Latest news with #KarenFreifeld
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-US suspends licenses to ship nuclear plant parts to China, sources say
By Karen Freifeld and Fanny Potkin (Reuters) -The U.S. in recent days suspended licenses for nuclear equipment suppliers to sell to China's power plants, according to four people familiar with the matter, as the two countries engage in a damaging trade war. The suspensions were issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the people said, and affect export licenses for parts and equipment used with nuclear power plants. Nuclear equipment suppliers are among a wide range of companies whose sales have been restricted over the past two weeks as the U.S.-China trade war shifted from negotiating tariffs to throttling each other's supply chains. It is unclear whether a Thursday call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would affect the suspensions. The U.S. and China agreed on May 12 to roll back triple digit, tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, but the truce between the two biggest economies quickly went south, with the U.S. claiming China reneged on terms related to rare earth elements, and China accusing the U.S. of "abusing export control measures" by warning that using Huawei Ascend AI chips anywhere in the world violated U.S. export controls. After Thursday's call, further talks on key issues were expected. The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment on the nuclear equipment restrictions. On May 28, a spokesperson said the department was reviewing exports of strategic significance to China. "In some cases, Commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending," the spokesperson said in a statement. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. nuclear equipment suppliers include Westinghouse and Emerson. Westinghouse, whose technology is used in over 400 nuclear reactors around the world, and Emerson, which provides measurement and other tools for the nuclear industry, did not respond to requests for comment. The suspensions affect business worth hundreds of millions of dollars, two of the sources said. They also coincide with Chinese restrictions on critical metals threatening supply chains for manufacturers worldwide, especially America's Big Three automakers. Reuters could not determine whether the new restrictions were tied to the trade war, or if and how quickly they might be reinstated. Department of Commerce export licenses typically run for four years and include authorized quantities and values. But many new restrictions on exports to China have been imposed in the last two weeks, according to sources, and include license requirements for a hydraulic fluids supplier for sales to China. Other license suspensions went to GE Aerospace for jet engines for China's COMAC aircraft, sources said. The U.S. also now requires licenses to ship ethane to China, as Reuters reported first last week. Houston-based Enterprise Product Partners said Wednesday that its emergency requests to complete three proposed cargoes of ethane to China, totaling some 2.2 million barrels, had not been granted. Enterprise said a May 23 requirement for a license to sell butane to China, in addition to the ethane, was subsequently withdrawn. Dallas-based Energy Transfer said it was notified on Tuesday about the new ethane licensing requirement, and planned to apply and file for an emergency authorization. Other sectors that have been hit with new restrictions include companies that sell electronic design automation software such as Cadence Design Systems.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-US suspends licenses to ship nuclear plant parts to China, sources say
By Karen Freifeld and Fanny Potkin (Reuters) -The U.S. in recent days suspended licenses for nuclear equipment suppliers to sell to China's power plants, according to four people familiar with the matter, as the two countries engage in a damaging trade war. The suspensions were issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the people said, and affect export licenses for parts and equipment used with nuclear power plants. Nuclear equipment suppliers are among a wide range of companies whose sales have been restricted over the past two weeks as the U.S.-China trade war shifted from negotiating tariffs to throttling each other's supply chains. It is unclear whether a Thursday call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would affect the suspensions. The U.S. and China agreed on May 12 to roll back triple digit, tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, but the truce between the two biggest economies quickly went south, with the U.S. claiming China reneged on terms related to rare earth elements, and China accusing the U.S. of "abusing export control measures" by warning that using Huawei Ascend AI chips anywhere in the world violated U.S. export controls. After Thursday's call, further talks on key issues were expected. The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment on the nuclear equipment restrictions. On May 28, a spokesperson said the department was reviewing exports of strategic significance to China. "In some cases, Commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending," the spokesperson said in a statement. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. nuclear equipment suppliers include Westinghouse and Emerson. Westinghouse, whose technology is used in over 400 nuclear reactors around the world, and Emerson, which provides measurement and other tools for the nuclear industry, did not respond to requests for comment. The suspensions affect business worth hundreds of millions of dollars, two of the sources said. They also coincide with Chinese restrictions on critical metals threatening supply chains for manufacturers worldwide, especially America's Big Three automakers. Reuters could not determine whether the new restrictions were tied to the trade war, or if and how quickly they might be reinstated. Department of Commerce export licenses typically run for four years and include authorized quantities and values. But many new restrictions on exports to China have been imposed in the last two weeks, according to sources, and include license requirements for a hydraulic fluids supplier for sales to China. Other license suspensions went to GE Aerospace for jet engines for China's COMAC aircraft, sources said. The U.S. also now requires licenses to ship ethane to China, as Reuters reported first last week. Houston-based Enterprise Product Partners said Wednesday that its emergency requests to complete three proposed cargoes of ethane to China, totaling some 2.2 million barrels, had not been granted. Enterprise said a May 23 requirement for a license to sell butane to China, in addition to the ethane, was subsequently withdrawn. Dallas-based Energy Transfer said it was notified on Tuesday about the new ethane licensing requirement, and planned to apply and file for an emergency authorization. Other sectors that have been hit with new restrictions include companies that sell electronic design automation software such as Cadence Design Systems. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Probe of crash of Mexican tall ship into Brooklyn Bridge centers on engine
