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A 90-day pause on imposing higher tariffs on China is due to expire on Tuesday and it is unclear if it will be extended.After the most recent round of China-U.S. trade talks, held late last month in Stockholm, Chinese and U.S. officials said they expected the deadline to be extended for another 90 days. The U.S. side said the decision was up to President Donald Trump. So far there has been no formal announcement about whether he will endorse an extension or push ahead with the higher tariffs.The uncertainty has left businesses in limbo and a decision to raise the import duties could jolt world markets. SILENCE FROM WASHINGTON AND BEIJING Trump has repeatedly shifted deadlines and tariff rates, and neither side has indicated what it plans for Tuesday. Extending the August 12 deadline for reaching a trade agreement with China would forestall earlier threats of tariffs of up to 245%.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump was deciding about another 90-day delay to allow time to work out details of an agreement setting tariffs on most products at 50%, including extra import duties related to illicit trade in the powerful opiate fentanyl.Higher tariffs are aimed at offsetting the huge, chronic U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a 21-year low in July as the threat of tariffs bit into Chinese exports.It’s not unusual for the U.S. to give hints on where talks stand, but it’s rare for China to make announcements until major decisions are set. So far, Beijing’s refrained from commenting ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.In an interview with Fox News taped on Thursday but aired on Sunday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Trump was considering additional tariffs on Beijing because of China’s purchases of Russian oil. But he said Trump “hasn’t made any firm decisions.” CHINA RESISTED CUTTING AN EARLY BARGAIN Prohibitively high tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States would put huge pressure on Beijing at a time when the Chinese economy, the world’s second largest, is still recovering from a prolonged downturn in its property market. Lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have left millions of people reliant on “gig work,” crimping the job market. Higher import taxes on small parcels from China have also hurt smaller factories and layoffs have accelerated.But the U.S. relies heavily on imports from China for all sorts of products, from household goods and clothing to wind turbines, basic computer chips, electric vehicle batteries, and the rare earths needed to make them. That gives Beijing some powerful leverage in the negotiations with Washington.Even with higher tariffs, China remains competitive for many products. And its leaders are aware that the U.S. economy is only just beginning to feel the effects of higher prices from Trump’s broad tariff hikes.For now, imports from China are subject to a 10% baseline tariff and a 20% extra tariff related to the fentanyl issue. Some products are taxed at higher rates. U.S. exports to China are subject to tariffs of around 30%. Before the two sides called a truce, Trump had threatened to impose 245% import duties on Chinese goods. China retaliated by saying it would hike its tariff on U.S. products to 125%. MUCH IS AT STAKE A trade war between the world’s two largest economies has ramifications across the global economy, affecting industrial supply chains, demand for commodities like copper and oil, and geopolitical issues such as the war in Ukraine.After a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in June, Trump said he hoped to meet with Xi later this year. That’s an incentive for striking a deal with Beijing.If the two sides fail to keep their truce, trade tensions could escalate and tariffs might rise to even higher levels, inflicting still more pain on both economies and rattling world markets. Businesses would refrain from making investment commitments and hiring, while inflation would surge higher.Companies are in an “extended wait-and-see mode,” Oxford Economics said in a recent report. Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
In a historically unusual move, two of the world’s largest chipmakers, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), have reportedly cut a deal with the Trump administration to hand over 15% of their revenues from certain chip sales to the U.S. government. Heres what to know about the deal and how Nvidias and AMDs stock prices are reacting. What’s happened? Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that chipmaking giants Nvidia and AMD have struck a highly unusual deal with the U.S. government. According to the Financial Times, the deal will see Nvidia and AMD give up 15% of revenues from chip sales of two specific chips to China, the H20 chipset by Nvidia and the MI308 chipset by AMD. In return for the 15% revenue-sharing agreement, the U.S. government has approved export licenses for those chips to China. Without export licenses, which the U.S. had previously failed to grant the companies, Nvidia and AMD could not legally export their chips to the country. The Financial Times cited people familiar with the situation, including a U.S. official as the sources of the information. “We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets,” a Nvidia spokesperson told Fast Company when reached for comment. “While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide. America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership.” Fast Company has also reached out to AMD and the Commerce Department. The revenue-sharing agreement is an unusual one, as no other companies before now have ever agreed to share a