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First Post
6 days ago
- Business
- First Post
Big blow to Chinese plane-makers as Trump bars export of critical jet parts, technology
The US Commerce Department has suspended licenses of US firms that allowed export of critical products and technology to state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd read more A Comac C919 flies during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre, in Singapore, February 20, 2024. Source: Reuters In a major setback to China's plane-making industry, the Donald Trump administration of the US has blocked the export of critical US jet parts and technology to the communist country. According to a New York Times report, the US Commerce Department has suspended licenses of US firms that allowed export of critical products and technology to state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (Comac). Earlier, the Commerce Department confirmed to Bloomberg that it was reviewing 'exports of strategic significance to China.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'In some cases, Commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending,' the department said in a statement. Why is the move a setback for China? The Comac, China's government-backed plane-maker, relies on American-made GE Aerospace engines for manufacturing its C919 planes. USA's fresh restrictions are not likely to create supply chain issues for Comac immediately as the firm had already stockpiled engines to build dozens of planes this year, reported Bloomberg. However, the Trump administration's move is poised to hurt the firm's business prospects in long term. China-US trade war The latest move by the Commerce Department is a part of an array of challenges that Beijing faces in its trade tensions with the world's largest economy. China has repeatedly called American sanctions on Chinese goods 'wrongful' and called on Washington to cancel them. On Wednesday, as a US court blocked Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs on its trading partners, Beijing responded by saying 'trade wars have no winners'. Global markets have been in chaos since Trump's tariff announcements, followed by his sudden reversals and pauses as foreign governments scrambled to negotiate. The turmoil worsened due to a prolonged trade war between the world's two economic giants. They slapped massive tariffs on each other, peaking at a 145 per cent US tax on Chinese imports and a 125 per cent Chinese tax on American goods. The two nations have since called a truce, with US tariffs on China dropping to 30 per cent and Chinese tariffs on some US imports falling to 10 per cent.
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
US Halts Exports of Some Jet Engine Tech to China, NYT Says
US President Donald Trump has barred the export of critical US jet engine parts and technology to China, the New York Times reported. The move could seriously impact China's efforts to develop a domestic planemaking industry, with one person familiar with the matter saying the US Commerce Department had suspended some licenses that allowed US companies to sell products and technology to state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd.
NDTV
23-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
How US-China Chip War Is Evolving Under Trump
The United States has taken aim at China's Huawei over the cutting-edge chips powering artificial intelligence (AI), part of a shifting technology dispute between the two largest economies. AFP looks at how the US-China chip war is evolving under US President Donald Trump: Focus Back On China A US government statement this month showed how the Trump administration is seeking to change the ways the US limits China's access to state-of-the-art semiconductors needed to develop AI. The US Commerce Department said on May 12 that it would rescind the "AI Diffusion Rule", which was issued by Trump's predecessor Joe Biden to shield American chips from Beijing. Set to take effect on May 15, the rule would have imposed three tiers of curbs, allowing trusted nations to freely import AI chips but controlling or banning their export to lower-tier countries like China. It "would have stifled American innovation" while harming US diplomatic ties with "dozens of countries", the commerce department said. The same statement reminded companies that using Huawei Ascend -- the Chinese tech giant's most advanced chip -- "violates US export controls". It warned of "potential consequences" if US-built AI chips were used to train Chinese AI models. The announcement aimed to "refocus the firepower" of AI curbs squarely on Beijing, said Lizzi Lee, a fellow on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Manoj Harjani, a research fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, agreed, saying the policy turn meant "the spotlight (would be) clearly on China and Huawei". Different From Biden Analysts told AFP that Trump's approach to chip controls marks a distinct shift from Biden. The latter relied on multilateral coordination with allies to keep Beijing out of the loop, said Marina Zhang, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney's Australia-China Relations Institute. In contrast, Trump's recent measures "adopt a more selective and bilateral approach", Zhang told AFP. "(The policies are) flexible enough to accommodate allies' demands and protect US firms' global market positions, yet continue to aggressively target specific Chinese companies like Huawei through unilateral measures," she said. Harjani noted that Trump was often viewed as a leader who "does not care much for allies and partners". His chip policy, Harjani said, "runs counter to this assumption" as it includes efforts to create new AI-focused partnerships with allies. Beijing Backlash Beijing has accused Washington of "bullying" and abusing export controls to "suppress and contain" China. The fighting talk shows that Beijing "will not yield easily", Zhang said. However, she said the restrictions would significantly hamper Huawei's access to "crucial" US chipmaking technology. "The AI competition has entered an accelerated and potentially dangerous phase, complicating future negotiations" on global AI governance, Zhang added. China has already made impressive strides in AI development, with homegrown startup DeepSeek shaking up the technology sector this year with a chatbot that seemingly matches the performance of US competitors at much lower cost. Chinese firms like Alibaba and Xiaomi have announced huge investments in AI in what experts say feeds into a national goal to cut reliance on foreign suppliers. "It's part of a broader mobilisation happening domestically," Lee said. "The strategy is not to beat the US -- it's to be good enough in the short term, while buying time to build domestic capacity and catch up to the cutting edge." Tech Rivalry The AI rivalry is playing into broader trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. The two sides traded tit-for-tat tariff hikes after Trump took power, but this month dramatically slashed levies on each other's goods for 90 days, signalling a detente for now. Lee, from the Asia Society, said the trade truce was "never going to hold tech policy at bay", noting the US backlash against Huawei just days after crunch bilateral trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland. "Tariffs can be dialled up or down. Tech competition, by contrast, is hardening into the architecture of national security policy for both sides," she said. "If the US doubles down on blacklisting key Chinese AI players, it's hard to imagine Beijing making big concessions elsewhere."
