US extends China chip curb waiver for allies’ fabs

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The United States government has decided to extend a waiver to allow mainland China-based Taiwanese and South Korean firms to import chip-making equipment for another year from October.

The decision, reported by Nikkei, came ahead of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s August 27-30 trip to China.

This move, together with the US Commerce Department’s recent decision to remove 27 Chinese firms from its unverified list, is welcomed by Beijing.

In early July, Chinese officials held deep talks with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing and persuaded the Biden administration to reduce to the scope of its investment curbs against China’s high technology sectors.

During Raimond’s visit, Beijing plans to ask Washington to cancel extra tariffs that have been imposed on Chinese steel and aluminium products.

“The essence of Sino-US economic and trade relations is to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results while pushing forward the economic and trade cooperation is in the common interests of the two countries and their peoples,” Shu Yuting, a spokesperson of the Chinese Commerce Ministry, said in a media briefing on Thursday.

“We have noticed some difficulties and challenges in bilateral trade and investment recently, which are closely related to a series of unilateral and protectionist measures implemented by the US,” Shu said. “China will continue to raise relevant economic and trade concerns with the US, and strive to create a fair and stable business environment for companies from both sides to carry out trade and investment cooperation.”
 
Last October, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) said mainland China-based chip fabs that produce logic chips of 16-nm or smaller, DRAM memory chips of 18-nm half-pitch or smaller, or NAND chips with 128 layers or more will have to apply for licenses to purchase items from the US.

At the same time, the Biden administration offered a one-year waiver to allow Taiwanese and South Korean chipmakers, such as TSMC, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, to ship US tools to their mainland fabs without having to apply for a licence. The exemptions were set to expire October this year.

Some analysts said the waiver can help prevent widespread disruption in the global semiconductor supply chain. But some others said the prolonged exemptions will reduce the effectiveness of the US chip export control against China.

In June, US Undersecretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez told an audience at an industry gathering that the government would extend exemptions for South Korean and Taiwanese chip suppliers with their facilities in China.

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 12 that the US government was considering the waiver extension in view of perceptions that it may have underestimated the complexity and effects of isolating China from the production of advanced technology.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is reportedly monitoring whether US-sanctioned Chinese telecom giant Huawei is constructing facilities under the names of other companies and indirectly purchasing American chip-making equipment in order to bypass US sanctions. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Huawei is receiving an estimated US$30 billion in state funding for secretive chip production.

Tin mill steel

In the first seven months of this year, China’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) fell 9.8% to US$111.8 billion from the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

For the same period, China’s exports to the US decreased 18.6% to US$281.7 billion, according to the General Administration of Customs. The country’s total exports dropped by 5% to 1.46 trillion. Some economists blamed the slowing economy in the West for the decline.

On August 17, the US Commerce Department said it will set preliminary anti-dumping duties of 122.5% on tin mill steel imported from China, 7.02% on imports from Germany and 5.29% on imports from Canada to protect domestic steelmakers. No duties will be imposed on the steel products imported from Britain, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey. 

China’s duties were higher as a major producer refused to cooperate in the investigation while other respondents could not prove that they were independent of the Chinese government, according to a Commerce Department official.

“This is a major example of the United States’ harsh measures against China’s economy and trade,” Liu Xiaowei, a Hubei-based commentator, says in an article. “A US official said a lack of cooperation of a Chinese company led to an ‘adverse inference’ determination. What kind of hegemonic logic is this?”

Liu adds: “While the US media claimed that Raimondo’s visit is aimed at strengthening communication with Beijing, we should maintain a clear mind and closely monitor the United States’s actions. If the US becomes capricious again after the talks, it is questionable whether Sino-US relations will continue to improve.”

He says China should not place too many hopes on Raimondo’s trip as the Biden administration’s overall China strategy remains confrontational.

WTO’s ruling

In March 2018, then US President Donard Trump ordered the imposition of 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% tariffs on aluminium imports. The order mainly targeted China. It exempted imports from Canada and Mexico.