portion of their revenue with the U.S. government in exchange for export licenses. The Trump administration has reportedly also not decided what the U.S. government will do with the proceeds it reaps from Nvidia and AMDs chip sales to China. A spokesperson for Nvidia did not deny the deal, with the company telling the Financial Times, We follow rules the US government sets for our participation in worldwide markets. What are the H20 and MI308 chips? Before the two chip giants made a revenue-sharing deal with the Trump administration, the H20 and MI308 chipsets had been waiting for months for export license approvals. The H20 chip by Nvidia and the MI308 chip by AMD were designed by the companies for the Chinese marketplace specifically, and within the constraints that the Biden administration had placed on exporting U.S. chips to China. But when Trump came into office earlier this year, his administration placed export controls on those chips over national security fears. Nvidia has previously disputed that its H20 chips could give Chinese industry a leg up in the AI race. Now, however, any supposed national security concerns are taking a back seat to profits, as the export licenses have now been granted after the revenue-sharing deal was agreed. That revenue-sharing agreement stands to see the U.S. government rake in billions as the chipmakers now have the go-ahead to sell to China. According to the Financial Times, one estimate noted that Nvidia could sell as much as $23 billion worth of its H20 chips to China in 2025 alone. How are Nvidia and AMD stock reacting? Obtaining export licenses for chips is usually considered a good thing by investors in any chipmaking company. However, after the Financial Times broke the news of the revenue sharing deal, shares of both Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) are down in premarket trading as of the time of this writing. NVDA shares are currently down about 0.71% and AMD shares are currently down about 1.6%. While these share price drops arent that large, any decline in a chipmakers stock price after winning an export license is pretty rare. This could suggest that investors are concerned that companies are ceding too much revenue to the U.S. government in exchange for export licenses, potentially harming their bottom lines. But just as likely is that investors arent entirely sure how to digest the news. The deal potentially sets a new precedent where companies that need export licenses now may need to start sharing their revenue directly with the U.S. government. Such a system is unheard of in free-market democracies.
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E-Commerce
Forget Cowboy Carter or the Eras tour, the hottest ticket this year is for your favorite podcast. Content creator tours sold nearly 500% more tickets this year compared to 2024, according to StubHub, with Alex Cooper’s “Unwell” tour, Crime Junkie’s podcast tour and Mel Robbins’ “Let Them” tour the highest in demand. With ticket prices at nearly 40% less than traditional live events on average, its easy to see why. Going to a live concert is only getting more expensive, with many concertgoers sucking up the eye-popping prices and price gouging on resale sites rather than deal with the potential FOMO. The average price of tickets sold across all live entertainment in 2024 was $159. The Taylor Swifts Eras tour cost fans an average of $1,088 per ticket in 2023, The New York Times reported. For the top six creator tours, it was just $99. Scheduling tour dates in locations often bypassed by mainstream artists, like Wyoming and Vermont, has also helped boost sales. During her own “Eras” tour, influencer Trisha Paytas paid visits to Tysons, Virginia and St. Louis, Missouri. Meanwhile, TikTok star Jake Shanes Therapuss cross-country tour stopped in places like Birmingham, Alabama and Athens, Georgia. When we look at state-level consumption, Illinois has emerged as the creator economy’s biggest fanbase, purchasing 20% more tickets than any other market, Adam Budelli, Partnerships & Business Development at StubHub told Fast Company. Texans are not only the largest single-state fanbase for female-hosted podcast content, but also show unique consumption patterns, with 7% more single-ticket buyers than California, despite having a smaller population. Thanks to the boom in video podcasts, what started as an audio-only experience enjoyed alone, now has more in common with your traditional chat show. Nearly three-quarters of podcast consumers watch their podcasts, compared with about a quarter who listen only. I think the biggest differentiator is that there are more opportunities for audiences who do attend to actually interact with the creators, creator economy expert Lindsey Gamble tells Fast Company. Because being able to tour and bring people out in real life shows that they actually have a community and relationship with their followers or subscribersenough where people are willing to dedicate their time and their dollars to see them in person. For creators, it can also be lucrative. As well as bringing in money through membership models and merch, with many podcasts typically over an hour long, a live show or tour is a natural extension of the existing format. We’re seeing fans who have built these deep, parasocial relationships with creators through podcasts and social media finally getting the chance to complete that connection in person, Gamble says. It’s different from a traditional concert where you’re watching a performance, where at creator events, fans feel like they’re hanging out with someone they already know intimately.
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E-Commerce
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