President Donald Trump said he made "fantastic trade deals" with Xi Jinping, as the pair met on Friday at final meetings of a superpower summit that according to the US leader has also reaped a Chinese offer to help open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal deals in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as to contain differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas -- not least the Middle East war.

Rare earth exports from China to the United States are improving although Beijing is still slow to approve some shipments, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Thursday.

China still drags its feet with some export licenses, he said during an interview on Bloomberg Television, and U.S. officials have to intervene on behalf of affected companies.

"I would give them a passing grade on this," he said.

"We've certainly seen the rare earths come back up to better levels. Sometimes it's slow. There are times when we have to go and make our point."

China's rare earth export controls - introduced in April 2025 in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs - continue to tightly restrict exports of some rare earths despite a deal last October in which the White House says China agreed to allow shipments to freely flow.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Friday that U.S. export controls on semiconductor chips were not a major topic of discussions with Chinese officials in Beijing.

The comments suggest a breakthrough on selling Nvidia's advanced H200 chips to China remains far away, despite Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's last-minute invitation to U.S. President Donald Trump's Beijing trip this week.

"This was not a major topic of discussion at the bilateral meeting. We did not talk about chip export controls at the meeting," Greer said, adding that "15 to 17" U.S. CEOs present at Thursday's meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke about their companies' issues.

Reuters reported that the U.S. had cleared around 10 Chinese companies to buy H200s, including Alibaba, Tencent and Bytedance, but not a single delivery has been made so far. The Trump administration approved H200 exports to China in December, and added further conditions in January.

Greer added that allowing the H200 imports would be a "sovereign decision" for China.

U.S. business inventories increased by the most in nearly four years in March, boosted by stocks at wholesalers, government data showed on Thursday.

Inventories rose 0.9%, the largest gain since June 2022, after climbing 0.4% in February, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected inventories, a key component of GDP and one of the most volatile, to increase 0.8% in March.

Inventories advanced 2.0% year-on-year in March. The government estimated last month that business inventories added 0.40 percentage point to the 2.0% annualized rate of increase in the GDP in the first quarter. The economy grew at a 0.5% pace in the October-December quarter.

Retail inventories increased 0.6% in March after being unchanged in February. Wholesale inventories jumped 1.3% while stocks at manufacturers rose 0.6%.

Business sales increased 2.1% in March after rising 1.8% in the prior month. At March's sales pace, it would take 1.32 months for businesses to clear shelves, down from 1.33 months in February. The inventories/sales ratio was at 1.38 months in March 2025.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, expects the global semiconductor market to exceed $1.5 trillion by 2030, topping its previous forecast of $1 trillion, according to its presentation materials ahead of a tech symposium on Thursday.

Here are the details:

• AI and high-performance computing are expected to account for 55% of the $1.5 trillion market, followed by smartphones with 20%, and automotive applications with 10%, according to TSMC.

• TSMC said it has been expanding capacity at a faster pace in 2025 and 2026 and plans to build nine phases of wafer fabs and advanced packaging facilities in 2026.

• The chipmaker is projected to ramp up capacity for its most advanced 2-nanometer and next generation A16 chips, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70% from 2026 to 2028.

• TSMC said CAGR of capacity for its advanced packaging CoWoS (Chip on Wafer on Substrate) is forecast at more than 80% from 2022 to 2027. CoWoS is a key chip packaging technology widely used in AI chips including those designed by Nvidia.

• The company said AI accelerator wafer demand is projected to increase 11-fold from 2022 to 2026.

TSMC'S GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. CEOs accompanying President Donald Trump on a Beijing visit that China's door would only open wider, and that he believed U.S. companies would have broader prospects in the country, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Xi met with the delegation of CEOs, including Elon Musk, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Apple's Tim Cook in the Great Hall of the People, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Trump had said on Tuesday that he would ask Xi to "open up" China during his summit with the leader.


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Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, reported on Thursday a 19% rise in first-quarter profit versus the same period a year earlier, beating expectations due to strong global demand for AI products.

Net profit for January-March for Nvidia's biggest server maker and Apple's top iPhone assembler was T$49.92 billion ($1.58 billion), versus a LSEG consensus estimate of T$48.88 billion.

In an earnings release, it stuck to its previous forecast of "strong" growth for revenue this year and said it also saw strong demand for AI servers. The company does not give numeric forecasts.

“AI remains the most important growth driver this year," rotating CEO Michael Chiang said on an earnings call. He added that major cloud service providers have recently raised capital expenditure plans for this year.

