News - 高甲實業有限公司

Trump announces new tariffs of up to 40% on a growing number of countries

2025.7.8/in News

President Donald Trump cranked up the pressure Monday on America’s trading partners, firing off letters to heads of several countries, informing them of their new tariff rate. But at the same time, Trump took some of the edge off by signing an executive action Monday to extend the date for all “reciprocal” tariffs, with the exception of China, to August 1.

Those “reciprocal” tariffs were expected to go into effect Wednesday. In some cases, the letters Trump sent specify new “reciprocal” tariff rates that are higher or lower compared to April levels.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung were the first recipients of Trump’s letters.

Both countries will face a 25% tariff come August 1, Trump said in posts on Truth Social displaying the letters, potentially giving countries more time to negotiate deals. Around two hours later, he announced similar letters were sent to Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Myanmar and Laos, informing their leaders of new tariff rates as high as 40%.

Then later in the day, he posted seven new letters sent to leaders of Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (which is set to reach a 30% tariff), Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia and Thailand, putting the running total at 14 letters delivered on Monday.

In the letters, Trump said he takes particular issue with the trade deficits the United States runs with them, meaning America buys more goods from there compared to the amount that American businesses export to those countries. Trump also said the tariffs would be set in response to other policies that he deems are impeding American goods from being sold abroad.

He encouraged country leaders to manufacture goods in the United States to avoid tariffs.

This comes ahead of his initial 12:01 a.m. ET July 9 deadline for countries to make deals or face the threat of higher tariffs. That date marks the end of the pause on “reciprocal” tariffs, which briefly went into place in April. Since then, impacted countries have faced a minimum 10% tariff.

In all 14 letters, Trump threatened to raise tariffs even higher than the specified rates if a country retaliated against the United States with tariffs of their own. Trump said these rates would be “separate from all Sectoral Tariffs,” meaning, for instance, the new tariff won’t be stacked on top of the current auto tariff of 25%, the White House confirmed. That would apply to any future sector-specific tariffs, too, a White House official said.

Despite the many trade qualms Trump has broadcast as having with the European Union, prompting him to threaten higher tariffs on several occasions, the trading bloc appears to have not received a letter from him.

“We’re not going to comment on letters that we haven’t received,” Olof Gill, a European Commission spokesperson, told reporters Monday afternoon.

“My understanding is that we can now expect an extension of the current status quo until August 1 to give further time for the EU and the US to reach an agreement in principle on a mutually beneficial agreement that works for both sides,” Simon Harris, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in a statement on Monday.

What’s at stake

Collectively, the US bought $465 billion worth of goods last year from the 14 countries that received letters on Monday, according to US Commerce Department figures. Japan and South Korea, America’s sixth- and seventh-largest trading partners, accounted for 60% of that, shipping a total of $280 billion worth of goods to the US last year.

The prospect of higher tariffs on goods could translate into higher prices for American consumers. Among the top goods America imports from South Korea and Japan, for example, are cars, auto parts, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and machinery. Trump has placed or threatened to levy industry-specific tariffs on many of these goods.

In April, Japan was set to face a 24% tariff, while South Korea was set to face a 25% tariff.

While the other countries ship less to the US compared to Japan and South Korea, in many cases they are among the top foreign sources of goods.

For instance, South Africa, which is set to face 30% tariffs, accounted for roughly half of the platinum the US imported from other countries last year and was the top foreign supplier of it.

Malaysia, which is set to face a 24% tariff versus the 25% rate Trump announced in April, was the second-top source of semiconductors shipped to the US last year, with Americans purchasing $18 billion worth of them from there.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Cambodia are top manufacturing hubs for apparel and accessories.

Trump’s letter to Cambodia’s prime minister threatened a tariff rate of 36%, 13 percentage points lower than what had been in place in April, before it was paused.

Stocks sink

Stocks dropped lower midday after Trump announced the first batch of letters and continued to fall as Trump announced tariffs of varying rates from 25% to 40% on countries including Myanmar, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Laos and South Africa.

Despite Trump saying country-specific tariffs won’t be stacked on top of sectorial ones, shares of auto companies that have a heavy manufacturing presence in Japan and South Korea declined sharply. US-listed shares in major Japanese automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda dropped by 4%, 7.16% and 3.86%, respectively.

Those declines, however, may reflect the increased likelihood of Trump potentially raising tariffs on cars from the two countries should they retaliate against the general 25% tariffs, were they to go into effect, by slapping higher tariffs on American goods.

“These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with on our relationship with your Country. You will never be disappointed with The United States of America,” Trump ended the letters before signing off.

The Dow closed lower by 422 points, or 0.94%. The S&P 500 fell 0.79% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.92%. The three major indexes posted their worst day in about three weeks.

news form: CNN world

Taiwan puts companies behind China’s AI ambitions on export control list

2025.6.26/in News

Hong KongCNN —

Taiwan has added China’s tech titan Huawei and chip giant Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) to its export control list, stepping up efforts to align with Washington’s crackdown on companies driving Beijing’s artificial intelligence ambitions.

Citing “concerns over weapons proliferation and national security,” Taiwan’s International Trade Administration updated its list of what it calls strategic high-tech commodities entities last week to include Huawei and SMIC, among hundreds of other entities in China, Myanmar, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. Under the restrictions, Taiwanese businesses will be required to apply for permits before exporting to the listed firms.

The new rules were announced amid escalating US-China tensions over advanced technologies including semiconductors and AI. Washington has grown increasingly concerned about its tech being used in Chinese military applications. Just last month, the Trump administration restricted sales of chip design software to China in its ongoing trade war with Beijing.

The latest move by Taiwan underscores its government’s active approach in working with the US – its largest unofficial partner – to plug any loopholes in tech restrictions against Beijing. China claims self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory despite having never controlled it.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, which supplies Apple and AI giant Nvidia, had produced microchips for Huawei until 2020, when the first Trump administration effectively banned it from supplying the Chinese company. Since the ban, Huawei has turned to SMIC – which has also faced US restrictions – to source chips.

With US restrictions already in place, experts said Taiwan’s move to tighten the screws on Huawei, SMIC and their subsidiaries is largely symbolic. CNN has reached out to Huawei and SMIC for comment.

“This reflects the Taiwanese government’s clearer intent to align its export control regulations more closely with those of the United States,” said Min-yen Chiang, a nonresident fellow at the Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology, a government-funded think tank in Taipei. “In fact, Taiwan is the second country in the world – after the US – to publicly place SMIC and Huawei on an export control list.”

Taiwan’s “proactive” step signals that the government recognizes the need to play an active role in cooperating with the American government and addressing the security concerns at stake, Chiang said.

“From what I understand, the US government has long hoped that Taiwan would take greater initiative in regulating sensitive exports on its own, rather than simply following Washington’s lead,” he added.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fabrication plant in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Late last year, TSMC-made chips were reportedly found in a Huawei AI processor. While TSMC clarified it had not been supplying Huawei since 2020, the report stoked concerns in Washington that chips made by the Taiwanese company and intended for another Chinese firm, Sophgo, might have been rerouted to Huawei.

Reuters has reported that the US Department of Commerce has been investigating the incident and that TSMC could face a penalty of $1 billion or more from Washington. In November, the department also ordered the Taiwanese company to halt shipments of advanced chips to China.

“While the new controls aren’t a direct response to that specific incident, the discovery of TSMC-made chips in Huawei products last year served as a wake-up call: It prompted both TSMC and the Taiwan government to re-examine existing oversight mechanisms and identify gaps in preventing indirect supply chain loopholes,” said Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint Research, a market analysis firm.

Chip war

During his first term, US President Donald Trump imposed targeted restrictions on companies like Huawei, banning American firms from partnering with them and restricting the sale of chips to them.

In 2022, then-President Joe Biden intensified these efforts, curbing the sale of advanced semiconductors to China over concerns they could power its military. The controls were subsequently expanded to include restrictions on sales of chipmaking equipment, high-bandwidth memory chips and even products manufactured outside the United States using American technology.

The mounting restrictions have put heavy pressure on China’s strategic sectors that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has prioritized, including semiconductors and AI. But Huawei and SMIC have made some strides in the production of advanced chips, and Beijing has pinned its hopes on these companies to lead innovation.

Customers shop in a Huawei store in Haian City in China’s Jiangsu province in June.

NurPhoto/Getty Images

Although the US restrictions initially crippled its business, Huawei made a remarkable comeback in 2023 with the introduction of its Mate 60 smartphone, powered by advanced chips made by SMIC. The launch of the handset even triggered investigations by the US government.

Galen Zeng, a senior research manager at IDC, a market intelligence firm, said Monday that the timing of Taiwan’s export controls reflects multiple strategic considerations, including Washington’s concerns about the advanced chips found in Huawei’s devices.

“Coupled with US concerns over indirect supply routes, these developments have pushed Taiwan to tighten its export control mechanisms to enhance supply chain transparency,” he said.

While Huawei and SMIC may need to seek domestic alternatives in response to the export controls, restrictions like these would ultimately benefit Chinese suppliers, Zeng said.

“In the long term, this is likely to accelerate China’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency, benefiting domestic equipment, materials, and component suppliers,” he said.

In a rare interview last week, Ren Zhenfei, the founder of Huawei, downplayed the impact of the US technology restrictions on Huawei and China overall, while saying its chip technology remains one generation behind US technology.

“There’s actually no need to worry about the chip issue. By using methods like stacking and clustering, the computational results are comparable to the most advanced levels,” he said, referring to the industry approach of bundling multiple chips to achieve higher performance.

NEWS FORM: CNN WORLD

China imposes anti-dumping duties on industrial plastics

2025.5.22/in News

A view of China’s Ministry of Commerce on March 31, 2025 in Beijing, China.

VCG/Getty Images

BeijingReuters —

China announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9% Sunday on imports of POM copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from the United States, the European Union, Japan and Taiwan.

The Commerce Ministry’s findings conclude a probe launched in May 2024, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports.

POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc and have various applications including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the ministry has said.

In January, the ministry said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place and implemented preliminary anti-dumping measures in the form of a deposit starting from January 24.

According to Sunday’s announcement, the highest anti-dumping rate of 74.9% was levied on imports from the United States, while European shipments will face a 34.5% duty.

China slapped 35.5% duties on Japanese imports, except for Asahi Kasei Corp, which received a company-specific rate of 24.5%. A general duty of 32.6% was placed on imports from Taiwan, while Formosa Plastics received a 4% tariff and Polyplastics Taiwan 3.8%.

Hopes have risen that the US-China trade war is easing after the two sides said they had agreed to slash reciprocal tariffs in a 90-day truce, a deal that state mouthpiece the Global Times said on Friday should be extended.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group of nations warned of “fundamental challenges” facing the global trading system in a communique on Friday after a meeting in South Korea.

On Monday, Asian shares slipped as a mixed bag of Chinese economic data showed the domestic economy was struggling even as US tariffs began to bite into exports. Growth in China’s industrial output and retail sales slowed in April, as a trade war threatened to dampen momentum in the world’s second-largest economy.

However, the impact of tariffs on China’s economic activity has yet to cause significant pain, as industrial output fared better than economists’ expectations and unemployment eased.

Industrial output in April grew 6.1% from a year earlier, slowing from 7.7% growth in March, official data showed. The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics surpassed expectations for a 5.5% increase in a Reuters poll of 24 analysts.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 5.1% in April, slowing from a 5.9% increase in March. Economists had expected retail sales to grow 5.5%.

Fixed asset investment expanded 4.0% in the first four months of 2025 from the same period a year earlier, compared with expectations for a 4.2% rise. It grew 4.2% in the first quarter.

Property investment fell 10.3% in the first four months of 2025 from a year earlier, following a drop of 9.9% in the first quarter, official data showed. Property sales by floor area shrank 2.8% in January-April from the previous year, after declining 3.0% in the first three months. New construction starts measured by floor area were down 23.8%, versus a 24.4% slump in January-March.

NEWS FROM: CNN WORLD

China isn’t getting rid of its controls over rare earths, despite trade truce with US

2025.5.22/in News

A laborer works at a rare earths mine in Nancheng county, Jiangxi province, China on March 14, 2012.

Stringer/Reuters

Hong KongCNN —

Despite a 90-day truce in its trade war with the United States, China appears to be maintaining tight control over its rare earth exports – preserving a key source of leverage in future negotiations amid intensifying strategic rivalry with Washington.

As part of last week’s trade agreement in Geneva to temporarily roll back tariffs, China pledged to suspend or remove the “non-tariff” countermeasures it imposed on the US since April 2.

That has left businesses scrambling to find out whether that promise applies to China’s export controls on seven rare earth minerals and associated products, which were imposed on April 4 as part of its retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods.

Magnets made of these heavy rare earth elements are an essential part of everything from iPhones and electric vehicles to big-ticket weapons like F-35 fighter jets and missile systems. Yet their supply is completely dominated by China.

Fresh off the plane from the trade talks in Geneva last week, US trade representative Jamieson Greer sought to ease concerns surrounding this potential vulnerability. In a Fox News interview, he answered affirmatively when asked whether China had agreed to lift its export restrictions on rare earths as part of the truce.

“Yep, the Chinese have agreed to remove those countermeasures,” Greer said. “If they don’t do those things, we’re going to be back in a different situation. But I expect they’ll remove them.”

However, there’s little sign to suggest China is removing its newly imposed rare earth export control regime. If anything, according to experts and industry insiders, Chinese authorities appear to be strengthening implementation and ramping up oversight.

The system, introduced in April, does not ban exports outright, but requires government approval for each shipment. That had caused weeks long holdups as companies navigated the new regime, fueling fears among a wide range of American industries from automobile to defense.

“I would not be shocked to find that Mr Greer is expressing what he hopes will happen versus what has actually been negotiated to happen,” said Jon Hykawy, president of the Toronto-based industry advisory firm Stormcrow Capital.

“These controls are intended … to ensure that China does not run short of some materials that are needed for domestic Chinese priorities,” said Hykawy.

Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said China’s export licensing regime is “here to stay” and “may stay for a long time,” allowing Beijing to retain its leverage in future trade talks with the US.

If the US were to turn around and renege on their tariff policy, China can easily withhold the required licenses, she said, adding that the licensing policy is dynamic by design, giving Beijing the power to decide which companies or countries can access its rare earth minerals and magnets at any given time.

New export licenses

Following the Geneva talks, China’s Commerce Ministry removed 28 US firms from its dual-use export control list and pulled 17 American companies from another trade and investment backlist. But the ministry made no mention of any changes to the exports control on rare earth minerals and magnets.

A spokesperson for the ministry said she had “no information to share” on whether China is lifting the export controls at a regular news conference last Friday.

Instead, Chinese authorities launched a crackdown on the smuggling of critical minerals – a broader category of resources that include rare earth elements. On May 12, the day US and China announced the tariff cuts, Chinese export regulators convened a meeting with authorities from multiple mineral-rich provinces with the aim to “prevent the illegal outflow of strategic minerals” and “strengthen oversight across every link of the production and supply chain.”

On the same day, Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, said in a post that “China’s rare earth export controls are continuing.”

Meanwhile, after weeks of delay, China has started to issue export permits for rare earth magnets – a development that experts say shows the new licensing system is up and running, rather than restrictions being eased.

Two Chinese rare earth magnet producers told CNN they had recently received licenses for exporting products containing dysprosium and terbium – elements that are often added to create more heat resistance in high-performance magnets commonly used in the automobile, aerospace and military industries.

The approvals are granted under a “one batch, one license” rule, meaning a new permit is required for each shipment and cannot be reused, according to the companies.

One of the companies received its first export license for a shipment heading to Southeast Asia. It has since been granted several other licenses for exports to Europe, including the carmaker Volkswagen in Germany.

“We haven’t received any indications about the (export control) system easing up,” a person close to the company told CNN.

Volkswagen said in a statement that its suppliers have received indications that “a limited number of export licenses have been granted.”

A cargo ship offloads imported iron ore at the Qingdao Port in Shandong province, China, on March 6, 2025.

Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Question mark over US defense firms

Baskaran, from CSIS, said that instead of lifting the export controls on rare earths, China removed 28 American firms from its export control list. That means those companies, mostly aerospace and defense firms, are no longer banned from accessing dual-use materials from China, and their Chinese suppliers can now apply for export licenses for rare earth magnets.

But it remains to be seen whether Beijing will ultimately give out licenses to American defense firms.

China’s rare earth export controls were “specifically designed to hit the US defense industry, and I cannot envision China stepping back from that,” said Thomas Kruemmer, director of the Singapore-based mineral and metal supply chain firm Ginger International Trade and Investment.

Under the new rules, exporters must include information about end-users in their applications, which take up to 45 working days to be approved.

“I am sure that in case of defense contractors, the Chinese Commerce Ministry will raise pesky questions, which the Americans may be unwilling to answer or may need Pentagon permission to answer,” Kruemmer said.

“This way they can conveniently delay the issuance of dual-use product export licenses beyond the self-set 45-day deadline, perhaps even beyond this 90-day (truce) window. And it still has the option to reject the license applications anyway.”

The licensing rules can also offer China visibility into where the rare earth magnets end up.

“You can still get the material, but you have to fill out paperwork, describe to China who the end user is. You’re going to give all this information and then (China) can see inside your downstream customer base and use and look for further vulnerability,” said James Kennedy, president of Three Consulting, a rare earths consultancy based in St Louis, Missouri.

“So it’s very smart. They get a looking glass into what you’re doing.”

‘Geopolitical weapon’

For decades, the US and other countries have been dependent on China’s supply of rare earth minerals, which are difficult, costly and environmentally polluting to extract and process. China accounts for 61% of global mined rare earth production, but its control over the processing stage is much higher at 92% of the global output, according to the International Energy Agency.

The April export controls are far from the first time Beijing has leveraged its dominance in the industry. In 2010, China halted shipments of rare earths to Japan for nearly two months over a territorial dispute. In late 2023, it imposed a ban on rare earth extraction and separation technologies.

Beijing has also curbed exports of other critical minerals that are vital to the economy and global supply chains – including outright bans on the shipments of gallium, germanium, antimony and so-called superhard materials to the US.

“China’s control over rare earths, cobalt, gallium and all these critical materials is a geopolitical weapon of never-before measured and seen effect,” Kennedy said. “And at the end of the day, what this does is, it creates a lot of uncertainty. And that in itself is a powerful weapon.”

Baskaran said that by granting some of its first export licenses of rare earth magnets to Volkswagen, China is sending a pointed geopolitical message.

“Germany is at the height of geopolitical crossfire. The US is unhappy that Germany has been overtly quite friendly with China. So, by giving it one of the first licenses, China is sending a very positive signal in the Chinese-German relationship,” she said. “In this era of rising tension between the world’s two geopolitical superpowers, the licensing system may stay as a larger form of power.”

news from: CNN WORLD

China quietly rolls back retaliatory tariffs on some US-made semiconductors, import agencies say

2025.4.28/in News

China appears to have quietly rolled back retaliatory tariffs of 125% on some semiconductors made in the US, according to details provided to CNN on Friday by three import agencies in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, as Beijing tries to soften the blow of an ongoing trade war on its all-important tech industry.

The exemptions apply to integrated circuits, also known as microchips or semiconductors, according to the agencies. They found out about the exemptions, which have not been officially announced, on Thursday.

On April 12, China raised its reciprocal tariffs to 125% for all goods originating from the United States, in response to US President Donald Trump’s move to hike levies on Chinese goods to a sky-high 145%.

For months, Beijing has been projecting an air of strength and confidence in its ability to withstand an escalating trade war with the US. But these exemptions suggest it needs to roll back some levies on crucial items that it cannot make at home or source elsewhere. Besides semiconductors, China has decided to grant exemptions on some aircraft parts, including engines and landing gear, according to an aviation executive.

Semiconductors are an indispensable part of just about every electronic device. They are difficult to make because of the high cost of development and the level of knowledge required, meaning much of the production is concentrated among a handful of suppliers.

Although China has made strides in developing its own semiconductor industry, it is still highly dependent on imports of chips and chipmaking equipment from the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands. Last year, China imported $11.7 billion worth of semiconductors from the US, according to customs data.

Duncan Clark, chairman of technology investment advisory firm BDA, said the exemptions suggest China does not have “autonomy in chips.”

“It has ambition for that. But basically, it’s going to be a while before it can be fully autonomous,” he said.

Ray Wang, a Washington-based analyst focusing on US-China tech competition, said the exemptions benefit American chipmakers such as Intel, Texas Instruments and Global Foundries, which would be affected by the Chinese tariffs.

Chinese authorities have not confirmed the exemptions on semiconductors publicly. The General Administration of Customs and the customs offices in Shenzhen and Zhongshan, both port cities in Guangdong province, said they were not aware of the exemptions.

A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said he was not familiar with the situation, when asked about the exemptions at a regular news conference Friday. CNN has reached out to the Chinese Commerce Ministry for comment.

Chen Shaoling, a manager at Zhengnenliang Supply Chain, an import agency, told CNN that she found out on Thursday that tariffs on eight kinds of integrated circuits, covering most semiconductors except for memory chips, had been waived to zero. The discovery was made during a routine custom clearance for her customers, she added.

“We only found out after we filed the declaration — without doing that, we wouldn’t have known,” Chen said. “The news is now spreading like wildfire.”

Caijing, a Chinese business magazine, reported on the exemptions on Friday, citing multiple tech companies that import semiconductors, including one based in Shanghai. The report was removed roughly three hours after it was published.

Critical components

The exemptions aren’t the first time Beijing has come to the aid of its tech sector, which is starting to enjoy a closer relationship with officialdom after a years-long regulatory crackdown.

Earlier this month, China removed tariffs on chips designed by American firms but manufactured outside the country. For example, US AI chip giant Nvidia’s products are largely made in Taiwan by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

On April 11, the state-backed China Semiconductor Industry Association said in a post on its official social media channel that the “declared country of origin” should be the location of the factory where the product was made.

That means semiconductors from American chip designers like Qualcomm and Nvidia, manufactured outside the US would not be subject to China’s 125% tariff on US goods.

This week’s exemptions appear to apply only to logic chips, which process and control data flow, an area dominated by the US. Memory chips, which store and retrieve data, are not included in the exemptions. South Korean firms Samsung and SK Hynix are the leaders in this market.

The local customs authority in Shenzhen appears to have notified some companies about the update.

“Fantastic news! We have received a new notice from China Customs, stating that eight tariff codes related to semiconductors/integrated circuits are now exempt from additional tariffs on US imports,” Shenzhen HJET Supply Chain wrote in a post on its official social media account Thursday.

“This means that imports originating from the United States under these codes will have their tariffs reduced to zero upon entry into China,” the post added.

A staff member at the company who picked up a call from CNN confirmed the new policy, saying her company was notified by local customs on Thursday.

Taihang Semiconductor, a company also based in Shenzhen that imports chips, told CNN it has received a notice from customs, though it declined to provide further details. “It’s definitely a good thing,” a staff member said when contacted by CNN.

Wider exemptions

China is granting exemptions in other sectors outside of semiconductors, including aviation, according to Olivier Andries, the chief executive of French engine maker Safran.

“Yesterday night, China has decided to exempt from tax any deliveries of engines, nacelles, landing gears or parts,” he said on an earnings call Friday.

The company is a major supplier to China’s aviation industry. It makes the oxygen systems and nacelles (the structure that houses the engines and connects them to the wings) for the C919, China’s first homegrown mainline passenger plane. The C919’s LEAP-1C engines are produced by CFM, a joint venture between US engine-maker GE Aviation and Safran.

According to Reuters, which cited an unnamed source, the Chinese government is also asking businesses to identify goods that could be eligible for exemption from its reciprocal US tariffs.

The world’s two largest economies are at each other’s throats in a bitter tariff fight that has roiled global markets, disrupted supply chains and stoked recession fears.

On April 11, Trump exempted imports of electronics such as smartphones and computers from his “reciprocal” tariffs. That exemption has had a major impact on tech giants like Apple, which make iPhones and other products in China.

In recent days, Trump has softened his tone, saying the astronomical tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially” and promised to be “very nice” at the negotiating table as he attempts to get Chinese leader Xi Jinping to make the first move to initiate trade talks.

But Beijing has brushed off Trump’s apparent olive branch, demanding the US should remove all tariffs on China if it wants to talk. Chinese officials have also repeatedly refuted Trump’s claims that the two sides are in talks about trade.

“There have been no negotiations between China and the United States on the issue of tariffs. The US should not mislead the public,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at the regular news conference Friday.

The rebuttal came after Trump said on Thursday that his administration had meetings with Chinese officials regarding trade earlier in the morning.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Beijing bureau and Olesya Dmitracova contributed reporting.

news from: CNN world

Massive blast rocks Iranian port city triggering state of emergency

2025.4.28/in News

Over a dozen people have been killed and hundreds injured in a huge explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in southwestern Iran, according to Iranian state media citing the country’s interior ministry.

news from: CNN world

Summary of U.S. Reciprocal Tariff Measures

2025.4.9/in News

U.S. Reciprocal Tariff Implementation

Base Tariff 10%:
Effective from April 5, 2025 (U.S. time).

Reciprocal Tariffs:
Effective from April 9, 2025 (U.S. time) for the following countries:

Taiwan: 32%
China: 34%
Vietnam: 46%
Thailand: 36%
Malaysia: 24%
India: 32%

Product-Specific Tariffs:

From April 3, 2025 (U.S. time): A 25% tariff will be imposed on automobiles (e.g., light trucks, passenger cars, etc.).
Computers: Includes notebooks (NB) and PCs.
Gold bars, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and wood products: Not affected by reciprocal tariffs at this time.
Mexico and Canada: Not subject to reciprocal tariffs (as a 25% tariff is already in place).
Note: Products that meet USMCA criteria may qualify for exemption. See attachment.

From May 2, 2025 (U.S. time):
The tariff exemption for low-value shipments under USD 800 will be eliminated.

From May 3, 2025 (U.S. time):
A 25% tariff will be imposed on auto parts (e.g., engines, transmissions, tires, lithium-ion batteries, spark plugs, shock absorbers, and automotive wiring).

Since March 2, 2025 (U.S. time):
Steel and aluminum have been subject to a 25% tariff.

Note: The U.S. has announced a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and parts. Please refer to page 9 of the attachment for the full tariff list. 附件

BOFT (Bureau of Foreign Trade):
https://www.trade.gov.tw/Pages/Detail.aspx?nodeid=45&pid=799990

Tariffs on China set to rise to at least 104% on Wednesday, White House says

2025.4.9/in News

President Donald Trump is set to impose an astounding 104% in levies across all Chinese imports on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday. This comes on top of Chinese tariffs that were in place prior to Trump’s second term.

China was already set to see tariffs increase by 34% on Wednesday as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs package. But the president tacked on another 50% after Beijing didn’t back off on its promise to impose 34% retaliatory tariffs on US goods by noon Tuesday, adding an additional 84% in duties.

Earlier Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said it “firmly opposes” the additional 50% tariffs on Chinese imports, calling it “a mistake upon a mistake.” The ministry vowed to escalate its retaliation on US exports.

US stocks, which soared Tuesday morning, began moving lower following Leavitt’s comments. Markets ultimately ended the day markedly lower. The Dow fell 320 points, or 0.84%. The broader S&P 500 fell 1.57%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 2.15%.

“Countries like China, who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers, are making a mistake,” Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “President Trump has a spine of steel, and he will not break.”

“The Chinese want to make a deal, they just don’t know how to do it,” she added. She declined to share what, if any, terms Trump would consider to lower tariffs on China.

Asian markets largely tracked Wall Street’s losses, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 opening about 3% lower on Wednesday, before paring half of those losses. Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 index was down about 1%.

In February, Trump had initially imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods, with no exceptions, tying it to the country’s alleged role in aiding illegal immigration and getting fentanyl into the US. Last month, he doubled those rates.

China was America’s second largest source of imports last year, shipping a total of $439 billion worth of goods to the US, while the US exported $144 billion worth of goods to China. The mutual tariffs threaten to hurt domestic industries and are poised to result in layoffs.

When Trump’s first term ended, the US charged an average tariff rate of 19.3% on Chinese goods, according to a Peterson Institute for International Economic analysis. The Biden administration kept most of Trump’s tariffs in place while also adding additional ones, bringing the average rate to 20.8%.

Come Wednesday, the total average tariff on Chinese exports to the US will soar to nearly 125%.

While previous rounds of Chinese tariffs caused more American businesses to look to other foreign countries like Mexico and Vietnam to manufacture goods, China remained the top foreign source of several items.

That includes, among others, toys, communication equipment such as smartphones, computers and a wide range of other consumer electronics. All these goods are likely to cost US consumers substantially more soon.