Korea Herald
22-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
S. Korea, Japan, Taiwan highlight potential US chip tariff pitfalls, call for rethinking new levies
South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have underscored the potential pitfalls of possible US tariffs on chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, warning that the duties, if imposed, would raise costs for the US chipmaking industry and hinder efforts to reinforce supply chain resiliency. They have submitted to the US Commerce Department their respective comments on US President Donald Trump's administration's national security investigations into imports of semiconductors, SMEs and derivative products. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick initiated the probes on April 1 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Under Section 232, the president is provided with authority to adjust imports into the US when he determines they threaten to impair national security. The ongoing investigations are seen as a key step toward the rollout of new tariffs as Trump has been using tariffs to reduce America's trade deficit and bolster domestic manufacturing. The three chipmaking countries highlighted the mutually "complementary" nature of their economic partnerships with the United States while reiterating their commitment to beefing up the partnerships. "Our two countries have built mutually complementary and interdependent supply chains: the US leads in design, SMEs and intellectual property, while Korea has specialized in the production of memory chips," Korea's industry ministry said in its comment. "If the Section 232 National Security Investigation results in the adoption of import restrictive measures on semiconductors and SMEs, it will disrupt this balance and has the potential of ultimately weakening the US semiconductor industry and economy overall," it added. The ministry pointed out that Korea's high bandwidth memory and advanced dynamic random access memory are "essential" components in expanding the US' artificial intelligence infrastructure, as it underlined the need for closer cooperation to help solidify America's AI leadership. "Korea respectfully requests a strategic and prudent approach to any trade restrictive measures so that we may work together to continue to secure and strengthen the US' AI capabilities through a stable supply of high-quality semiconductors," it said. The ministry also noted "mounting" concerns that tariffs may significantly increase the total costs associated with Korean and other semiconductor companies' investments in the US "We therefore ask for special consideration to ensure that companies can proceed with their investments in a stable manner," it said. Moreover, the ministry said that if tariffs are imposed on products used in everyday consumer applications, it would likely lead to higher product costs, which it warned will ultimately be passed onto consumers and negatively impact the US economy. "Korea and the US have maintained a well-balanced trade relationship in semiconductors and SMEs, and are long-standing security allies," it said. "Accordingly, we hope that the US adopts a practical and flexible approach to Korea that fully takes into account this important partnership." In its comment, the Japanese government called on the US to reconsider the series of its tariff measures in the spirit of "mutual trust and collaboration." "Given the long-standing and deep-rooted cooperation between Japan and the US, the imposition of tariffs on semiconductors and related products would constitute a significant departure from our shared strategic objectives," Tokyo said. "Such measures could impede US efforts to expand domestic semiconductor production capacity and enhance the resilience of its supply chains." The Taiwanese government requested a tariff exemption, saying that an exemption would promote the joint development of the two countries' semiconductor industries, optimize the industrial systems of both sides and enhance their collective global competitiveness. "If the US imposes tariffs ... it would not only increase production costs for US companies and undermine their technological innovation and market competitiveness but also diminish the willingness of Taiwanese enterprises to invest in the US," it said. "This would likewise weaken Taiwan's capacity to establish a robust industrial presence in the US, heighten the risk of supply chain disruptions and adversely affect the development of the US' AI, defense technology and high-tech industries, ultimately posing negative implications for US economic and national security strategies." The Chinese government accused the US of having extended the concept of national security since 2017, using it as a "pretext" to launch investigations to impose trade protectionist measures, including additional tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum and automobiles. (Yonhap)
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump tariffs live updates: US and China trade truce becomes fragile as the war of words continues
The trade truce between the US and China may be on fragile ground as both sides appear to be engaged in a war of words and neither side is completely confident that the other will keep their side of the bargain. China's Commerce Ministry announced on Wednesday that it would take legal action against any organisation or individual that assists the US in advising people away from Using China's advanced semiconductors. The US Commerce Department had warned that using Huawei chips anywhere in the world would violate US export controls before later removing the reference. It was reported on Tuesday that Chinese shipments of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and mobile devices to the US fell to their lowest since 2011 in April. The sharp drop highlights how US tariffs have severely disrupted trade between the world's two largest economies. The busiest container hub in the US, the Port of Los Angeles, saw shipments drop by as much as 30% in early May as President Trump's tariffs took a toll. Importers and retailers, especially those linked to China, were among the most affected. Businesses and leaders continue to warn about the early effects of the tariffs. JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that markets are underestimating the long-term impact of tariffs, calling the current duties 'pretty extreme.' Citigroup's (C) Jane Fraser echoed the concern, noting companies are delaying investments amid tariff uncertainty. Last week, Walmart (WMT) also previewed coming price hikes, sparking a rebuke from Trump, who told the company to "eat the tariffs." The warnings come as the Trump administration has ratcheted up its rhetoric over the last several days. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that tariff rates will go back to "reciprocal" levels if countries do not make trade deals with the US during the 90-day pause. 'President Trump has put them on notice that if you do not negotiate in good faith, you will ratchet back up to your April 2 level,' Bessent told CNN, highlighting the 18 key partners with whom the US is prioritizing trade deals. Trump said Friday that the US will set tariff rates for its trading partners within the next few weeks. He said his administration cannot negotiate trade deals with all countries at once due to limited capacity. 'I think we're going to be very fair. But it's not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us,' he said. Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here Another Fed official warned Tuesday that the US economy may soon face a wave of tariff-induced price hikes. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic suggested that businesses may be exhausting the strategies they can use to avoid price or employment changes. Here are his comments, per Reuters: Read more here. In a conversation with Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi on the Opening Bid podcast, former Medtronic CEO Bill George said that the world's CEOs welcome signs of progress on US trade deals, as they're ready to put money to work. "CEOs are relieved [following the latest US-China trade truce]," George said. "I think CEOs are eager to invest. I think the market is eager to see them invest too. I think the response to the market since the news would be a clear indication of let's stop this tariff foolishness. And let's get back to building the country." George, who has sat on the boards of Target (TGT), ExxonMobil (XOM), and Goldman Sachs (GS) and is considered a leadership expert, said he's telling CEOs to be ready to deploy capital once more trade clarity emerges. "It gets very hard [in these backdrops]. I would say right now, get ready to blast off, so to speak," George added. "Like there's a big game coming up. Get ready to launch, but you may want to hold on to your cash and your investment dollars for a while before you make those big moves." Read more here. Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schonberger reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. The FT reports: Read more here. Global retailers like sandal brand Birkenstock (BIRK) and jeweller Pandora plan to raise prices in several countries to spread out the impact of US tariffs and avoid steep price increases in the US that could hurt sales. Reuters reports: Read more here. Home Depot (HD) is sticking to its outlook despite persistent tariff headwinds. Yahoo Finance's senior reporter Brooke DiPalma discusses the latest. Read more here. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The 90-day trade truce between China and the US appears to have done little to ease Beijing's tight control over its rare earth exports, according to a CNN report. Last week's trade agreement in Geneva included China's pledge to suspend or remove the 'non-tariff' countermeasures imposed on the US since April 2. However, businesses are still unsure if this promise covers China's export controls on seven rare earth minerals and related products, which were imposed on April 4 in retaliation to US tariffs. US trade representative Jamieson Greer sought to ease concerns surrounding this potential vulnerability. 'Yep, the Chinese have agreed to remove those countermeasures,' Greer said in an interview with Fox News.'If they don't do those things, we're going to be back in a different situation. But I expect they'll remove them.' Reuters reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. Chinese shipments of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and mobile devices to the US fell to their lowest since 2011 in April. the sharp drop highlights how US tariffs have severely disrupted trade between the two largest economies. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon warned of 'extraordinary complacency' as markets rebound from tariff shocks. He flagged rising risks of inflation and stagflation at the bank's Investor Day. Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports on the key takeaways. Read more here. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Who ultimately pays for tariffs? That question is at the forefront of an emerging battle between the Trump administration and one of America's biggest retailers in Walmart (WMT). A bit of catch-up: Last week, Walmart turned heads when the company said as part of its earnings update that the tariffs — even at current reduced levels — would lead to price hikes. "When you look at the magnitude of some of the cost increases on certain categories of items that are imported, it's more than what retailers can bear," Walmart's CFO told YF's Brian Sozzi. A couple days later, Trump lashed out at the retailer. He encouraged them, in some kind of combination with China, to "eat the tariffs." Then on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent relayed that he had spoken to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon — and that McMillon had told him that the company "will be absorbing" some of the costs. Then Monday: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that Trump has "always maintained" that "Chinese producers" will absorb tariff costs. So there you have it: Three days, three different answers from the administration on who will ultimately bear the cost of the price increases that even the administration seems comfortable admitting will occur as an effect of the tariffs. Generally, most economists agree that the tariffs will fan inflation and slow economic growth. Tariff uncertainty is pushing euro-area inflation below the European Central Bank's target for next year, the European Commission has warned, citing the impact of US trade measures. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The FT reports: Read more here. South Africa's President Ramaphosa will discuss business ties with Elon Musk during a Washington visit to improve US relations. A proposal could offer Tesla (TSLA) favourable import tariffs in exchange for building EV charging stations in South Africa. Reuters reports: Read more here. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here Another Fed official warned Tuesday that the US economy may soon face a wave of tariff-induced price hikes. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic suggested that businesses may be exhausting the strategies they can use to avoid price or employment changes. Here are his comments, per Reuters: Read more here. In a conversation with Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi on the Opening Bid podcast, former Medtronic CEO Bill George said that the world's CEOs welcome signs of progress on US trade deals, as they're ready to put money to work. "CEOs are relieved [following the latest US-China trade truce]," George said. "I think CEOs are eager to invest. I think the market is eager to see them invest too. I think the response to the market since the news would be a clear indication of let's stop this tariff foolishness. And let's get back to building the country." George, who has sat on the boards of Target (TGT), ExxonMobil (XOM), and Goldman Sachs (GS) and is considered a leadership expert, said he's telling CEOs to be ready to deploy capital once more trade clarity emerges. "It gets very hard [in these backdrops]. I would say right now, get ready to blast off, so to speak," George added. "Like there's a big game coming up. Get ready to launch, but you may want to hold on to your cash and your investment dollars for a while before you make those big moves." Read more here. Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schonberger reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. The FT reports: Read more here. Global retailers like sandal brand Birkenstock (BIRK) and jeweller Pandora plan to raise prices in several countries to spread out the impact of US tariffs and avoid steep price increases in the US that could hurt sales. Reuters reports: Read more here. Home Depot (HD) is sticking to its outlook despite persistent tariff headwinds. Yahoo Finance's senior reporter Brooke DiPalma discusses the latest. Read more here. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The 90-day trade truce between China and the US appears to have done little to ease Beijing's tight control over its rare earth exports, according to a CNN report. Last week's trade agreement in Geneva included China's pledge to suspend or remove the 'non-tariff' countermeasures imposed on the US since April 2. However, businesses are still unsure if this promise covers China's export controls on seven rare earth minerals and related products, which were imposed on April 4 in retaliation to US tariffs. US trade representative Jamieson Greer sought to ease concerns surrounding this potential vulnerability. 'Yep, the Chinese have agreed to remove those countermeasures,' Greer said in an interview with Fox News.'If they don't do those things, we're going to be back in a different situation. But I expect they'll remove them.' Reuters reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. Chinese shipments of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and mobile devices to the US fell to their lowest since 2011 in April. the sharp drop highlights how US tariffs have severely disrupted trade between the two largest economies. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon warned of 'extraordinary complacency' as markets rebound from tariff shocks. He flagged rising risks of inflation and stagflation at the bank's Investor Day. Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports on the key takeaways. Read more here. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Who ultimately pays for tariffs? That question is at the forefront of an emerging battle between the Trump administration and one of America's biggest retailers in Walmart (WMT). A bit of catch-up: Last week, Walmart turned heads when the company said as part of its earnings update that the tariffs — even at current reduced levels — would lead to price hikes. "When you look at the magnitude of some of the cost increases on certain categories of items that are imported, it's more than what retailers can bear," Walmart's CFO told YF's Brian Sozzi. A couple days later, Trump lashed out at the retailer. He encouraged them, in some kind of combination with China, to "eat the tariffs." Then on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent relayed that he had spoken to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon — and that McMillon had told him that the company "will be absorbing" some of the costs. Then Monday: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that Trump has "always maintained" that "Chinese producers" will absorb tariff costs. So there you have it: Three days, three different answers from the administration on who will ultimately bear the cost of the price increases that even the administration seems comfortable admitting will occur as an effect of the tariffs. Generally, most economists agree that the tariffs will fan inflation and slow economic growth. Tariff uncertainty is pushing euro-area inflation below the European Central Bank's target for next year, the European Commission has warned, citing the impact of US trade measures. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The FT reports: Read more here. South Africa's President Ramaphosa will discuss business ties with Elon Musk during a Washington visit to improve US relations. A proposal could offer Tesla (TSLA) favourable import tariffs in exchange for building EV charging stations in South Africa. Reuters reports: Read more here. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Sign in to access your portfolio
