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Nvidia boss visits Beijing days after US limits AI chip exports
Nvidia boss Jensen Huang has travelled to China for talks despite limits on the chip company’s sales imposed by the White House under Donald Trump.
The visit of Huang, chief executive of one of the US’s most valuable companies, will be closely followed amid the vicious trade war between the US and China.
Trump has imposed tariffs of 145% on most Chinese exports, with China retaliating with tariffs of 125%.
However, Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, have also sought to limit exports of the most advanced semiconductor chips that can be used to train artificial intelligence models.
Nvidia had designed a chip, called the H20, to get around the US limits, but the company on Tuesday said it expects a $5.5bn (£4.1bn) hit after Trump’s administration said licences would be required for the H20 as well.
The company’s share price fell by 6.9% on Wednesday in response, although it is still valued at more than $2.5 trillion (£1.9bn).
Chinese state media said Huang’s visit to Beijing came at the invitation of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), a group involved in promoting Chinese trade.
China Daily, an English-language newspaper owned by the Chinese state’s propaganda arm, published the photo, saying it came “three months after pledging to continue cooperation with #China during his last visit”. It added the hashtag #OpportunityChina, which it has previously used in posts promoting US-China exports.
#JensenHuang, founder and CEO of US semiconductor company #Nvidia, visited Beijing on Thursday at the invitation of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), three months after pledging to continue cooperation with #China during his last visit.… pic.twitter.com/jdhFHbtHpl
— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) April 17, 2025Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
London reinsurer accused of failing to prevent bribery in Ecuador
The Serious Fraud Office has accused a UK insurance company of failing to prevent international bribery in relation to state officials allegedly paid off in Ecuador.
Representatives of United Insurance Brokers Limited (UIBL) have been ordered to appear before Westminster magistrates’ court on 7 May, the SFO said on Thursday.
The SFO alleged that US-based intermediaries carrying out UIBL’s business in Ecuador paid bribes in return for the awarding of re-insurance contracts worth $38m (£29m).
If it makes it to trial, it will be the first time that a “failure to prevent” case will be heard by a jury, the SFO said. The offence was introduced in 2010 to stop companies and executives from standing by when bribery was taking place.
UIBL is a reinsurer, meaning it essentially provides insurance for insurers, helping them to minimise the risk of big losses if they unexpectedly have to pay out large amounts.
The SFO said that UIBL sold reinsurance to Ecuadorian state insurers covering the publicly owned water and electricity companies. UIBL received a $6.2m commission , of which $3.2m was paid to intermediaries, the SFO alleged. Some of that money went to Ecuadorian officials in the form of bribes.
Nick Ephgrave, director of the Serious Fraud Office, said:
The SFO remains committed to stamping out international bribery wherever it may occur.
British companies have a duty to prevent the harm caused by bribery when doing business at home and abroad, to ensure that the UK remains a safe and fair place to do business.
Donald Trump said overnight that the US had made “big progress” in trade talks with Japan, after meeting representatives at the White House.
Posting to the social network he owns, Trump said:
A Great Honor to have just met with the Japanese Delegation on Trade. Big Progress!
He later posted a picture of himself smiling beside Japan’s representative, Ryosei Akazawa, described by Reuters as “a close confidant of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba who serves in the relatively junior cabinet position of economic revitalisation minister”.
The talks are part of Trump’s efforts to renegotiate the US’s trading relationships with almost every country in the world during his 90-day “pause” on tariffs that were imposed on the basis of US trade deficits – using a formula that the mainstream economists have derided as farcical.
Sainsbury’s is the FTSE 100’s lead performer this morning, with its share price up 3.9%.
That means that it has recovered all of the lost value last month when its share price plunged following Asda’s announcement that it intended to cut prices.
Sainsbury’s share price was last at £2.57, compared with under £2.55 before Asda’s comments. It fell as low as £2.23 during the Donald Trump-induced stock market turmoil.
Key Taiwanese chipmaker beats profit estimates despite Trump tariff uncertainty
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, one of the world’s key chipmakers, has warned that uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs are clouding its outlook, even as it beat profit forecasts.
The company, TSMC, said that it had seen strong demand for the most advanced chips it makes for other companies: those with transistors between 3 nanometres and 5 nanometres in size.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s net profit for January-March climbed to T$361.6bn (£8.4bn), its fourth straight quarter of double-digit growth, Reuters reported. That was ahead of a T$354.6bn estimate drawn from 18 analysts.
TSMC is the leading chip fab, or fabricator, producing semiconductor chips according to other companies’ designs. Its products are crucial to products ranging from Apple’s iPhones to chip designer to the racks of chips used to train artificial intelligence large language models.
The US has threatened steep 32% tariffs on Taiwanese exports, but backed down as part of Trump’s tariff “pause”. The US has also exempted semiconductors from some tariffs, but Trump could re-impose tariffs at any time.
Wendell Huang, TSMC’s chief financial officer, said:
Moving into second quarter 2025, we expect our business to be supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 3nm and 5nm technologies. While we have not seen any changes in our customers’ behaviour so far, uncertainties and risks from the potential impact from tariff policies exist. We will continue to closely monitor the potential impact on the end market demand, and manage our business prudently.
The FTSE 100 is the worst of the European stock market performers on this sunny Thursday morning in London: it is down 0.6% in the early trades.
Germany’s Dax index is up 0.3%, while France’s Cac 40 is down 0.4%.
Across the indices larger stocks are down, with the Euro Stoxx 50 down 0.2%.
Sainsbury's says profits to be flat after breaking £1bn; Fed warns on inflation
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets.
Sainsbury’s has made underlying retail operating profits of more than £1bn for the first time, but the British supermarket chain suggested it will not beat that this year as it battles with rivals on price.
UK supermarkets are locked in a battle for market share, trying to entice shoppers with lower prices – or trying to defend their turf against cheaper rivals.
Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s share prices slumped last month after Asda said it would cut prices. Price cuts look like they will continue to hit profits in the current year, with guidance kept at £1bn.
Sainsbury’s pre-tax profits rose 38.6% to £384m but underlying operating profit hit £1bn if one-off items, such as those related to the closure of cafes and hot food counters announced in January, were excluded, retail correspondent Sarah Butler reports.
Federal Reserve’s inflation warning
If it’s price cuts that are worrying British supermarket investors, price rises are the focus of the US Federal Reserve.
Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chair, said that Donald Trump’s tariffs were causing a “challenging scenario” for the central bank and were likely to increase inflation.
Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu last night gave a clear indication of how tariffs will increase inflation: they said that they will increase prices for US customers, although they did not say how much. Economists are expecting a big jump in the prices of the billions of dollars of goods imported from China in particular, after Trump raised tariffs on most products to 145%.
Powell’s comments caused US stock markets to drop last night, and the FTSE 100 has followed suit on Thursday morning, down 0.8% in the early trades.
And happy ECB day to those who celebrate! The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates for the seventh time in a year later today in an effort to prop up the European economy, under pressure from the chaos across the Atlantic.
The agenda
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1:15pm BST: European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision
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1:30pm BST: US initial jobless claims (week ending 12 April; previous: 223,000; consensus: 225,000)
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1:45pm BST: ECB press conference with Christine Lagarde