In April of the same year, China initiated a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute complaint against the United States’s extra tariffs.

On December 9 last year, the WTO said the US Section 232 tariffs violated its rules because they were not imposed “in time of war or other emergency in international relations.” But on August 16 this year, the WTO said it recognized that the US Section 232 actions on steel and aluminium are security measures, and that China illegally retaliated with sham “safeguard” tariffs.

“China’s decision to pursue this dispute highlights its hypocrisy by both suing the US in the WTO and at the same time unilaterally retaliating with tariffs,” said the Office of the US Trade Representative. “China’s use of the WTO dispute settlement system to challenge the US Section 232 national security actions has caused grave systemic damage to the WTO.”

Wu Xuelan, a TV commentator, says in a recent video that if Washington wants to improve Sino-US relations, it should cancel its additional tariffs imposed on China’s steel and aluminium products. But if the US imposes more sanctions on China after Raimondo’s visit, she says, Beijing may rethink whether Chinese leaders should attend the APEC Summit in San Francisco in November. 

Read: Raimondo could ease the tech war while in China

Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at @jeffpao3

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Fukushima: The fishy business of China’s outrage over Japan’s release

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A woman selling fish at a market in Shanghai, China on 24 AugustEPA
By Frances Mao
BBC News

Japan has called on China to remove a total ban on its seafood products, imposed after Tokyo began the scientifically-endorsed release of treated water from its Fukushima nuclear plant.

China, the leading buyer of Japan’s fish, announced on Thursday it was making the order due to concerns for consumers’ health.

However, the claim is not backed by science – with the consensus from experts being that the release poses no safety risks to ocean life or seafood consumption.

“The main reason is not really the safety concerns,” international trade law expert Henry Gao told the BBC. “It is mainly due to Japan’s moves against China,” he said, noting Japan’s closer alignment to the US and South Korea in recent years.

Following the waters’ release on Thursday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors at the site said their tests showed the discharge had even lower radiation levels than the limits Japan has set – 1,500 becquerels/litre – which is about seven times lower than the global drinking water standard.

And despite Japanese fishermen’s fears, analysts say the trade hit to Japan’s industry will be short-lived and less than expected.

The main market for Japan’s fish remains its domestic one.

Locals consume most of the catch, so top seafood companies Nissui and Maruha Nichiro have both said they expect limited impact from China’s ban. Both companies’ stock prices were slightly up at close of trade on the day of the ban’s announcement, Reuters reported.

Beyond China, no other country has even hinted at a total ban – South Korea still bans seafood imports from Fukushima and some surrounding prefectures.

Experts say even people who scoff down lots of seafood will be exposed to only extremely low doses of radiation – in the range of 0.0062 to 0.032 microSv per year, said Mark Foreman, an associate professor of nuclear chemistry in Sweden.

Humans can safely be exposed to tens of thousands of times more than that – or up to 1,000 microSv of radiation per year, Associate Prof Foreman said.

Price to pay is not so high

Japan’s government has admitted the local fishing industry will likely take a significant hit.

It had previously criticised Beijing for spreading “scientifically unfounded claims”, and on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida again beseeched Beijing to look at the research.

“We have requested the withdrawal (of China’s ban) through diplomatic channels,” Mr Kishida told reporters on Thursday night. “We strongly encourage discussion among experts based on scientific grounds.”

China and its territories Hong Kong and Macau – had already instated a partial ban on seafood from some Japanese areas- but authorities now expanded that net.

Mainland China and Hong Kong are Japan’s biggest international seafood buyers respectively, buying about $1.1bn (£866m) or 41% of Japan’s seafood exports.

Local media reported that following China’s ban, the head of a Japanese fisheries association called Japan’s Industry Minister, urging him to lobby Beijing to retract the ban.

But industry watchers are calm, knowing the usual vagaries of supply and demand in global trade.

Prof Gao said he expects some short-term disruption but “soon the exporters shall be able to shift to other markets so the long-term effect will be small.”

A cardboard sign with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is seen during a protest in Hong Kong on Friday after Japan released treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea

Reuters

And on the other side of the trade, restaurants in Chinese cities won’t be lacking in seafood delicacies. Japan supplies just 4% of the seafood China buys from abroad- Beijing buys much more from India, Ecuador and Russia, according to Chinese customs data cited by Reuters.

China’s ban on seafood will also barely scrape Japan’s overall economy.

Marine products make up less than 1% of Japan’s global trade, which is driven by car and machinery exports. Analysts say the impact of a seafood ban is negligible.

“The Fukushima water release is mostly of political and environmental significance,” Stefan Angrick, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, told Reuters.

“Economically, the ramifications of a potential ban on Japanese food shipments are minimal.”

Still, public perception around the industry’s damage and safety persists, not just in China, but South Korea where there have been crowds protesting.

In the months leading up to the water’s release, fishermen in South Korea reported a notable decline in the sale value of their catch – but prices remained stable the day after the release.

At home in Japan, polling also shows a divide. The government has made significant efforts to both reassure citizens and appease the industry. It has promised subsidies and an emergency buy-out if seafood sales dive.

On Friday, Osaka authorities proposed to serve Fukushima seafood at government buildings. Meanwhile, the company running the Fukushima plan, Tepco, said it would also provide compensation to local businesses if they suffered poor sales.

But locals are also hardy. Following China’s announcement on Thursday, many Japanese on Twitter even celebrated the ban – wryly suggesting it could mean cheaper fish at home.

“Good news amid inflation…. Even Hokkaido sea urchin will be super cheap,” one user tweeted.

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Hong Kong and China interest in AI and regtech ‘palpable’ despite soft fintech funding: report | FinanceAsia

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Fintech companies in Asia Pacific received $5.1 billion of funding in the first half of 2023, a further drop from $6.7 billion during the same period last year, a recent KPMG report has revealed.

The figure points to a “very soft” fintech funding landscape in the region, in contrast with $36.1 billion of funding in the Americas, and $11.2 billion in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the study showed.

In terms of number of fintech funding deals, 432 were completed in the Apac region, compared with 1,011 in the Americas, and 702 in EMEA.

“The global fintech market has seen challenges, with a decline in both funding and deals,” Barnaby Robson, deal advisory partner at KPMG China told FinanceAsia.

“Public companies have changed materially, with entire industries trading at fractions of previous valuations. But founder expectations have not moved as fast, meaning private valuations are adjusting slowly as companies seek new funding,” he explained.

The report, Pulse of Fintech H1’23, aggregated data from global venture capital (VC), private equity (PE) and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in 2023’s first half, and looked into various segments including payments, insurtech, regtech, cyber security, wealthtech and blockchain.

The largest fintech deal H1 2023 in the region was $1.5 billion raised by Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance, the consumer finance unit of China’s Ant Group, which faced Beijing’s pressure to restructure in compliance with regulatory limits.

“Fintech funding in China is very dry” outside of Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance’s deal, the report noted. Businesses and investors in China tend to prioritise post-pandemic recovery, waiting for outcomes from prior investments, it explained.

Other significant deals in Asia include $304 million raised by India-based Vistaar Finance, and $270 million raised by Kredivo Holdings in Singapore.

Rebound potential

Despite slowing deal activity and slashed valuation, the intrinsic value and potential of the fintech sector in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Asia in general, remained robust, Robson told FA.

Fintech firms in the area are increasingly looking at leveraging artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC), the report identified.

“In mainland China, the focus on AI in insurtech, creditech and wealthtech is evident. Hong Kong, with its global connectivity, needs to navigate the growing challenges of dealing two different AI regimes and mainland China data onshoring rules. The diverse financial landscape and low productivity in emerging Asia, offers a fertile ground for AI-driven fintech innovations,” Robson detailed.

“AI’s potential to revolutionise fintech segments is undeniable.”

Despite the US and Europe being leaders in regtech, or regulatory technology, interest from Hong Kong and China is palpable, according to Robson.

