Money Talks Podcast: ‘Radical ideas’ needed to revitalise the Singapore stock market

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Here’s an extract from the talk: &nbsp,

Andrea Heng:
When it comes to what is listed on the SGX, the financial organizations are highly favored by Taiwanese investors. Some analysts now claim that the SGX lacks variety, making it safer than other markets. This seems to be a little contradictory. If it’s secure and safe, how does the lack of diversity actually hamper us more than make us happy? &nbsp,

Yang Eu Jin: &nbsp,
We’re certainly a very different business. Surely in terms of the value of the stocks, we have around 600 over listed firms. Of course, they come from a variety of businesses, but many of them are pretty small. In the financial industry, the big boys are therefore three. Yes, we are a healthy industry, and we are a steady business. ( If you ) compare us to virtually any other market out there, we are a lot more stable. &nbsp,
 
Andrea:
But are we boring? &nbsp,

Eu Jin: &nbsp,
Sure we are, but that’s not a terrible thing. There is an investment firm whose motto is” Be boring, make money”. &nbsp,

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Nepal surveys flood wreckage as death toll reaches 209

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Nepal’s military said more than 4, 000 individuals had been rescued, with helicopters, sailboats and kayaks bringing stranded individuals to health. Many of those affected by the floods needed safe drinking water and transitory housing, according to Nilkantha Pandey of the charitable organization Matter Nepal. ” Generally casual communities haveContinue Reading

China wakes, US builds, woke wanes and tariffs tally – Asia Times

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Your weekly, almost weekly Noahpinion collection of intriguing news from around the world is now in order.

1. China accepts the fact of the economic system.

I made the argument two weeks ago that China is experiencing a lack of global demand, and that the answer would be to have the central authorities A) loan out banks and local government funding entities, and B) apply fiscal and monetary stimulus. Maybe Xi Jinping reads my site. China is implementing some more significant signal steps:

In a unique staged media briefing broadcast live around the world on Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China led the charge to rekindle mood, opening its stock market and lowering borrowing costs. The next day it kept the good news flowing by&nbsp, lowering&nbsp, the interest rate on its one-year money to lenders by the most on history, while the government issued exceptional cash pamphlets and floated new incentives for some homeless graduates…

The 24-man Politburo under the leadership of Xi made a second-quarter-of-a-kind promise on Thursday, adding more growth-boosting goodies, vowing to increase governmental spending, and making its first “declining” pledge to prevent property prices. The wave of policy announcements even revealed a new emphasis on boosting use, saying it was “necessary to listen to the concerns of the people.”…

Foreign companies soon soared. Xi’s state appears to be attempting to bail out the Chinese banking system, which is even more encouraging ( at least if you want China to keep growing ):

China’s largest state lenders may receive up to 1 trillion yuan ( US$ 142 billion ) of money to strengthen their capacity to support the country’s struggling economy. Such a move would be the first moment since the global financial crisis in 2008 that Beijing has injected money into its large businesses.

Injecting money refers to “giving businesses money,” for those who are unfamiliar. It implies a loan.

This is probably even more important than trigger, since getting banks lending once is the key to a sustained recovery. Foreign supporters have long held that the state and banks are one and the same because of the “unitary position” principle, which is applied to the “unitary state” concept.

That concept is probably incorrect. Foreign banks have their own subsidies, and fear getting culled by the state if they fail. Giving them a cushion against loss by injecting them with money helps them gain the confidence to give again.

The last step in this process would be to rescue China’s regional government financing systems, which have grown to be very significant in China’s regional economies. But only bailing out the banks and doing some significant fiscal and monetary stimulus may have a huge impact in terms of shortening and ameliorating China’s recession.

2. The “build something country”

US economic policy has been shifting toward industrial policy. A number of commentators who are opposed to this change have been quick to dismiss the entire endeavor as a result of seeing any signs of trouble. For instance, Matt Cole and Chris Nicholson wrote an op-ed in The Hill in March of this year that was so explosively titled” DE I killed the CHIPS Act.”

Their single piece of evidence for this bold thesis was that TSMC’s fab in Arizona was projected to have significant delays due to a dispute with local construction unions.

In fact, the labor dispute it referenced had already been resolved even before that disparaging op-ed was published. And just one month after the op-ed was published, TSMC was given the official receipt of its CHIPS Act funding and suddenly declared that its Arizona project was on schedule.

Now, less than six months later, &nbsp, Tim Culpan reports&nbsp, that TSMC’s Arizona plant has started making some chips for Apple. They’re producing a fairly advanced chip, and they’re reportedly producing good yields:

The A16 SoC from Apple, which debuted in the&nbsp, iPhone 14 Pro, was first introduced two years ago in the&nbsp, iPhone 14 Pro, and is currently being produced in small, but significant quantities at TSMC’s Fab 21 in Arizona. This puts the Arizona project on track to reach its&nbsp, production target in the first half of 2025.

This is a BFD. The US government’s$ 39 billion CHIPS for America Fund is the star project under the CHIPS Act. The fact that they chose the most advanced chip in terms of both volume and technology shows that Apple and TSMC want to start big…

Currently, TSMC produces yields in Arizona that are, in essence, neck and neck, slightly below what is enjoyed in Taiwan back home. Most important, though, is that improvements are moving so rapidly that true yield parity between Taiwan and Arizona is expected to be reached in coming months.

Everyone has egg on their face now that everyone leaped at the chance to call the CHIPS Act a failure after the initial delay report.

In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s other significant piece of industrial policy legislation, appears to be giving US solar manufacturing a significant boost. Solar manufacturers are &nbsp, ramping up production, and the US is getting the ability to build the pieces of the solar supply chain that it had previously outsourced entirely to China and other countries:

Source: Jesse Peltan &nbsp

Although this is still insignificant in comparison to what China can produce, it means that if a war breaks out, the US will not be able to use solar power.

Note that both the successes in chips and solar are cases where the private sector made most of the investment itself, and the US government simply&nbsp, prompted&nbsp, that investment with subsidies.

This contrasts starkly with the US government’s promise to build things itself, and which was stymied by its lack of state funding and its own byzantine permitting process.

A big lesson to be learned from this is that Matt Yglesias is correct, and that the US government has willfully squandered a lot of its state funding since the 1970s. Therefore, the most effective industrial policy, at least right now, is for government to act as the spur for the private sector to invest its own money.

