Global chipmakers feel the pinch of Trump’s shifting trade policy

Global chipmakers feel the pinch of Trump’s shifting trade policy
An NVIDIA logo is displayed on a building in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 16, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 17 April 2025
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Global chipmakers feel the pinch of Trump’s shifting trade policy

Global chipmakers feel the pinch of Trump’s shifting trade policy
  • Nvidia has warned of a $5.5 billion hit after Washington restricted exports of its AI processor tailored for China
  • Tightening US export curbs have in recent years made it harder for American chipmakers to tap the Chinese market

 

Global chip stocks were battered on Wednesday on fresh evidence of how US President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policy was complicating the outlook for semiconductor and computing giants, including AI pioneer Nvidia and its rival AMD.

Attempts to reorient global trade through tariffs and export curbs have started to show the effect as Nvidia warned of a $5.5 billion hit after Washington restricted exports of its AI processor tailored for China, while Dutch chip-making tools giant ASML raised doubts about its outlook.

The US restriction, which also hit the MI308 processor of Advanced Micro Devices, marked the latest blow for the AI chip trade that is losing steam after a two-year rally as tariff threats and fears over Big Tech’s spending weigh on sentiment.

Nvidia shares closed down nearly 7 percent on Wednesday, with the company losing more than $148 billion in market value. AMD fell 5.8 percent as it warned of a $800 million hit from the latest curb, while AI-related chip stocks including Arm, Broadcom and Micron dropped between 2.5 percent and 4.6 percent.

Nvidia said on Wednesday that it follows the US government’s directions on where it can sell its chips after the US Commerce Department announced on Tuesday it was issuing new export licensing requirements for Nvidia’s H20 chips.

“The US government instructs American businesses on what they can sell and where — we follow the government’s directions to the letter,” Nvidia said.

“The technology industry supports America when it exports to well-known companies worldwide — if the government felt otherwise, it would instruct us,” the company added.




Global stock markets mostly retreated Wednesday after the US government imposed restrictions on exports of a key Nvidia chip to China, the latest trade war salvo between the world's biggest economies. (AFP)

Tightening US export curbs have in recent years made it harder for American chipmakers to tap the Chinese market, but the country remains a key source of revenue.

“The US export restrictions on Nvidia’s H20 chips highlight the growing geopolitical uncertainty enveloping the tech and semiconductor sectors, particularly under Trump-era-style policy reversals,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital.

“This unpredictability rattles businesses and investment markets, as evidenced by Nvidia’s selloff this morning and broader pressure across chip stocks.”

Nvidia drew over 13 percent of its sales, or about $17 billion, from China in its last financial year, although that was down from 21 percent in fiscal 2023. For AMD, China was its second-largest market last year, accounting for more than 24 percent of total sales.

“The H20 portion was about $12 billion or so (of the total China revenue), roughly about 30 cents of earnings per share, not trivial but not enormous in the grand scheme of things,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said.

“H20 performance is low, well below already-available Chinese alternatives; a ban essentially simply hands the Chinese AI market over to Huawei.”

Rasgon said the move may have surprised many investors as shares had surged nearly 18 percent last week, partly due to a report that the Trump administration planned to back off from such a curb after CEO Jensen Huang attended a Mar-a-Lago dinner.

The company had earlier this week unveiled plans to build AI servers worth as much as $500 billion in the US over the next four years, a move largely seen as an overture to Trump.

Trump has for now exempted semiconductors and some other electronics from his tariffs, but he has warned that sector-specific levies will be announced in the coming weeks.

Such tariffs could cost US semiconductor equipment makers more than $1 billion a year, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

NVIDIA fallout

News of the latest export curb on Nvidia sparked a selloff in chip companies and its suppliers across the globe.

In South Korea, Samsung closed down about 3 percent, while SK Hynix closed 4 percent lower.

European chipmakers ASM International and Infineon Technologies fell more than 2 percent, while Japanese chip-testing equipment maker Advantest — an Nvidia supplier — was the Nikkei’s second-worst performer with a 5 percent tumble.

Still, some analysts said Nvidia’s overall sales have continued to surge even as the China contribution slows while chip demand remains strong from big cloud companies.

“While we acknowledge the likely impact to near-term numbers, we would stress that Blackwell shipments to core hyperscale customers remains the driver of fundamentals,” TD Cowen analysts said, referring to Nvidia’s latest line of AI systems.

