Yazılar

Malaysia warns U.S. chip tariff changes could disrupt global supply chains

/in /tarafından

Malaysia has warned that any move by the United States to remove tariff exemptions on its semiconductor exports could hurt competitiveness and strain global supply chains, according to an economic outlook report released with the country’s 2026 budget.

The warning follows President Donald Trump’s decision in August to impose a 19% tariff on Malaysian exports to the U.S., with semiconductors temporarily exempt pending a national security review. Trump has also proposed a 100% tariff on imported chips, excluding firms with existing or planned U.S. manufacturing facilities.

“Any removal of the semiconductor exemptions could result in repercussions, reduce competitiveness and strain sectors that are closely integrated with U.S. supply chains,” Malaysia’s government said. The Southeast Asian nation is the world’s sixth-largest semiconductor exporter and a crucial link in global chip assembly and testing.

The report estimates that the tariffs could reduce Malaysia’s GDP growth by 0.76 percentage points, while trade volumes are expected to contract next year. The government had already lowered its 2025 growth forecast to between 4% and 4.8%, from a previous 4.5%–5.5% range, citing escalating trade tensions. For 2026, it expects growth between 4% and 4.5%.

Economists say the tariff uncertainty threatens to disrupt Asia’s semiconductor supply network, which supports major American chipmakers like Intel and Texas Instruments that rely on Malaysia for downstream production.

U.S. approves multi-billion-dollar Nvidia chip exports to UAE, Bloomberg reports

/in /tarafından

The U.S. government has approved several billion dollars’ worth of Nvidia chip exports to the United Arab Emirates, according to Bloomberg News. The export licenses were issued by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security as part of a bilateral artificial intelligence agreement reached in May.

The deal will enable the UAE to build large-scale data centers essential for developing and training advanced AI models, deepening technological cooperation between the two countries. In return, the UAE has committed to making a reciprocal investment in the U.S., the report said.

An official from the Commerce Department told Bloomberg the agency is “fully committed to the transformational U.S.–UAE AI partnership deal.” Neither Nvidia nor the White House commented directly on the report, and UAE representatives could not be reached.

The export agreement is expected to allow the Emirates to import up to 500,000 of Nvidia’s high-performance AI chips annually starting in 2025, under a framework that could extend through 2030, as Reuters reported earlier this year.

The approval aligns with President Donald Trump’s renewed Gulf outreach, which in May yielded $600 billion in commitments from Saudi Arabia, including chip deals with Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm. The move strengthens Washington’s push to build regional AI alliances amid intensifying global competition for computing power.

China Slams U.S. as “Surveillance Empire” Over Chip Shipment Trackers

/in /tarafından

China’s state-run media Xinhua criticized the United States on Friday for secretly placing location trackers in shipments of advanced chips at risk of diversion to China, calling the practice indicative of the “instincts of a surveillance empire.” Reuters had reported earlier that U.S. authorities embedded these devices to monitor shipments subject to export restrictions aimed at curbing China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology.

In a commentary titled “America turns chip trade into a surveillance game,” Xinhua accused Washington of running “the world’s most sprawling intelligence apparatus” and treating trade partners as rivals to be undermined. The piece warned that if U.S. chips are perceived as potential surveillance tools, global customers may seek alternatives.

The commentary reflects ongoing tensions between the two tech superpowers. The U.S. government has imposed strict limits on exports of advanced chips and related equipment to China, while Washington and its allies have previously accused China of embedding potential surveillance capabilities in exported products, ranging from telecom gear to vehicles.

In recent moves, China has asked U.S. chipmaker Nvidia to clarify whether its H20 chips contain hidden backdoors and has cautioned domestic tech companies about their use, amid heightened scrutiny of foreign technology for security risks.