“With the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) recent announcements and Hong Kong’s agile regulatory framework, it’s clear that the region is gearing up for a more transparent and efficient financial ecosystem,” he said.

China’s central bank released a set of draft administrative measures on data security management last month for public consultation, signalling the watchdog’s enhanced emphasis on data processing securities amid geopolitical tensions.

Many financial institutions are embracing regtech to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of addressing compliance and regulatory requirements, Robson noted.

In his view, the confluence of AI advancements, regulatory shifts, and a growing middle class could very likely help catalyse fintech funding in Hong Kong, mainland China as well as the broader Asia region.

But that would be possible only after “a more complete reset in multiples to get to where valuations reflect fundamentals, and market clearing prices exist”.

He pointed to late 2024 or 2025 as a likely timing for such a rebound, citing fintech being properly valued on a realistic discounted cash flow (DCF) or free cash flow (FCF) basis as a contributing element.

“It’s a matter of when, not if,”

¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.

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Commentary: Does India’s disruption of the global rice market pose new threat to food security?

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BALANCING DOMESTIC NEEDS WITH EXPORTS

As chair of the 2023 G20, and with Indonesia’s successful 2022 G20 Summit still fresh in mind, India seeks to balance domestic needs with export reliability.

As the Indian shock to the world rice market unfolds, three countries are in the spotlight.

First, the question remains whether Indonesia will receive the full 1 million tonnes of rice it contracted from India. If it does, that will calm the whole world rice market.

Second, the status of the Philippines’ rice stocks is crucial. A number of experienced technocrats in the Philippine Cabinet have likely planned for this contingency.

Third, Vietnam’s export patterns warrant scrutiny. While its crop outlook seems good, there is always the danger that the Vietnamese government might restrict exports in response to domestic hoarding. Managing price expectations in Vietnam will be critical.

In a rice emergency, all eyes inevitably turn to China. Its rice production has suffered significantly from heat and floods. The exact level of rice stocks is a state secret but they are by far the largest in the world. Still, they are dispersed geographically, which somewhat limits central government access and control.

Food security in China is a high priority, and with both wheat and rice prices rising, it is hard to tell what the Chinese response will be. Any effort to pre-emptively procure more imports will spook the market.

In a real rice panic, Japan might play a similar role as in 2007. Then, the mere announcement by Japan’s prime minister that Japan would start negotiations with the Philippines to sell some of its surplus WTO rice was sufficient to prick the speculative bubble. This sent world rice prices sliding.

Japanese rice stocks are smaller now than in 2007, but even an offer of half a million tonnes to the neediest buyers in the region could calm any panic buying.

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Housing policy changes benefit singles who want to live near parents, but some say more can be done

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But analysts and housing agents do not foresee a disruption in the resale HDB market.

Mogul.sg chief research officer Nicholas Mak said that singles make up a small minority of buyers of resale HDB flats.

“Even if some singles switch from buying resale flats to applying for BTO flats, the numbers will be too small to adversely affect the HDB resale market,” he said.
 
Those that will continue to buy from the resale market include singles who want HDB flats that are larger than two-room flats, and those who cannot or choose not to wait for the BTO flats, which could take a few years to construct, Mr Mak noted.

PropNex CEO Ismail Gafoor welcomed the changes but said that policies could be further relaxed. 

“We believe, however, there may be scope to further relax the policy to allow singles to buy three-room BTO flats in any location, as some of them may find a partner and get married later in life, or may need more space given flexible work-from-home arrangements,” he said.

Mr Lee Sze Teck, Huttons’ senior director of data analytics said that in addition to not being offered larger flats, singles may be disappointed as the age limit of 35 years old was not lowered.

That’s the case for one single who is in a quandary because she does not meet the age to buy a flat.

Ms Jessica Wong, 34, said it was “commendable” that the government was making an effort to meet the housing needs of singles but it does not solve her urgent housing need due to her family situation.

“I am being chased out of my family home this year,” she said. “My dad is telling me I have to move out.”

Ms Wong, who works in the food & beverage industry, has to wait a year before she can apply for a new flat or buy one on the resale market, but said that condominiums are out of her reach. When she wrote to HDB asking to waive the age restriction, she was rejected.

HDB in its reply to her, dated Jul 28, said: “While we understand your desire to buy a flat on your own, we regret that we are unable to accede to the appeal. Meanwhile, you may consider staying with your friends or relatives, or renting a room/flat from the open market.”

She feels that these housing restrictions make her feel “less important” than married couples and less rooted to Singapore.

“If they had lowered the age restriction for resale, I could have started looking for an HDB and be on my home ownership journey much earlier,” she said.

“Now I’m delayed compared to married couples and I have to look at another 20 to 30 years to pay off my housing loan, which will affect my retirement plan as well.”

Dr Lee thinks that in the middle term, a larger supply of two-room flats or other forms of housing, such as co-living, may be needed as the number of singles is expected to grow.

“However, governmental agencies must strike a balance. On the one hand, they must address this burgeoning demand, and on the other, they face tangible supply limitations, primarily driven by land scarcity,” he said.

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Gas prices rise on fears of strikes in Australia

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LNG tankerGetty Images
By Ben King & Noor Nanji
Business reporters, BBC News

The prospect of a possible strike at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Australia has pushed wholesale gas prices up in Europe.

The Offshore Alliance union warned that a strike at the North West Shelf facility could start as early as 2 September if no deal on pay is reached.

Benchmark gas prices for the EU and UK rose around 10% on Monday, according to Bloomberg.

Prices soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but have since fallen.

There are fears that strike action at Woodside Energy Group’s North West Shelf facility could cause disruption to shipments of LNG from Australia, which is a key global supplier.

Workers at two other offshore LNG facilities, Gorgon and Wheatstone, owned by Chevron, are also voting on strike action, with results expected on Thursday.

Together the three plants make up about 10% of the world’s supply of LNG.

Ben McWilliams, an affiliate fellow at the think tank Bruegel, warned the strikes might impact the prices globally of LNG.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday programme earlier this month, Mr McWilliams said: “Australia typically supplies Asia, but if these strikes were to go ahead, and Australian gas were cut to Asian consumers, we would see Asian consumers turning around and looking, for example, to Qatar and competing with European buyers there.”

Mr McWilliams said that if that were to happen there would be a “knock-on effect on prices”.

Following the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia slashed supplies of natural gas to Europe, which led countries to seek out alternative sources of energy.

Many countries are relying on LNG to fill the gap.

Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of LNG. The others are Qatar and the US.

Last week, Cornwall Insight predicted that higher gas prices resulting from the Australian uncertainty would contribute to a significant rise in the Ofgem price cap in January.

It forecast a cap of £2,082.56 for a typical annual household bill for the first quarter of 2024, a rise from its £1,925.71 forecast for the fourth quarter of 2023.

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Tunnelling works completed for Phase 2 of Singapore’s sewage ‘superhighway’

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CHALLENGING PROCESS

PUB said that tunnelling work for Phase 2 of the project “was a challenging process” through highly built-up areas. 

“The tunnelling works had to be carried out by five different contractors, using pioneering construction methods and smart technologies for safe and smooth operations,” the agency said.

“This served to greatly reduce disruption to above-ground infrastructure and the public.”

Construction of Phase 2 also saw the implementation of new features that will allow authorities to ensure the integrity of deep tunnels and maintain them more easily.

“These include the use of concrete resistant to microbiological-influenced corrosion, isolation gates to allow for flow diversion, fibre optic cables for remote monitoring of a tunnel’s structural integrity and the use of air jumpers to control air flow within the tunnels,” PUB said.

The Tuas Water Reclamation Plant, a key component of Phase 2, is expected to be ready by 2026.

The plant will be located with the National Environment Agency’s Integrated Waste Management Facility to form Tuas Nexus, Singapore’s first integrated used water and solid waste treatment facility that will be fully energy self-sufficient, PUB said.

In a statement, PUB chief executive Goh Si Hou described the DTSS as a “game-changer” for “one of the most water-stressed countries in the world”.

“The Deep Tunnel Sewerage System is not only an engineering feat, but a key pillar in strengthening Singapore’s water resilience to meet the long-term challenges of climate change and growing water needs,” he said.

“This has been made possible through the bold vision and innovation of our pioneers, and decades of meticulous planning and hard work by our planners, engineers and contractors.

“We look forward to the upcoming completion of our water reclamation and NEWater plants, which will realise the full potential of the DTSS in the years to come.”

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Krayon Digital and Sayfer partner to enhance Web3 security | FinanceAsia

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Krayon Digital, a digital multi-party computation (MPC) wallet solutions provider to start-up and enterprise clients, recently announced its strategic partnership with Israeli blockchain security consulting company, Sayfer.

“The partnership between Krayon and Sayfer is the result of a shared ambition – to revolutionise the security landscape within digital asset management,” Hamilton Keats, CEO and co-founder of Krayon told FinanceAsia.

Typically, a cryptocurrency or digital asset wallet is paired with a single private key that authorises transactions. However, this means that if the private key is stolen or lost, it creates a single point of failure where all digital assets secured by the key are exposed to risk.

Krayon, on the other hand, provides digital wallet solutions based on MPC technology: a cryptographic protocol that enables multiple parties to contribute to a database and run computations on its basis in a secure manner, without disclosing their own input to others.

The implementation of MPC technology involves splitting private keys into pieces, or shards, that can be distributed among multiple trusted parties, such as different departments within an organisation or even different geographical locations, Keats explained.

Such deployment avoids a single party having full access to a whole private key, which greatly reduces the risk of unauthorised crypto asset access or theft.

The partnership with Sayfer will enable the development and implementation of “a comprehensive suite of [security] measures”, including end-to-end encryption, secure key generation, storage and recovery mechanisms, multi-factor authentication, and continuous security audits.

The collaboration roots from an initial all-round assessment on Krayon’s protocols, where both parties saw a lack of attention to private key management in the field, Keats told FA.

“We’ve seen so many people dealing with tens of millions of dollars [in digital wallets], but with no private key management or private key security involved,” he said.

“Our joint efforts will bring together Sayfer’s expertise in key management audits and Krayon’s cutting-edge MPC technology to deliver a secure and seamless experience for our clients,” Nir Duan, Sayfer’s CEO, commented in the release.

Blockchain and beyond

Discussing trends across the Web3 space, Keats pointed to asset tokenisation as the most exciting use of blockchain technology across Asia’s capital markets. “This revolutionary process will completely streamline global financial markets and enhance transparency.”

Although issues around security, regulatory compliance, and private key management remain some of the main challenges for the success of Web3, Keats is bullish on regulatory progress across the region.

He noted that key hubs, including Singapore and Hong Kong, are building friendly innovation framework to create regional sandboxes, and some financial institutions are seeking to tokenise their assets. These, Keats said, send promising signals of “a massive opportunity” for players building the digital asset space.

Looking ahead, Krayon aims to make MPC a more accessible and flexible solution available across the digital asset management world. The key to this lies in improving usability, which includes simplifying the complicated wallet set-up process, and offering flexibility in distribution adjustments, Keats told FA.

Embedding MPC wallet solutions into broader digital asset capabilities, such as a consumer-facing app built upon the same software development kit (SDK), is a long-term goal for the partnership.

As enterprises usually manage larger amount of asset than individual users, the ability to recover the losses, or to prevent insecurity in the first place, is crucial, Keats reiterated.

“Our ultimate goal is to offer individual clients the same level of services as we are able to offer start-ups and enterprises,” he concluded.

¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.

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Lucasfilm to shut Singapore operations due to ‘economic factors’ affecting industry

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SINGAPORE: Lucasfilm is winding down operations in Singapore after nearly 20 years in the country, with parent company Disney citing economic factors affecting the industry. Lucasfilm’s visual effects and animation studio, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), has been operating in Singapore since 2006. The studio was founded as Lucasfilm Animation Singapore in 2004 toContinue Reading