 


Some airlines checking Boeing fuel switches after Air India crash

Some airlines checking Boeing fuel switches after Air India crash
Updated 19 sec ago
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Some airlines checking Boeing fuel switches after Air India crash

Some airlines checking Boeing fuel switches after Air India crash
  • Precautionary moves by India, South Korea and some airlines in other countries
  • Some airlines around the world said they had been checking relevant switches since 2018
NEW DELHI: India on Monday ordered its airlines to examine fuel switches on several Boeing models, while South Korea said it would order a similar measure, as scrutiny intensified of fuel switch locks at the center of an investigation into a deadly Air India crash.
The precautionary moves by India, South Korea and some airlines in other countries came despite the planemaker and the US Federal Aviation Administration telling airlines and regulators in recent days that the fuel switch locks on Boeing jets are safe.
The locks have come under scrutiny following last month’s crash of an Air India jet, which killed 260 people.
A preliminary report found that the switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff. One pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said.
The report noted a 2018 advisory from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recommended, but did not mandate, operators of several Boeing models including the 787 to inspect the locking feature of fuel cutoff switches to ensure they could not be moved accidentally.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it had issued an order to investigate locks on several Boeing models including 787s and 737s, after several Indian and international airlines began making their own inspections of fuel switches.
The regulator oversees the world’s third-largest and fastest-growing aviation market. Boeing planes are used by three of the country’s four largest airlines.
Precautionary checks
Some airlines around the world said they had been checking relevant switches since 2018 in accordance with the FAA advisory, including Australia’s Qantas Airways and Japan’s ANA.
Others said they had been making additional or new checks since the release of the preliminary report into the Air India crash.
Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday that precautionary checks on the fuel switches of its 787 fleet, including planes used by its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, confirmed all were functioning properly.
A spokesperson for the South Korean transport ministry said checks there would be in line with the 2018 advisory from the FAA, but did not give a timeline for them.
Flag carrier Korean Air Lines said on Tuesday it had proactively begun inspecting fuel control switches and would implement any additional requirements the transport ministry may have.
Japan Airlines said it was conducting inspections in accordance with the 2018 advisory.
Boeing referred Reuters’ questions to the FAA, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the weekend, Air India Group started checking the locking mechanism on the fuel switches of its 787 and 737 fleets and has discovered no problems yet, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
About half the group’s 787s have been inspected and nearly all its 737s, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity. Inspections were set to be completed in the next day or two.
The Air India crash preliminary report said the airline had not carried out the FAA’s suggested inspections as the FAA’s 2018 advisory was not a mandate.
But it also said maintenance records showed that the throttle control module, which includes the fuel switches, was replaced in 2019 and 2023 on the plane involved in the crash.
In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.

Indonesia rescues 11 who swam for hours to survive boat capsize

Indonesia rescues 11 who swam for hours to survive boat capsize
Updated 9 min 10 sec ago
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Indonesia rescues 11 who swam for hours to survive boat capsize

Indonesia rescues 11 who swam for hours to survive boat capsize
  • Two boats and dozens of rescuers hunted for those missing after the boat with 18 aboard overturned off the Mentawai Islands in the province of West Sumatra

JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers found alive on Tuesday 11 people missing at sea who had survived a boat capsize in bad weather by swimming for at least six hours to the nearest island, officials said.

Two boats and dozens of rescuers hunted for those missing after the boat with 18 aboard overturned off the Mentawai Islands in the province of West Sumatra at about 11 a.m. on Monday, regional officials said.

“It was raining hard when the incident happened,” island official Rinto Wardana said. “Some of the passengers managed to swim and reach the nearest island.”

Seven had been rescued earlier, Wardana added. Ten of those on board were local government officials on a business trip to the town of Tuapejat, the boat’s destination when it left Sikakap, another small town in the Mentawai Islands.

The Mentawai Islands consist of four main islands and many smaller ones.

Boats and ferries are a regular mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where accidents are caused by bad weather and lax safety standards that often allow vessels to be overloaded.

When a ferry sank this month near the tourist resort island of Bali with 65 aboard, 30 passengers survived, while 18 died and 17 went missing.


Bangladesh struggles to contain the fallout of an uprising that toppled its leader last year

Bangladesh struggles to contain the fallout of an uprising that toppled its leader last year
Updated 50 min 38 sec ago
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Bangladesh struggles to contain the fallout of an uprising that toppled its leader last year

Bangladesh struggles to contain the fallout of an uprising that toppled its leader last year
  • One year after Hasina’s ouster, interim government faces growing unrest, delayed reforms, political fragmentation
  • Rights concerns remain a major issue, conservative religious factions gain ground and Yunus resists calls for early elections

DHAKA: Bangladesh was on the cusp of charting a new beginning last year after its former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from power in a student-led uprising, ending her 15-year rule and forcing her to flee to India.

