many households need help switching to electric cars. EVs remain unaffordable even for middle income households, while purchase subsidies too often benefit those who don't need them. Social leasing can make clean, cheap-to-run electric cars a reality for millions who are otherwise stuck with expensive polluting vehicles,' said Marie Chéron, e-mobility specialist at T&E.