The even more important lesson is that knee-jerk critics of industrial policy need to be a little more prudent and circumspective, or else they’ll keep coming off as silly when industrial policy succeeds. We need intelligent, thoughtful critics who can identify the problems, challenges, and drawbacks that are bound to be found in industrial policy. People who simply pounce on any whiff of difficulty are unhelpful.

3. Justifications for tariffs

The US government is becoming more hostile to Chinese imports all the time. The “de minimis” exemption, which allows Chinese companies like Temu and Shein to send Americans small, inexpensive packages without paying tariffs, has recently been made public by Biden. Additionally, Biden’s administration is putting a ban on Chinese components in any cars that are connected to the internet to prevent potential sabotage, considering an outright ban.

Meanwhile, Trump is going around promising tariffs, tariffs, and&nbsp, more tariffs&nbsp, as the solution to a variety of economic ills ( or just because&nbsp, he really likes tariffs ). Some people are talking about it, but this is not the election’s most important policy issue.

For instance, Kim Clausing, an economist, contends that the US should cut down on tax havens by reducing the incentive for offshoring in favor of tariffs. But I think that while this is a laudable move, it would n’t really do much vis-a-vis China, because China is not a tax haven. The reason Democrats have been favoring tariffs on China, which is&nbsp, national security, is really missing from Clausing’s proposal.

Meanwhile, Oren Cass has a post at the Atlantic in which he makes a general case for tariffs as a useful policy tool. Some excerpts:

[Economists ‘] first error is to only take into account the costs of tariffs, and not the benefits… [ D] omestic production has value beyond what market prices reflect… [ D] tarifs [d ] omestic production has value… to the extent that they combat those harms, they accordingly bring collective benefits…

Manufacturing does matter, as the effects of globalization have shown. It matters for national security, ensuring both the&nbsp, resilience of supply chains&nbsp, and the&nbsp, capacity of the defense-industrial base. It also has a significant impact on growth…

Manufacturing is the engine of innovation. As the McKinsey Global Institute has &nbsp, noted, the manufacturing sector plays an outsize role in private research spending. Complete supply chains and engineering expertise are followed when offshore manufacturing heads. Firms and workers positioned near the factory floor and close to competitors, suppliers, and customers benefit from the tight feedback loop between design and production, which is necessary for improvements in both.

Cass also argues that the harms from tariffs will be limited when foreign companies circumvent the tariffs by building their products in the US. Additionally, he makes note that tariffs do generate more tax revenue.

You’ll hear me saying similar things when I defend industrial policy because all of these arguments are reasonable. But there are two questions here that Cass does n’t really address.

First of all, I believe Cass has largely identified real externalities, but that does n’t imply that tariffs are the most efficient policy tool for addressing those externalities. &nbsp,

Tariffs ‘ effects are limited&nbsp, by exchange rate adjustment — when you put tariffs on China, the yuan gets cheaper, partially negating the effect of the tariff. Additionally, tariffs on intermediate goods actually exacerbate many of the externalities Cass discusses by preventing domestic manufacturers from receiving affordable inputs for their production processes. For national security reasons, it might be a cost that is worthwhile to pay, but it is a real cost.

And second, Cass ‘&nbsp, general&nbsp, defense of tariffs ignores many of the real, specifc features of Trump’s tariff proposals. Trump would impose tariffs on US allies rather than strengthen national security because it would stifle competition on both sides and prevent them from achieving economies of scale. Additionally, it would strain both sides ‘ defense-industrial bases.

So on both sides of the tariff debate, I still see too much debate about ideal policies, and not enough engagement with the specific policies being enacted or proposed. That said, I think the debate has significantly improved since it was a few years ago, which is good. I always want to see more of Clausing and Cass ‘ arguments made in a reasonable way rather than yell at ideological positions.

4. The onset of fatigue

The inert coagulum of a once highly reactive sap is the conservatism of a religion — its orthodoxy. — Eric Hoffer

Let’s talk about wokeness as long as we’re on the subject of identity politics from the year 2010. I wrote a number of posts about this sociocultural phenomenon back in 2021 and this one is the one I summarized here.

My basic thesis is that wokeness is a Protestant-derived American belief system and social phenomenon that has been around since before the founding of the United States, and that it periodically resurfaces for a while when technological and economic changes allow.

And my fundamental prediction is that after the efflorescence of the 2010s, wokeness will fade into a waxy orthodoxy, ruling a shrinking number of university administrations, school boards, and online communities, before reappearing on the scene many decades from now.

Musa al-Gharbi wrote a great post last year that pulled together various data sources to show that the” Great Awakening” of the 2010s is waning. Now The Economist has &nbsp, a similar post, with different data sources. Several examples are provided:

[ D] discussion and support for woke views reached their peak in America in the early 2020s and have since declined significantly… Almost everywhere we looked, a similar trend emerged: wokeness increased sharply in 2015 as Donald Trump entered the political fray, increased in the aftermath of# MeToo and Black Lives Matter, reached its highest point in 2021-22, and has since decreased…

In the most recent Gallup data, from earlier this year, 35 % of people said they worried” a great deal” about race relations, down from a peak of 48 % in 2021 but up from 17 % in 2014…In]General Social Survey ] data the view that discrimination is the main reason for differences in outcomes between races peaked in 2021 and fell…in 2022. Young people and those on the left have experienced some of the biggest rises and subsequent declines in woke thinking…

The share of Americans who view sexism as a serious issue or a moderately serious issue reached a record high of 70 % in 2018….

Pew finds that the share of people who believe someone can be a different sex from the one of their birth has fallen steadily since 2017, when it first asked the question. According to YouGov, the proportion of trans people who play for sports teams that match their chosen gender rather than their biological sex has increased from 53 % in 2022 to 61 % in 2024.

The use of the term” white privilege” in television reached its highest level in 2021, appearing roughly 2.5 times for every million words in the New York Times and The Times in 2020…

Mentions of DEI in earnings calls shot up almost five-fold between the first and third quarters of 2020…They peaked in the second quarter of 2021…They have since begun to drop sharply again…The number of people employed in DEI has fallen in the past few years.

This corresponds to my 2021 forecasts. And if I’m correct, this pattern will continue over the coming years, even as conservatives continue to find and highlight instances of wokeness in mainstream culture, including academia, and other progressive areas. Wokeness is an orthodoxy now, and orthodoxies are n’t fun and cool anymore.

However, wokeness is not particularly optimized for being a conservative set of rules and traditions, but rather for being a charismatic activist movement. So I anticipate that its decline will be quick, up until, of course, it resurrects. But that will be when you and I are very old or dead.

5. Unions versus automation

It’s very hard to be a pro-union pundit when&nbsp, unions make demands like this one:

About 45, 000 dockworkers along the US East and Gulf Coasts are threatening to strike on October 1st, a move that would shut down ports that handle about half the nation’s cargo from ships…

The International Longshoremen’s Union wants to see a total ban on automation of cranes, gates, and container movements used in 36 US ports…

A prolonged strike would almost certainly hurt the US economy. The union members anticipate going on their biggest fight against the automation of job functions at ports, according to Union President [ Union President ] Daggett.

We do n’t think robotics should supplant humans, he said. ” Especially a human being that’s historically performed that job”.…

According to experts, it’s unclear whether automation will cause layoffs in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, according to a study conducted by the Economic Roundtable of Los Angeles in 2022 that was funded by the West Coast dockworkers union…

However, another study conducted by a professor at the University of California, Berkeley that year, which was commissioned by port operators and shippers, found that paid hours for port union members increased by 11.2 % between 2015 and 2021, the same year.

At the huge Port of Rotterdam, one of the world’s most automated ports, union workers pushed for early-retirement packages and work-time reductions as a means to preserve jobs. And ultimately, a researcher from Erasmus University in the Netherlands discovered that mechanization did n’t lead to significant job losses.

In terms of automation, US ports outperform their counterparts in Asia and Europe. Analysts note that most US ports take longer to unload container ships than do those in Asia and Europe and suggest that without more automation, they could become even less competitive.

The prohibition of automation is only a means of destroying the goose that produces the golden eggs, ultimately causing harm to dockworkers. It also imposes a tax on the entire US economy. If you did n’t like the inflation of 2021, you should want more efficient, high-capacity automated ports. Instead of resuming self-defeating luddism, the US should emulate Rotterdam.

This shortened and reorganized article was originally published on Noah Smith’s Noahpinion&nbsp, Substack, and is now republished with kind permission. Read the original here &nbsp, and become a Noahopinion&nbsp, subscriber&nbsp, here.

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China’s lithography gains a glass half full, not half empty – Asia Times

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As Beijing tries to become more self-sufficient in high-end chip-making products, China’s most just disclosed progress in semiconductor printing technology has received widespread suspicion. However, it makes more sense to observe China’s progress than to let competitors be complacent about how much it has to go in the critical tech field.

On semiconductor production lines, printing equipment is used to move circuit styles from the photomask (template ) to the chip. China has overcome this technical obstacle in order to establish a self-sufficient semiconductor manufacturing sector that is immune to US-led restrictions.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ( MIIT ) announced earlier this month that it wanted Chinese chip makers to put two domestically produced lithography systems on a list of equipment.

One is a krypton fluoride ( KrF ) scanner capable of producing integrated circuits ( ICs ) with 130 nanometer ( nm ) design rules. A 65nm argon fluoride ( ArF ) scanner can produce chips in addition to the other. Details on throughput, alignment accuracy and the name of the manufacturer ( s ) were not provided.

65nm is a long way from the 28nm that China has recently targeted, and it is even further away from the 5nm it has allegedly reached using imported printing technology.

KrF and ArF refer to excimer laser light solutions with frequencies of 248nm and 193nm, both. KrF and ArF scanners are the two deep ultra-violet ( DUV) lithography systems that preceded the leading-edge extreme ultra-violet ( EUV) systems monopolized by ASML of the Netherlands. The frequency of EUV light is 13 nm.

Chinese semiconductor printing methods appear to be able to compete with older models from ASML, Nikon, and Canon. In ascending order of modern style, Canon, Nikon and ASML make most of the world’s Circuit printing techniques, with ASML extensively in the global market share result.

Canon supplies i-line and KrF printing systems to makers of less-advanced reasoning and storage chips, devices used in communications technology, power semiconductors used in electric vehicles and different applications, and Circuit presentation. The term i-line refers to a previous-generation technology that uses 365nm ultraviolet ( UV) light from mercury vapor lamps.

In the 1970s and 1990s, Canon released its first silicon printing system in Japan, and it quickly established itself in the markets for the i-line and KrF systems. Nonetheless, it never attempted EUV and failed to move to ArF at the turn of the century. Canon is currently developing a completely new systems called nanoimprint printing, which has not yet been made available for mass production.

The Japanese Ministry of International Trade in Industry ( MITI ) established the VLSI Technology Research Association (VLSI Labs ) in 1976 to create technology that could compete with the US semiconductor equipment market. Nikon was given the task of creating a system that could reduce the size of Circuit designs by ten.

Nikon, which like its colleague camera-maker Canon could render high-quality lenses but which also had detailed high-speed level positioning technology, produced a device that, in Nikon’s words, “was precise enough to reach a tennis ball with an arrow on the top of Mt Fuji all the way from Tokyo”.

The device was a step-and-repeat IC lithography system – a” stepper”, which stepped across the wafer one chip at a time, enabling higher resolution than the mask aligners they replaced.

Aligners, which use a mask that covers the entire surface of the wafer, were faster than the first steppers, but they were unable to keep up with Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years.

Nikon delivered a prototype in 1978 and shipped its first stepper for commercial use in 1980, a machine with one micrometer ( one micron, or 1, 000nm ) resolution and highly accurate alignment. In 1982, the first shipment to the US was made. By the end of the 1980s, mask aligners and the American companies that made them, Perkin-Elmer and GCA, had been largely displaced by Japanese steppers.

In the 1990s, steppers were replaced by step-and-scan systems– scanners, which expose only part of the mask as they move. A smaller lens was created as a result, which reduced both aberrations and cost while boosting resolution.

The history of Nikon’s product introduction shows the rate of progress:

1984: first i-line stepper ( 800nm resolution )

1988: first KrF stepper ( 500nm )

1994: i-line stepper ( 350nm )

1998: KrF scanner ( 180nm )

1999: first ArF scanner ( 180nm, reduced to 110nm the same year )

2004: ArF scanner ( 65nm )

The more developed of the two lithography systems announced by China’s MIIT this month appears to be comparable to those made by Nikon 20 years ago.

An ArF immersion scanner was created by Nikon in 2005 for mass production at 55 nm, with the first unit arriving in January 2006. In immersion lithography, the gap between the lens and the wafer is filled with water, which has a higher refractive index than air ( i .e., higher than 1.0), allowing for the creation of smaller features on the wafer. This method was also employed in the creation of 45 nm devices.

The most recent Nikon ArF immersion scanner’s resolution was 38 nm, which is as low as it goes according to the published specs. By 2012, that is down to. This machine had the ability to generate double-patterned ICs at 22 nm.

By 2024, Nikon was talking about meeting 5nm requirements with multiple patterning. Lam Research, a US manufacturer of semiconductor etching equipment, explains multiple patterning as follows:

” For decades, one of the major trends in electronics has been miniaturization, which has helped pack in more functionality, extend battery life, and lower production costs per chip. Up until recently, the semiconductor industry was able to scale lithography capabilities to shrink integrated circuit ( IC ) feature dimensions in response to consumer demands for smaller, more powerful products.

Although this method has been successfully employed for many years, modern, more advanced chip designs have smaller and denser features that necessitate going beyond the conventional lithography wavelength’s. Advanced patterning techniques are used to overlay multiple patterns of larger dimensions on these chips to achieve smaller and/or more tightly packed features. The most fundamental pattern pattern used is double patterning, which increases feature density by twofold.

Multiple patterning explains how Chinese semiconductor manufacturers can use ArF immersion systems purchased from Nikon or, more likely, ASML to create chips at the 7nm or even the 5nm process node, for example, the processors for the newest Huawei smartphones. The effective limiting for DUV lithography for commercial use is 5 nm.

ASML was founded in 1984. It played catch-up for 20 years, but in 2003 it released the first TWINSCAN ArF immersion scanner, a dual-stage system that exposed one wafer while the next wafer was being measured and aligned to achieve higher throughput and accuracy.

In terms of the value of systems sold, ASML overtook Canon and Nikon and then took an unsurmountable lead, with its market share for IC lithography increasing from less than 30 % in 2001 to more than 80 % in 2023.

In 2010, ASML shipped the first EUV scanner. By 2016, it was shipping batches of high-volume production machines. EUV lithography currently permits mass production at 3 nm, with the anticipated arrival of 2 nm soon and 1 nm by the tenth century.

ASML’s market dominance of the IC lithography market’s high end is apparent in its most recent sales figures: In the three months to June 2024, ASML sold eight EUV, 32 ArF immersion, 11 ArF dry, 33 KrF and 16 i-line lithography systems.

Nikon, which sold only four i-line systems in the three months to June due to the timing of deliveries, expects to sell five ArF immersion, six ArF dry, two KrF and 22 i-line systems in the year to March 2025– i. e., fewer ArF and KrF machines in a year than ASML shipped last quarter.

In the three months to June, Canon sold 10 KrF and 50 i-line systems, and it anticipates selling 54 KrF and 190 i-line systems in the year to December. In mature technologies, Canon is a high-quality, high-volume competitor for the Chinese, a challenging benchmark that is not subject to sanctions.

SMEE ( Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Co) is China’s leading producer of IC lithography equipment. Founded in 2002, SMEE has developed lithography systems for front-end IC manufacturing and back-end IC packaging, power semiconductors, LEDs ( light-emitting diodes ), MEMS ( micro electro-mechanical systems ) and FPDs ( flat panel displays ).

FPD lithography equipment is primarily produced by Nikon and Canon, which are the main manufacturers of which ASML does n’t produce and which are not regulated by the US.

SMEE makes ArF scanners capable of producing ICs with 280nm, 110nm, 90nm and now, probably, 65nm design rules – which means that SMEE is probably the manufacturer of the lithography systems currently being promoted by China’s MIIT.

Since at least 2020, SMEE has been working on immersion lithography. However, it is premature to say whether a system that can produce ICs at the 28nm process node is either nearing completion or has been successfully developed.

In April of this year, reports indicated that another Chinese company, Naura Technology, had launched a lithography R&amp, D project using a technology called self-aligning quadruple patterning, but this has not been confirmed. According to DigiTimes, Nikon is” closely monitoring Naura, which produces etching and deposition equipment capable of 28nm production.

It’s possible that Naura is also developing the technology, but SMEE has probably found 28nm-capable lithography systems to be very challenging to produce. There is no way they would be able to accomplish it, and smaller resolutions almost certainly will follow. SMEE is reportedly working on EUV.

Now that the US has pressured the Netherlands to stop providing services to Chinese customers, the Chinese are feeling more urgent.

Although how successful this new sanction will be, how effective it will be will remain to be seen, it gives the Chinese an additional incentive to make more efforts to replace imported equipment.

Follow this writer on&nbsp, X: @ScottFo83517667

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Gujarat: Indian diamond industry struggles to stave off war and slowdown impact

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Rupesh Sonavane Parents of diamond polishing worker Nikunj Tank say he took his life as the downturn in the industry left him joblessRupesh Sonavane

Since losing his job in May, Nikunj Tank, a contractor in Surat, northern India’s capital of stone cleaning, had been in desperate need.

He and dozens of others were left without jobs after the system he had been working for seven years shut down.

Tank was the family’s single breadwinner- he was supporting his relatives, wife and daughter and had no benefits.

‘ ‘ He was n’t find a job and unable to bear the loss, he took the extraordinary step,” said his retired parents Jayanti Tank.

Tank died by suicide in August.

The last few decades have been strong for India’s recession-hit gemstone industry. Surat, in Gujarat position, processes 90 % of the world’s diamonds in over 5, 000 models and employs more than 800, 000 polishers. With a turnover of more than$ 100 million ( £75 million ), the city has 15 large polishing companies.

India’s exports of cut and polished stones fell from$ 23bn in 2022 to$ 16bn in 2023 and are expected to drop further to$ 12bn in 2024.

The price of polished diamonds dipped by 5 %, s to 27 % in 2023, due to lower demand and oversupply, say analysts. According to Mahesh Virani of Star Gems, oversupply occurred because polishing models continued to produce despite a lack of desire to keep operations running, eventually leading to an increase in losses.

The country’s Diamond Workers ‘ Union, a party representing polishers, told BBC Gujarati that more than 30, 000 have lost their jobs in the past six months only due to the downturn.

The union says that as per their data collected from victims’ families, police records and news reports, 65 workers have died by suicide in the state over one-and-a-half years due to this slowdown. The BBC could not independently verify this figure.

Authorities say the Covid-19 shutdown, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza war, and falling need in essential markets have severely impacted India’s gemstone industry.

” The enterprise of polished diamonds has gone down by more than 25-30 % due to global crisis,” said Vallabh Lakhani, president of Kiran Gems, a leading company.

India imports 30 % of its rough diamond from Russian mining, which are currently facing Western sanctions as a result of the war, cuts and polishes them, and sells them primarily in European markets.

In March, the European Union and G7 countries imposed a fresh ban on the import of Russian unpolished diamonds, including those processed in India and sold in the West via third countries.

Getty Images This photograph taken on February 7, 2024 shows diamond traders gathered at the main market in SuratGetty Images

After the fresh ban, India publicly raised concerns, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stating in April that such measures hurt those lower in the supply chain more than Russia, as producers usually find alternative routes.

Traders in Looking sound that.

India is located at the bottom of the stone industry’s price chain. Exporter Kirti Shah remarked that the nation is very dependant on the worldwide market for both fresh materials and final products.

Also, an economic decline in G7 countries and the UAE and Belgium- India’s key trade destinations– has impacted company.

The decline is also attributed to a rise in demand for lab-grown pearls, a cheaper option to normal pearls, and to the conflict in Gaza, as the gems form a huge part of India’s deal with Israel.

” The diamond market in Surat is passing through a bad step,” said Kumar Kanani, a senator from the country’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP). He claimed that the police were looking into the murder cases attributed to work loss.

” The state is ready to offer all possible support to polishers, merchants and traders, “he said.

But the households of at least nine employees, who just took their lives, said they had received little support from the state.

The majority of cuts have taken place in small and medium-sized businesses, which usually employ employees to polish and shape rough diamonds and perform quality checks on them.

But bigger players are impacted too. Last month, Kiran Gems asked its 50,000 employees to go on a 10-day vacation, citing the slowdown as a reason.

In July, the Diamond Workers’ Union started a helpline which received over 1,600 distress calls from polishers seeking jobs or financial help.

Getty Images Women employees work on diamond polishing machines at a factory in Surat. Getty Images

But there have been others who could n’t get help in time.

Vaishali Patel, 38, lost her husband Nitin two years ago. Due to a lack of business, the cleaning company he worked for had dismissed the majority of its workers.

Agents and traders are also in the spotlight.

We have been lying empty for weeks. There is hardly any sales or order,” said Dilip Sojitra, one of the 5, 000 agents in Surat who sell diamonds to consumers, investors and various brokers.

Lab-grown diamonds, once in high demand, have also seen prices drop from$ 300 to$ 78 per carat due to overproduction, impacting the market. Nandlal Nakrani, president of the Surat Diamond Brokers Association, predicts that the condition will improve once harsh and polished diamond prices are lower.

Despite the decline, some hope the market will restore, as it did after the 2008 Great Recession, which shut lots of polishing products and left thousands homeless.

Mr Sojitra says he believes the upcoming festival season, including Diwali, Christmas, and New Year, will help boost business momentum.

” This too shall pass, “he says.

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EU-China in last gasp bid to avoid EV-driven trade war – Asia Times

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China has suggested setting minimum prices for electric vehicles ( EVs ) China ships to the European Union in a negotiated move to stop the bloc’s plans to impose tariffs of 17 to 35.3 % on Chinese EVs.

The European Commission had planned to voting on the tariff proposals on September 25, but it was postponed without cause. The voting will take place within the year beginning September 30 according to Nikkei.

Wang Wentao, the Foreign minister of commerce, and Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s executive vice president and business commissioner, met in Brussels on September 19 to discuss the vote’s delay.

In a blog on X on September 19, Dombrovskis stated that” Both sides agreed to intensify efforts to find an efficient, legal, and WTO-compatible alternative to the power EV situation.” ” This without prejudice to the EU investigation and its deadlines” .&nbsp,

In a media briefing on Thursday ( September 26 ), He Yongqian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, stated that both China and the EU have unmistakably indicated political willingness to resolve disputes through consultations.

The two sides agreed to continue discussions over a “price responsibility deal” and totally commit to achieving a mutually satisfactory solution through friendly speech and sessions during the Wang-Dombrovskis deals, she said. &nbsp,

” Now, technical teams from both sides are positively discussing a flexible rate determination option, following the direction set during the deals”, she said. Before the final decision, they are attempting to reach a compromise on a remedy model.

She emphasized that while China is totally committed to protecting the interests of Chinese firms, it has the “utmost sincerity” to resolve disputes effectively through speech and consultations.

Some Chinese experts believe that some EU members who want to avoid a full-fledged trade war with China are interested in China’s request of a “price dedication agreement” and that its proposal is a good one. Nevertheless, they said, the present may not be enough to alter the EU’s tax choice. &nbsp,

Zheng Chunrong, director of the Center for German Research at the School of Foreign Studies Tongji University, told Beijing Daily in an interview that Spain has stated that China and the EU should never engage in a trade conflict while Germany’s position has also become more explicit. &nbsp,

” But, for an opposition message has never reached a level that may prevent the taxes”, he said. ” It’s great that the EU keeps its talks with China. But it’s hard to tell how things may develop”.

At least 15 nations, representing 65 % of the EU’s population, must support the proposed EV tariffs, according to qualified majority voting in the EU. If implemented, the taxes will last for at least five years.

12 out of 27 EU members voted in favor of the EC’s decision to impose temporary tariffs on Chinese EVs in a non-binding voting held in July. They included France, Spain and Italy. Four nations cast ballots opposed to it. The remaining 11 people, including Germany, abstained. &nbsp,

Cui Fan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics ‘ School of International Trade and Economics, said,” It is very difficult to find enough Western countries to reject the EC’s anti-subsidy sensor effects.”

Cui claimed that they only make up 61.4 % of the Union population and can oppose the tariffs, perhaps if Spain, Italy, and all 11 of the 11 waiting nations joined hands. &nbsp,

Chinese EV manufacturers separately made a proposal to the EU in August to establish least minimum sales and sales quotas to stop the bloc’s EV markets from exploding. But, the EU rejected all these presents.

Our investigation focused on whether these offers may end the harm caused by the subsidies that were found in our investigations and whether these cost commitments could be properly monitored and enforced, according to a EC spokesperson on September 12. ” The Commission has concluded that none of the offers met these requirements” .&nbsp,

After this news, Wang traveled to Europe to make one final push to entrance the EC against the taxes. It’s also unclear, yet, whether his work will work to change Union minds. &nbsp, &nbsp,

One Hubei-based journalist opined that would be absurd for the EU to accept China’s “price dedication” proposal. &nbsp,

He said BYD has already priced its flagship Tang SUV at 72, 000 euros ( 563, 000 yuan ) in Europe for 2025 while the same model was priced at about 200, 000 yuan in China. &nbsp,

He claimed that in order to compete with Western EV manufacturers, the Tang design might need to be priced at 800,000 yuan in the EU. He claimed that requiring Chinese automakers to increase product prices would only harm Union customers ‘ interests. &nbsp,

Hostile trade actions are already in the works. China’s MoC launched anti-dumping investigations into exports of cheese from the EU in August and meat in June.

Last year, China imported 2.6 billion euros ( US$ 2.9 billion ) worth of pork products and 1.76 billion euros of dairy products from the EU. At the same time, China exported 438, 034 power EVs for 9.7 billion dollars to the Union over the same time. &nbsp,

Chinese EV manufacturers may pay more in total value than the EU’s producers of pork and dairy products, but they might be able to more easily withstand the pain given their higher profits. &nbsp,

Read: China targets EU meat in tit-for-tat business spit

Following Jeff Pao on X: &nbsp, @jeffpao3

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IN FOCUS: Will restrictions on student visas take the shine off studying abroad?

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ARE Residents UNFAIRLY Accused?

Singapore students usually live in a small, isolated group abroad. The 5, 986 Singaporean pupils who enrolled to Australia in the first five months of this year, for instance, yellow in comparison to the more than 153, 000 and more than 118, 000 individuals from China and India, respectively. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Academicians believe that Singaporeans may have an advantage over their classmates largely due to their citizenship, despite the small amounts. &nbsp,

” Singapore, by and large, has a very good worldwide popularity in terms of the do of individuals and the specialists”, noted Dr Leong.

When tenants are aware that a Singaporean is looking for a place to stay on their property, they are more likely to let them in than people from other nations who have had a negative experience renting out.”

In that factor, the red card does sell” some benefit”, he noted. &nbsp,

Dr. Leong acknowledged that the same does occur, and that Chinese Singaporeans are occasionally confused with Taiwanese citizens. &nbsp,

Prof. Gomes assumed that a portion of the cover would be determined by the person’s ability to truly qualify for the school they are applying to, or in other terms, how good their grades are. In her knowledge, Singapore individuals have impressed with their powerful language skills.
 
Dr. Chan of theRightU mentioned that universities may decide the composition of foreign students based on nationality, but that Dr. Chan of the RightU has heard that universities perhaps organize recruitment activities in ways that reflect that. &nbsp,

Institutions may make the wiser choice to focus on their scholarships or to orient their actions or budgets to the marketplaces they want to woo. &nbsp,

ANU stated to CNA that it was still researching the effects of the cap on its finances and how the changes may be implemented starting next year. Every year, the school enrolls between 100 and 200 students from Singapore. &nbsp,

Malaysian students have chosen Alice as their preferred college for many years, and we are continuing to support this collaboration,” a representative said. &nbsp,

Asked about its strategies to woo Singapore individuals especially in the face of the continuous confusion, the school pointed to its ANU Chancellor’s International Scholarship, applicable to Singapore students. &nbsp,

In July, it held its most recent global data time in Singapore, which attracted almost 300 licenses from potential students and their parents.

” We are aware that determining the best review location is essential. We want to guarantee our potential students that ANU did certainly decline any offers made to foreign students for 2025.

More than 4, 000 higher education enrolments were made by Singaporeans at its universities in 2023, according to the Group of Eight ( GO8 ), a body representing eight of Australia’s top research-intensive universities, including ANU and UNSW Sydney. 70 % of Singapore’s complete higher education enrolments are made up of this percentage. &nbsp,
 
These individuals have largely studied in the fields of heath, society and culture, management and business, and natural and physical science at Go8 universities.

Dr. Matthew Brown, the brain’s deputy chief executive, reiterated his opposition to the worldwide student cap and warned that demand would assuredly decline significantly as top students choose to study abroad. &nbsp,

Dr. Brown cited the increase in the immigration fee and the crackdown on the approval of visas for foreign students as saying:” We are concerned that this will change the diversification of countries from which students come, at the same time as the government is encouraging our institutions to get top students from the ASEAN ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations ) region.”
 
The Go8 will continue to work closely with our geographical neighbors to demonstrate our high standard of education and build on the long-lasting relationships between higher education and research as Australia’s higher education continues to thrive through this potentially harmful period.
 

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Japan’s Ishiba needs China to thrive to survive – Asia Times

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Japan — As Japan’s new prime minister sets out to promote development in Asia’s second-biggest business, Shigeru Ishiba is about to learn the hard way that it’s definitely up to China.

Washington, also, where authorities are making more efforts to prevent the US from experiencing the crisis economists have been anticipating for years. Beijing and Washington’s stances on stimulus may benefit Japan more than anything else Tokyo-based legislators might be able to acquiesce to in the months to come.

Ishiba, 67, will have an additional concern because his reign may last more than a year in power. Though Kishida’s been around for three ages, and coach Shinzo Abe lasted roughly eight from 2012 to 2020, Chinese chiefs tend to get 12 months to make their mark. And history shows most do n’t.

By October 2025, Japan must keep its next general election. The new government of Japan has a unique skewed economic trajectory, making it presently tick.

On the one hand, the prices Tokyo had been craving for 25 years has arrived. And the Bank of Japan is ultimately trying to restore a super-aggressive interest-rate program.

On the other, that really rising-price fluid is tanking home and business confidence. Japan is actually the country’s economic equivalent of the dog that hit the automobile as consumers avoid recession, which some people view as a secrecy tax cut.

Kishida, who became president in early October 2021, found this juggling act to be too much. Basically, Kishida’s dismal approval scores reflected political funding crises within his Liberal Democratic Party. In fact, it was an failing economy that ended his career quickly.

By putting foreign policy before economic reforms, Kishida himself gave himself no benefits. Problem is, did Ishiba, a previous defence minister, do the same?

Ishiba’s an old-school China bird who favors creating an” Eastern NATO”, a force that Xi Jinping’s government almost needs at the moment. He today has opportunity to lobby the area to create a barrier against Beijing’s interests.

Not that Tokyo’s divided political system is currently poised to pass legislation to reduce bureaucracy, release labour laws, start a business boom, empower women, or implement other reforms to improve national competitiveness.

Ishiba may understand this quickly enough. Which is why Tokyo is thus ensnared in Beijing and Washington activities.

This year, Chinese head Xi Jinping seemed to say, directly of course, that the nation’s No. 2 market is in difficulty.

Beijing announced drastic stimulus measures on Tuesday ( September 24 ) to help its economy, which is dealing with a growing property crisis. The People’s Bank of China announced its first continuous reduction in significant short-term prices and banks reserve needs since at least 2015.

This year, island stocks rose the most in the news since 2008. Additionally, according to PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng, the company’s statement that additional cash-only restrictions on institutions are coming indicate that the stock market may have a tailwind.

Some economists concur that this is only the start of China’s signal work. ” This is a step in the right direction”, says Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics. ” But it wo n’t likely be sufficient to initiate a growth turnaround without greater fiscal support,” he said.

The policy announcements for this week are more good than expected, according to economist Larry Hu of Macquarie Group, but this alone may not be enough to put an end to the longest negative streak since 1999. It’s obvious, he notes, there’s “rising necessity among best officials to fight recession in China”.

The signal storm, according to Scott Rubner, Goldman Sachs ‘ handling director for worldwide markets. ” I actually think this time is different for China”, he says. Being thin China, he notes, is the “largest discussion trade” in world markets. That implies a significant benefit.

Billionaire investment David Tepper tells CNBC he’s buying more of “everything” China-related then that Beijing is hitting the gas on signal. According to Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management,” I did n’t know that what the Fed did last week would lead to China easing,” and that’s what I thought the Fed did.

Team Xi, process, huddled with the Communist Party’s 24-man Politburo, which pledged to make this year’s 5 % growth goal. A key emphasis is that the house market” quit declining”. This suggests more help, given that data showed a month-long decline in new home prices for the first time in a century.

Members of the Politburo reportedly focused on reducing the effects of the property sector, poor domestic consumption, and large youth unemployment.

According to the Xinhua news agency,” some new conditions and issues have arisen in the current running of the economy.” ” We may view the current economic situation fully, honestly and calmly, face difficulties firmly, and strengthen confidence”.

Chinese stocks are getting a raise, also, from reports that Xi’s inner sphere is being directed to” face up to difficulties, develop confidence, and earnestly increase the sense of responsibility and urgency of doing monetary work well”.

Reuters reports that Xi’s Ministry of Finance might soon issue 2 trillion yuan ( US$ 285 billion ) of special sovereign bonds. According to Bloomberg, Beijing is considering putting more than US$ 140 billion into the biggest state-run businesses. It would be the first capital injection in this way since the” Lehman shock” of 2008 was a success.

The sooner Beijing lowers the business, the better will be for Japan’s future, and the better chance Ishiba has of becoming prime minister in a year.

China is by far Japan ‘s&nbsp, biggest trading partner. When it comes to deflation, having the best customer for your goods is often beneficial to financial confidence.

The good news in Beijing is that” the speed and scope of coverage rollouts have exceeded our expectation,” according to Jing Liu, an analyst at HSBC Holdings. ” The sea has turned, be prepared for more strategic activities”.

In Washington, also, the Federal Reserve is now in rate-cut style. That, over time, may enjoy its unique benefits as US families buy more Chinese goods.

” In the US”, says analyst Louis Gave at Gavekal Research,” the world’s largest economy, the central bank is now easing monetary policy, and January 2025 will most likely see another round of fiscal stimulus”.

That is, he adds, “unless Kamala Harris wins the presidential poll but is saddled with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives which proceeds to strengthen state spending.”

In China, Gave documents,” the world’s second largest business, the government is presently easing monetary and fiscal policies and constantly looking to boost property prices. The two biggest economies in the world do n’t sound particularly deflationary if monetary and fiscal policies are both eased at once.

Average Chinese home prices slid 6.8 % in August month on month, following a 7.6 % decline in July.

According to Yue Su, an analyst for China at the Economist Intelligence Unit,” Bottom-out stability in the housing market will be a prerequisite for homeowners to take action and break the wait-and-see period.”

This suggests that the policy’s top goal is not to raise housing prices to bring about a success effect, but to motivate families to make purchases. This real house plan aims to lower the economy‘s strain.

The problem, of course, is what’s following from Team Xi. Beijing appears to be determined to unleash its bazooka signal quickly, according to Ting Lu, Nomura’s general China economist. Markets should value Beijing’s acknowledgment of the country’s difficult economic environment and its lack of success in a wholesale approach.

What significance does these efforts have for the Bank of Japan? The BOJ increased costs to the highest level since 2008 on July 31.

Since that time, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has resisted the aggressive speech that came with that tightening proceed. The central banks was chastened in part by the violent response in the world markets and in part by Ueda being summoned to the congress by concerned politicians.

Here, Ishiba’s vote was deepen the plot. He supports the BOJ tightening more forcefully, warning that the poor renminbi is reducing both Chinese purchasing power and economic trust.

Over&nbsp, the&nbsp, next 11 years, &nbsp, the&nbsp, BOJ hoarded state bonds and stocks via exchange-traded resources. By 2018, &nbsp, the&nbsp, BOJ’s stability sheet&nbsp, topped&nbsp, the&nbsp, size&nbsp, of Japan’s annual gross domestic product.

The resulting fall in the renminbi killed&nbsp, the&nbsp, urgency&nbsp, for politicians to amount playing fields, boost productivity and increase competitiveness. It even took stress off corporate CEOs to invent, restructure and destroy.

On the flipside, it’s not like Japan’s sector is performing effectively amid slow home use. To promote GDP, Ishiba’s authorities must act quickly to put some huge transformation wins on the scoreboard.

That will enable him to ensure that his presidency is present for more than just a year. It will also confirm the investor optimism that is responsible for the Nikkei 225 Stock Average reaching its all-time peaks this time.

Over the past ten years, BOJ policies and steps have been significantly weakened to support business management, contributing to Japan’s share boom.

Investors are beginning to question whether underlying fundamentals support today’s noble stock valuations now that the first ingredient is in dispute. There are some necessary quick steps to convince the Warren Buffetts of the world that Japan should be rediscovering.

A strategic approach to the US poll results on November 5th is necessary. Many Tokyo authorities are up at night due to the threat of a Donald Trump 2.0 White House and an even more risky” Trump trade” this day. Ishiba’s young authorities will be most concerned about preparing for a Trump or Harris leadership.