By Maria Tsvetkova, Karen Freifeld and David Shepardson NEW YORK (Reuters) - The investigation into why a Mexican Navy training ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, shearing the top of its masts, will look into a possible engine failure and the role of a tug boat that assisted it in backing out of its pier, officials said on Monday. The ship's engine was the key focus for the National Transportation Safety Board, said Brian Young, who is leading the agency's investigation. "We will look at the status of the engine, we will look for any failures, we will look for engine inspections and we'll talk to the crew on what may have possibly happened with the engine," Young said at a preliminary NTSB briefing. He said investigators would also look for any electronic control data. The accident occurred when the majestic white training vessel Cuauhtémoc was departing from lower Manhattan's Pier 17 on the East River shortly after sunset on Saturday. The ship's planned route was southward, away from the Brooklyn Bridge and toward New York Harbor and her next destination in Iceland. As it backed out of the pier, the ship was accompanied by a tug boat operated by McAllister Towing. As it cleared the dock, the ship pivoted but continued to move swiftly in reverse in the direction of the bridge. Minutes later, its three 147-foot (44.8-meter) masts hit the underside of the iconic 142-year-old bridge, causing them to partially collapse. The strike knocked dozens of white-uniformed naval cadets off the ship's crossbeams, where they were standing ceremoniously for her exit from the harbor. They could be seen dangling from their harnesses high above the ship's deck. Two people aboard the ship - a cadet and a sailor - were killed, and around 20 were injured, two of them critically. Salvatore R. Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University, said it appeared that an engine malfunction caused the accident. "Without the engine failure, the ship would have maybe drifted into the bridge, but it wouldn't have hit it at speed," Mercogliano said. "The engine failure drove the ship into the bridge. And it's not exactly clear what role the tug could have done to prevent that from happening." Videos posted online showed the tug first pushing the bow of the ship, then separating from it as the vessel moved closer to the bridge. It then appeared to rush toward the stern as if it intended to stop the ship from striking the bridge. After the masts collapsed, the ship kept sailing under the bridge until it was stopped at an embankment on the Brooklyn side of the river, videos showed. NTSB board member Michael Graham said the board had not yet conducted any interviews and intended to talk with the tug boat pilot, harbor pilot, ship captain and other crew members. "We will be looking into three main areas... the crew and the operation of the crew, the vessel and the condition of the vessel, and finally, the environment, and that includes the weather, the wind, the current, the tide and the operating environment," Graham said. Investigators are asking the public for additional video of the incident and have yet to determine if the Mexican naval vessel had a data recorder.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US considers more Chinese companies for 'entity list,' source says
By Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Commerce Department is considering placing more Chinese companies, including ChangXin Memory (CXMT), on its restricted export list, a person familiar with the matter said. The Bureau of Industry and Security is also looking at adding subsidiaries of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. to the "Entity List", the person said. Timing of move has been complicated by a recent trade deal between the U.S. and China, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the news. Companies on the list cannot receive goods or technology exports without a license, which is generally denied. Companies are added for activities viewed as contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. The Biden administration added more than two dozen Chinese entities to the list in January, including Zhipu AI, a developer of large language models, and Sophgo, a company whose TSMC-made chip was illegally incorporated into a Huawei artificial intelligence processor. The Commerce Department at that time also strengthened controls on the flow of chips to China to better prevent diversion to Huawei. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Trump officials eye changes to Biden's AI chip export rule, sources say
By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Trump administration is working on changes to a Biden-era rule that would limit global access to AI chips, including possibly doing away with its splitting the world into tiers that help determine how many advanced semiconductors a country can obtain, three sources familiar with the matter said. The sources said the plans were still under discussion and warned they could change. But if enacted, removing the tiers could open the door to using U.S. chips as an even more powerful negotiating tool in trade talks. The regulation, which was issued in January, is aimed at dividing up access to the most advanced AI chips and controlling certain model weights in order to keep the most sophisticated computing power in the United States and among its allies, and away from China and other countries of concern. The Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, as the rule is called, was issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce in January, a week before the end of the administration of former President Joe Biden. Companies must comply with its restrictions starting on May 15. Currently, the rule has the world divided into three tiers. Seventeen countries and Taiwan in the first tier can receive unlimited chips. Some 120 other countries are in the second tier, which leaves them subject to caps on how many AI chips they can get. And countries of concern like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the third tier are blocked from the chips. But Trump administration officials are weighing discarding the tiered approach to access in the rule and replacing it with a global licensing regime with government-to-government agreements, the sources said. "There are some voices pushing for elimination of the tiers," Wilbur Ross, who served as Commerce secretary during the first Trump administration, said in an interview on Tuesday. "I think it's still a work in progress." He said government-to-government agreements were one alternative. Such a structure would likely tie in to President Donald Trump's broader trade strategy of making deals with individual countries, one of the sources said. That would make it easier for the U.S. to use access to American-designed chips as leverage in other negotiations. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at a conference in March that he wants to include export controls in trade talks. Other possible changes include a lower threshold for an exception to licensing. Under the current rule, orders under the equivalent of about 1,700 of Nvidia's (NVDA) powerful H100 chips do not count toward country caps and only require the government be notified about the order. No license is necessary. The Trump administration is considering making the cutoff orders under the equivalent of 500 H100 chips, one source said. A spokesperson for the Commerce Department declined comment. A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For months, Trump administration officials have suggested they want to make the rule "stronger but simpler," but at least some experts believe removing the tiers will make the rule more complicated. Ken Glueck, executive vice president at Oracle, a critic of the current rule, said that the tiers did not make sense, noting that Israel and Yemen were both in the second tier. "Wouldn't surprise me they're going to take a new look at this," said Glueck, who said he did not know the Trump administration's plan but expects the rule to be modified in a significant way. Oracle and Nvidia were both outspoken in their criticism of the new rule when it was issued in January. Industry has argued that by limiting access to the chips, countries will buy the technology from China. Some U.S. lawmakers have agreed. Seven Republican senators sent a letter to Lutnick in mid-April asking for the rule to be withdrawn. The restrictions would incentivize buyers, especially in Tier 2 countries, to turn to China's "unregulated cheap substitutes," the letter said. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy
