China yesterday was in the process of waiving retaliatory tariffs on imports of US pork and soy by domestic companies, a procedural step that might also signal that a broader trade agreement with the US is drawing closer.
The Chinese Ministry of Finance said it has started to process the applications after the firms purchased a certain amount of US goods based on its needs.
The ministry is working to waive the tariffs resulting from the trade dispute on those goods, it said in a statement.
US and Chinese negotiators have signaled that they might be drawing closer to agreeing on phase one of a broader accord that would resolve the trade dispute.
China began issuing waivers on US soybeans, cotton, corn, sorghum and pork as the Asian nation sought to press forward on a trade deal.
While the waivers allow buyers to import US soybeans without paying the 30 percent tariffs, some traders had difficulty clearing customs as they were required to pay a deposit in lieu of the levy before they could apply to the ministry for an exemption.
Many had been struggling to pay, people familiar with the matter said last month.
However, China’s customs authorities began letting importers use a letter of guarantee from banks instead of cash to pay the deposit, allowing the beans to flow again, the people said.
Still, unless new quotas for waivers are issued, US exporters might not see a huge inflow into China.
Buyers have used up almost all of their waivers to purchase US soybeans, people familiar with the matter told reporters earlier this week.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
BRAVE NEW WORLD: Nvidia believes that AI would fuel a new industrial revolution and would ‘do whatever we can’ to guide US AI policy, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Tuesday said he is ready to meet US president-elect Donald Trump and offer his help to the incoming administration. “I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him, and do whatever we can to make this administration succeed,” Huang said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding that he has not been invited to visit Trump’s home base at Mar-a-Lago in Florida yet. As head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, Huang has an opportunity to help steer the administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) policy at a moment of rapid change.
RSS