Tokyo’s international coverage is likely to be in a state of suspended animation until the US president is resolved. There is a good chance of there being a lot of stability with the Kishida time if Democrat Harris wins.

If Trump, a Democrat, returns to the White House, Ishiba’s LDP may devise a strategy to reduce the credit damage to Japan’s business.

Trump is certain to establish additional tariffs on China and other countries. Additionally, he is almost certain to begin his romantic relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a rift that still perplexes the Tokyo creation.

Ishiba could undoubtedly improve the quality of Asiatic geopolitics if he took a more confrontational stance against China. Just as long as I can remember how many China’s ability to still lead in a year is based on him.

Observe William Pesek on X @WilliamPesek

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US trains laser weapon at China without a strategic plan – Asia Times

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The US has deployed a light weapon-equipped warship to Japan, a proper, cutting-edge show of force amid rising hostilities with China.

This month, South China Morning Post (SCMP ) reported that the USS Preble, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer equipped with the advanced High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance ( HELIOS ) laser weapon, has been forward-deployed to Japan’s Yokosuka naval base south of Tokyo.

The Preble is set to perform assessments of its HELIOS system—a high-energy light with integrated visual dazzler and surveillance—during its Pacific cross, according to the SCMP statement. By positioning its most effective units in the region, the rollout demonstrates US commitment to Japan’s protection and registers China’s growing maritime dominance.

The US Navy’s Navigation Plan 2024, which for the first day acknowledges the possibility of conflict with China by 2027, coincides with the implementation of the USS Preble, according to the SCMP report.

The 30-page report from Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti outlines two of the US’s top goals: boosting the US Navy’s role in the broader US shared battle technique and improving marine readiness.

The strategy emphasizes the importance of multi-domain activities and technological developments, as well as addressing repair backlogs, increasing the use of mechanical and autonomous systems, improving recruitment and retention of sailors, and strengthening system.

The plan aims to improve readiness and abilities of the US Navy by utilizing AI, robotics, and distributed coastal operations. It emphasizes the necessity to create for high-end fight and face challenges in the future.

A potent, scalable laser combined with optical dazzling and surveillance capabilities makes Lockheed Martin’s HELIOS a high-energy laser weapon system designed to combat unmanned aerial systems ( UAS ), small boats, and other threats.

According to Lockheed Martin, HELIOS aims to provide a 60-120-watt laser defense against underwater threats at a reasonable, adaptable, and accurate price. The US defense company claims that HELIOS’ integration with existing deliver systems facilitates smooth operation and improved contextual consciousness.

Aside from HELIOS, an August 2024 US Congressional Research Service ( CRS ) report mentions other US laser weapons projects, including the Solid State Laser Technology Maturation ( SSL-TM), Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy ( ODIN), Layered Laser Defense ( LLD ), and the High Energy Laser Counter-ASCM Program ( HELCAP ).

The War Zone notes in a December 2019 content that the SSL-TM weapons, now mounted on the USS Portland testbed, is a high-power 150-kilowatt light that shot down a helicopter during a 2020 evaluation and hit a boat in a 2021 test.

In a July 2022 Proceedings article, Brian O’Rourke points out that ODIN is meant to shield US ships from harassment by unmanned aerial systems ( UASs ). According to Defense One, eight US ships were armed with the ODIN light as of August 2024.

Naval News mentions in an April 2024 article that HELCAP, designed to defeat anti-ship cruise missiles ( ASCM) in a crossing flight path instead of missiles shot directly at a defending ship, is still under development. LCSs from the US Navy are also being developed and tested for the LLD.

According to the CRS report, the US Navy’s ship lasers face challenges in terms of technical limitations and success in adverse weather conditions. They have largely unlimited weapons supply and a significant cost advantage over anti-air missiles.

The US is not the only country using laser-armed ships. Asia Times reported in August 2024 that China has tremendously increased its maritime capabilities by installing a new light weapons program in its Model 071 marine transport dock, perhaps the Siming Shan.

Similar to US efforts, such as placing HELIOS aboard the USS Preble and other countries attempting to erect directed energy weapons on their warships.

China’s laser system, details of which remain undisclosed, is expected to enhance defense against unmanned aircraft and small boat swarms, potentially including dazzler capabilities to blind sensors and seekers.

China has already engaged in laser warfare, most recently in a standoff with Philippine forces in the South China Sea in February 2024, when a laser blast temporarily blinds Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel aboard the BRP Malapascua.

However, despite these advancements, the US faces significant hurdles in making laser weapons a standard part of its warship’s armaments.

The US Navy faces significant difficulties in developing and deploying laser weapons for shipboard defense, according to Asia Times in January 2024.

Despite being hailed as the future of missile and drone defense, laser weapons have not been used by the US and its allies to combat Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea. Laser weapons projects have a tendency to deliver on time while overpromising.

Physical limitations, power requirements, and cooling requirements have all hampered the development of laser weapons. Meanwhile, the maxed-out Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are running out of space for upgrades, complicating the integration of new technologies like laser weapons.

The US Navy’s aging Ticonderoga-class cruisers are well past their planned service lives and, considering their age and limited combat capability, may not be worth upgrading with laser weapons.

The idea of putting so much capability in a few potentially vulnerable ships is a strategic concern, despite the announcement of the new DDG-X to replace Arleigh Burke and Ticonderoga ships ‘ promises of more real estate for laser weapons and their required subsystems.

Indeed, despite advancements in solid-state laser technology, the US Navy lacks a strategic plan for the widespread adoption of laser weapons.

Technological and maintenance issues, along with limited manufacturers for sensitive components, have reportedly plagued development programs. Progress has also been hampered by the insufficient commercial space for lasers with sufficient power.

The US Navy’s Navigation Plan 2024 is being criticized by Asia Times for having lagging shipbuilding and maintenance capabilities and having inflexible, centralized kill chains, which could expose flaws in a potential conflict.

The US Navy integrates AI and robotics to maintain its position of authority, but it struggles with skilled labor shortages and outdated procurement practices that emphasize large, high-cost warships, which prevent it from expanding its fleet.

To expand its fleet, the US is developing low-cost, autonomous drone boats to improve maritime capabilities in the Taiwan Strait. However, vulnerability to electronic warfare and cyberattacks, alongside a weak US drone manufacturing base and reliance on Chinese components, poses challenges to the effectiveness of these systems.

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