Dozens of countries set to see higher tariffs soon, too

Dozens of other countries as well as the European Union also face a midnight deadline for new tariff rates. Those rates, which Trump laid out last week, range from 11% to 50%.

Leavitt told reporters that despite several conversations with world leaders aiming to negotiate lower tariff rates, Trump has little appetite to delay his plans.

Having spoken with Trump earlier on Tuesday, Leavitt said, “He expects that these tariffs are going to go into effect.”

At the same time, she said Trump instructed his trade team to make “tailor-made” deals with countries that want to negotiate. Pressed further on whether the president had any timeline or deadline for the trade deals, Leavitt again reiterated that they won’t be “off-the-rack deals.”

Trump’s latest trick could make tariffs more palatable

2025.3.26/in News

President Donald Trump’s tariff ambitions have been a tough sell. They’ve put investors in a tizzy, sending financial markets spiraling; cost him the support of many members of his own voter base; and angered CEOs.

Rather than back down and reverse course entirely just a week before Trump’s promised “Liberation Day” on April 2, he’s employing a familiar marketing strategy: Prepare Americans for the worst and deliver something that’s not quite as tough to swallow.

On Monday, Trump did exactly that. “For the most part, April 2 will be a big day,” Trump said, referring to the day he has promised sweeping tariffs against all of America’s trading partners. It’s a subtle change from insisting that it will be the big day involving not just dollar-for-dollar reciprocal tariffs but also sector-wide tariffs. To investors’ glee, Trump even managed to mention doling out carve-outs.

“There definitely has to be a marketing component to this, as the logic behind increased tariffs is not obvious,” Colin Grabow, associate director at the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, told CNN. “My suspicion is that the Trump administration is trying to balance its goals of higher tariffs while not spooking markets too badly.”

Changing the conversation

On Monday, Trump changed the conversation from fears about the economic effects of tariffs to relief that he appeared to be delaying some of those levies.

Auto tariffs, he said, will be announced “very shortly.” Pharmaceutical tariffs: “At some point.” Semiconductor and lumber tariffs: “Down the road.” And on the big, bold reciprocal tariffs, Trump conceded, “I may give a lot of countries breaks.”

“We might be even nicer than that,” Trump added.

As Don Draper, the fictional ad executive in “Mad Men,” told a client concerned about public opinion: “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”

This isn’t the first time Trump changed the conversation by presenting a lighter tariff approach compared to prior promises he’s made.

For example, days after Trump was reelected he said, “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.” That didn’t happen, however, causing stocks to surge as investors breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Then, the date for those tariffs got pushed back not once but twice. The second delay came after they were briefly enacted and then delayed — but only in part. That meant goods from the two countries are now subject to 25% tariffs if they don’t comply with the terms of the USMCA free trade treaty that Trump signed during his first term. That bit of fine print has largely gone unnoticed.

For China, Trump threatened on the campaign trail to levy tariffs as high as 60% on all Chinese goods coming into the US. As it stands, there’s a 20% tariff on Chinese imports and an additional 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from there.

Mexico, China and Canada are America’s top three trading partners, accounting for 41% of the total value of goods the US imported last year, according to Commerce Department data. That’s why economists and businesses have been fretting about a full-blown trade war between the three countries that could cause crucial goods to become significantly more expensive to produce. So far, that’s largely been avoided.

In other words, Trump threatened maximum pain and dialed it back just enough to soothe nerves. Tariffs are still in place — they’re just a pill that’s now a bit easier to swallow.

The easier tariff pitch

It’s not a coincidence that Trump is standing firmer on reciprocal tariffs than sector- or country-specific tariffs he’s previously floated. Even though he’s opened the door to more flexibility, it’s highly unlikely he’ll postpone “Liberation Day.”

With reciprocal tariffs, matching countries’ import taxes dollar for dollar, he has perhaps the easiest pitch to make for reciprocal tariffs. To use Trump’s verbiage: If they charge us, we charge them.

Those are easy to understand for most Americans — an issue of fairness that many folks can get behind as opposed to across-the-board punitive tariffs on countries or products.

“We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world,” Trump said Monday in a Cabinet meeting.

“Framing tariff hikes as a corrective to abusive practices by US trading partners — essentially giving them a taste of their own medicine — seems much easier to justify than sectoral tariffs with only nebulous connections to their proposed justification,” Grabow said. On top of which, “reciprocal tariffs can be framed as a means to achieve an overall lowering of trade barriers, while the proposed sectoral tariffs cannot,” he said.

Indeed, India, which has higher tariff rates on US imports compared to what the US taxes its exports, is preparing to lower tariff rates ahead of April 2, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Selling a 10 and delivering a 6

Trump developed a pattern of selling a 10/10 worst-case scenario for tariffs and the impact they could end up having on the economy. But the 6/10 tariffs he tends to end up delivering aren’t anything to shrug off just simply because they aren’t as bad as they could’ve been.

For example, the 20% tariffs on Chinese goods are still creating a lot of headaches for businesses that source goods from there and could soon translate into higher prices consumers pay.

Consumers aren’t tuning out tariffs, though. On Tuesday, the Conference Board reported consumer confidence plunged to the lowest level since January 2021 this month. The group said concerns about tariffs were front and center for consumers, helping drive levels lower.

But no matter how bad economic data gets, Trump’s not going to slam the brakes on tariffs.

“As a self-described ‘tariff man’ who has long seemed enamored with import duties, we should assume that Trump’s desire for higher tariffs is sincere and more than just a negotiating ploy,” Grabow said.

That said, Trump may still have to work on selling them a bit better.

NEWS FROM: CNN WORLD

Trump imposes 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum

2025.2.11/in News

President Donald Trump on Monday imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States with no exceptions or exemptions.

Although the United States gets most of its steel from Canada, Brazil and Mexico, the tariffs are largely — albeit indirectly — aimed at China.

“This is a big deal — making America rich again,” Trump said in announcing the tariffs, according to a pool report.

America imports very little steel directly from China, by far the world’s largest producer of steel. Steel tariffs of 25% launched in Trump’s first administration and continued by former President Joe Biden resulted in American importers shifting to other sources.

Yet Chinese steel does make its way into the United States secondhand. Some is purchased by foreign countries and reshipped to the US. And some of it is mislabeled and resold through various channels.

The United States is not the manufacturing-focused economy it once was, but it still consumes tens of millions of tons of steel and aluminum a year. Steel is a key component of everything from consumer goods such as cars and appliances to such large scale infrastructure projects, such as skyscrapers, oil rigs and pipelines, bridges and roads. Aluminum also is a key components of such goods as cans of food and beverages, cars and commercial jets, as well as and key infrastructure such as high power electrical lines.

Tariffs could increase the cost of production of many if not all of those items because of the increased cost of the imported and domestic steel – and aluminum makers could raise the price of their products because of the reduced competition from low-priced imports.

The weight and cost of shipping steel and aluminum have always given domestic producers something of a edge on import sources. American steel mills produce about three times as much steel as is imported here.

When the Trump administration put tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum in place in 2018, it briefly cut imports and increased domestic production. But many customers of imported steel and aluminum still found it necessary to import those goods from lower priced producers elsewhere. Those actions also ignited a trade war that hit American goods with retaliatory tariffs that raised prices on other items for consumers.

Some buyers who had been purchasing steel from countries hit with tariffs, such as China, shifted to steelmakers in other markets, such as Canada, which is now the largest source of American steel imports with about 23% of the steel shipped here. China has fallen to 10th place, with less than 2% of steel exports here.

Steel imports fell by 10.2 million tons, or 27%, between 2017, the year before the tariffs, and 2019, according to analysis of government data provided by the American Iron and Steel Institute, an industry trade group. Domestic steel production rose, but only by 6.8 million tons, or 7.5%.

The boost in domestic steel production proved short lived. Both domestic production and imports fell in 2020 as the pandemic cut the demand for steel greatly. While it has come part of the way back since then, domestic production has still not reached the pre-tariffs level of 2017, let alone the pre-pandemic output.

A Trump administration official said the new tariffs on steel, though holding at 25%, were designed to eliminate loopholes and numerous exemptions that have led some importers to game the system. For example, the official said some countries will import semifinished steel, make it into a slightly more finished product, and ship that to the United States to skirt tariffs.

While aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump told reporters he was planning the steel and aluminum announcement and that he intended to hold a news conference this week to introduce new reciprocal tariffs.

Just last week, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports to the US, adding to existing tariffs on China. In retaliation, China quickly imposed tariffs on certain chips and metals.

Trump has, however, started easing some of these measures, including pausing tariffs on goods valued at $800 or less coming into the US until the Commerce Department can develop a tracking system. He has also suspended his 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada until at least March 1.

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.

NEWS FROM: CNN WORLD

Trump announces new tariffs of up to 40% on a growing number of countries

What’s at stake

Stocks sink

Taiwan puts companies behind China’s AI ambitions on export control list

Chip war

China imposes anti-dumping duties on industrial plastics

China isn’t getting rid of its controls over rare earths, despite trade truce with US

New export licenses

Question mark over US defense firms

‘Geopolitical weapon’

China quietly rolls back retaliatory tariffs on some US-made semiconductors, import agencies say

Critical components

Wider exemptions

Massive blast rocks Iranian port city triggering state of emergency

Summary of U.S. Reciprocal Tariff Measures

Tariffs on China set to rise to at least 104% on Wednesday, White House says

Dozens of countries set to see higher tariffs soon, too

Trump’s latest trick could make tariffs more palatable

Changing the conversation

The easier tariff pitch

Selling a 10 and delivering a 6

Trump imposes 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum

HELIO OVERSEAS (TAIWAN) LTD.

HELIO OVERSEAS (HK) LTD.

SERVICE