As the head of a new interim government, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus promised to hold a credible election to return to democracy, initiate electoral and constitutional reforms and restore peace on the streets after hundreds were killed in weeks of violence that began on July 15, 2024.

A year later, the Yunus-led administration has struggled to contain the fallout of the uprising. Bangladesh finds itself mired in a growing political uncertainty, religious polarization and a challenging law-and-order situation.

Here’s what to know about Bangladesh a year after the protests that toppled Hasina.

Chaotic political landscape

Uncertainty about the future of democracy looms large in Bangladesh.

The student protesters who toppled Hasina formed a new political party, promising to break the overwhelming influence of two major dynastic political parties — the Bangladesh Nationalists Party, or BNP, and Hasina’s Awami League.

But the party’s opponents have accused it of being close to the Yunus-led administration and creating chaos for political mileage by using state institutions.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s political landscape has further fragmented after the country’s largest Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, returned to politics more than a decade after it was suppressed by Hasina’s government.

Aligned with the student-led party, it’s trying to fill the vacuum left by the Awami League, which was banned in May. Its leader, Hasina, is facing trial for crimes against humanity. The strength of Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, is unknown.

Both BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami party are now at loggerheads over establishing supremacy within the administration and judiciary, and even university campuses.

They are also differing over the timing of a new parliamentary election. Yunus has announced that the polls would be held in April next year, but poor law and order situation and a lack of clear-cut political consensus over it have created confusion. The chief of Bangladesh’s military also wanted an election in December this year — a stance Yunus didn’t like.

“Post-revolution honeymoons often don’t last long, and Bangladesh is no exception,” says Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst and senior fellow of Asia Pacific Foundation. “The interim government faced massive expectations to restore democracy and prosperity. But this is especially difficult to do as an unelected government without a public mandate.”

Yunus wants reforms before election

Yunus has delayed an election because he wants reforms — from changes to the constitution and elections to the judiciary and police. Discussions with political parties, except Hasina’s Awami League, are ongoing.

Some of the reforms include putting a limit on how many times a person can become the prime minister, introduction of a two-tier parliament, and appointment of a chief justice.

There appears to be little consensus over some basic reforms. While both the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami parties have agreed to some of them with conditions, other proposals for basic constitutional reforms have become a sticking point.

The Jamaat-e-Islami also wants to give the interim government more time to complete reforms before heading into polls, while BNP has been calling for an early election. The student-led party mostly follows the pattern of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Kugelman says the issue of reforms was meant to unite the country, but has instead become a flashpoint.

“There’s a divide between those that want to see through reforms and give them more time, and those that feel it’s time to wrap things up and focus on elections,” he says.

Human rights and the rise of Islamists

Human rights in Bangladesh have remained a serious concern under Yunus.

Minority groups, especially Hindus, have blamed his administration for failing to protect them adequately. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council says minority Hindus and others have been targeted in hundreds of attacks over the last year. Hasina’s party has also blamed the interim government for arresting tens of thousands of its supporters.

The Yunus-led administration denies these allegations.

Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, says while the interim government has stopped enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions that had occurred under the Hasina government, “there has been little progress on lasting security sector reforms or to deliver on the pledge to create robust, independent institutions.”

Meanwhile, Islamist factions — some of whom have proposed changes to women’s rights and demanded introduction of Sharia law — are vying for power. Many of them are planning to build alliances with bigger parties like the BNP or the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Such factions have historically struggled to gain significant electoral support despite Bangladesh being a Muslim majority, and their rise is expected to further fragment the country’s political landscape.

Diplomatic pivot and balancing with global powers

During Hasina’s 15-year rule, Bangladesh was India’s closest partner in South Asia. After her ouster, the Yunus-led administration has moved closer to China, which is India’s main rival in the region.

Yunus’ first state visit was to China in March, a trip that saw him secure investments, loans and grants. On the other hand, India is angered by the ousting of its old ally Hasina and hasn’t responded to Dhaka’s requests to extradite her. India stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis following Hasina’s fall.

Globally, Yunus seems to have strong backing from the West and the United Nations, and it appears Bangladesh will continue its foreign policy, which has long tried to find a balance between multiple foreign powers.

But Kugelman says the country’s biggest challenge may be the “Trump factor.”

In January, the Trump administration suspended USAID funds to Bangladesh, which had sought significant levels of US support during a critical rebuild period post Hasina’s ouster.

“Dhaka must now reframe its relations with an unconventional US administration that will largely view Bangladesh through a commercial lens,” Kugelman says.


Russia says it destroys 55 Ukrainian drones overnight, several people injured

Russia says it destroys 55 Ukrainian drones overnight, several people injured
Updated 42 min 13 sec ago
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Russia says it destroys 55 Ukrainian drones overnight, several people injured

Russia says it destroys 55 Ukrainian drones overnight, several people injured
  • Several apartments in multi-story buildings in the city of Voronezh that is the administrative center of the broader Voronezh region were damaged
  • Additionally, several commercial facilities throughout the region were damaged by falling drone debris

Several people were injured and houses and non-residential buildings were damaged as a result of Ukraine’s overnight drone attack on the neighboring Russia’s southwestern regions of Lipetsk and Voronezh, regional governors said on Tuesday.

Russia’s air defense units destroyed 12 drones over the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine, Governor Alexander Gusev said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Unfortunately, there were injuries,” Gusev said. “In central Voronezh, several people sustained minor injuries due to debris from a downed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles).”

Several apartments in multi-story buildings in the city of Voronezh that is the administrative center of the broader Voronezh region were damaged, as well as houses in the suburbs, Gusev said.

Additionally, several commercial facilities throughout the region were damaged by falling drone debris, he said, without providing further details.

In the city of Yelets in the Lipetsk region a drone crashed in an industrial zone, regional governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.

“One person was injured and is receiving all necessary medical assistance,” Artamonov said.

The Russian defense ministry said on Telegram that its units destroyed 55 Ukrainian drones overnight over five Russian regions and the Black Sea, including three over the Lipetsk region.

The full extent of damage from the attacks was not immediately known. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the attack.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes during the war that Russia launched against Ukraine more than three years ago. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

Ukraine has launched multiple air strikes on Lipetsk, a strategically important region with an air base that is the chief training center for the Russian Aerospace Forces.


Australia and China call for more dialogue, cooperation at leaders’ meeting

Australia and China call for more dialogue, cooperation at leaders’ meeting
Updated 15 July 2025
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Australia and China call for more dialogue, cooperation at leaders’ meeting

Australia and China call for more dialogue, cooperation at leaders’ meeting
  • Australia has pursued a China policy of ‘cooperate where we can, disagree where we must’ under Albanese
  • Australia’s exports to China, its largest trading partner, span agriculture and energy but are dominated by iron ore

BEIJING: China is ready to work with Australia to deepen bilateral ties, President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday in Beijing.

The meeting between the two leaders comes as China tries to capitalize on US President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs by presenting itself as a stable and reliable partner. Chinese officials have expressed interest in expanding a decade-old free trade deal and cooperating in artificial intelligence.

China was willing to “promote further development in the China-Australia relationship,” Xi said in remarks at the start of the meeting.

Australia valued its ties to China, its largest trading partner, and welcomed “progress on cooperation” under the free trade deal, Albanese said in response, adding that Australia’s national interest would guide Canberra’s approach to the relationship.

“Dialogue needs to be at the center of our relationship,” the prime minister said. “I welcome the opportunity to set out Australia’s views and interests and our thinking on how we can maintain peace, security, stability and prosperity in our region.”

Albanese is expected to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang later on Tuesday. He has previously said resources trade, energy transition and security tensions would be key topics for discussions in Beijing.

Australia, which regards the United States its major security ally, has pursued a China policy of “cooperate where we can, disagree where we must” under Albanese.

In the run-up to the visit, China signaled repeatedly it was open to deeper cooperation. On Tuesday, the state-owned China Daily newspaper published a glowing opinion piece about the visit and said it showed countries with different political systems could still cooperate.

However, any cooperation is likely to be constrained by long-standing Australian concerns around China’s military build-up and the jailing of Australian writer Yang Hengjun.

Beijing has also separately criticized Canberra’s increased screening of foreign investment in critical minerals and Albanese’s pledge to return a Chinese-leased port to Australian ownership.

Australia’s exports to China, its largest trading partner, span agriculture and energy but are dominated by iron ore, and Albanese has traveled with executives from mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP, and Fortescue, who met Chinese steel industry officials on Monday, at the start of the six-day visit.

Bran Black, CEO of the Business Council of Australia, said Australia’s Bluescope Steel would also be at Tuesday’s business roundtable, along with China’s electric vehicle giant BYD, Chinese banking executives, Baosteel and state-run food group COFCO.

“First and foremost we use fixtures such as this to send a signal that business-to-business engagement should be welcomed and encouraged,” Black said on Tuesday.