"AI is not a short-term theme, but a structural transformation of the industry."

The company expects its capital expenditures to grow by 30% this year from last year's T$174 billion as it expands manufacturing capacity for AI servers.

Foxconn said it expects AI server rack shipments to more than double for the full year.

Netflix says it has invested more than $135 billion in films and series globally over the past decade, contributing over $325 billion to the world economy and creating more than 425,000 jobs through its productions.

In a blog post titled “The Netflix Effect,” Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company was doubling down on content investments even as parts of the global entertainment industry face spending pressures.

"While other entertainment companies pull back, we’re leaning in — spending tens of billions of dollars on content every year, investing in production facilities from Spain to New Jersey, and growing the entertainment industry through training programs that have reached over 90,000 people across more than 75 countries,” Sarandos wrote.

Honda Motor posted its first annual loss in nearly 70 years as a listed company on Thursday, hit by more than $9 billion in costs to restructure its electric-vehicle business, and the firm scrapped its long-term EV sales target.

Revealing its worst financial report since Honda listed on the stock market in 1957 underscores how risky an aggressive bet on EVs can be for a legacy automaker when it slams into weaker-than-expected demand.

Toshihiro Mibe, CEO of Japan's second-largest automaker, on Thursday said Honda is scrapping its goal of having EVs make up a fifth of its new car sales in 2030 as well as a target of a full shift to electric or fuel-cell vehicle sales by 2040.

Mibe said Honda will also indefinitely suspend its Canada EV project, an $11 billion investment plan to produce EVs and batteries in what would have been the Japanese firm's largest ever investment in the country.

SHARES UP ON NO DIVIDEND CUT

Honda's shares briefly hit a two-month high before closing up 3.8% on Thursday, after it pledged at least 800 billion yen in shareholder returns over three years and kept the annual dividend for both the new fiscal year and the year just ended at 70 yen per share.

Air India's thousands of flight cuts due to the Iran war and Pakistan's airspace ban have become a boon for foreign carriers, with Lufthansa Group and Cathay Pacific among those adding services to one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets.

With their Middle Eastern routes curtailed and some passengers wary of connecting in the conflict-hit Gulf, India has become more attractive for international airlines looking to capitalise on strong demand for flights from South Asia to Europe and North America that has led to higher airfares.

Foreign airlines' share of India-origin international scheduled flights rose to 58.4% in March-May, from 51.2% a year earlier, OAG data shows. Air India scheduled 6,404 international flights from India in March-May, down 17.5% year-on-year, and announced widespread cuts for June-August on Wednesday including on European and North American routes.

For Air India, the flight cuts and encroachment from foreign rivals represent a blow to its ambitions of becoming a credible global airline by adding new widebody jets, upgrading cabins and adding more non-stop Europe and North America links.

"The war has attacked every leg of Air India's transformation plan," said Linus Benjamin Bauer, global managing partner at aviation consultancy BAA & Partners.

China and the U.S. are considering extending a truce on Chinese rare earth export curbs at a leaders' summit this week, but Chinese customs data shows Beijing is still throttling shipments of the materials vital for defence and manufacturing.

The resulting shortages and higher prices around the world underscore how controls imposed in retaliation for President Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs have become one of the policy's major legacies, long after the scaling back of most of the duties.

Beijing's controls remain tightest over several specialty rare earths, produced at scale only in China and used in aerospace, defence, semiconductors and powerful magnets found within electronics and manufactured goods, including electric cars.

Boeing booked 135 net new orders in April, nearly matching its total in the first three months of the year, the company said on Tuesday.

Through the first four months of the year, Boeing has booked 284 new orders after adjusting for cancellations and conversions. That is the highest total for that period since 2014.

However, the U.S. planemaker trails European rival Airbus, which has booked 405 orders after cancellations and conversions through April 30. Airbus delivered 67 jets last month.

Boeing delivered 47 jetliners in April, one more than the previous month. Deliveries are when customers hand over most of the cash for a new airplane, and so are closely tracked by investors.

Last month's deliveries included 34 737 MAX jets and six 787s.

Certification delays for premium seats continue to hamper deliveries of Boeing's 787. Nonetheless, the company still expects to deliver 90-100 of the popular twin-aisle jet this year, CFO Jay Malave said during an earnings call last month.

April's orders included 57 737 MAX jets and 51 787s, mostly from unidentified customers. They also included 28 777X orders from undisclosed customers. Boeing continues working to certify the long-delayed jetliner.

Global demand for electric vehicles rose for a second straight month in April as high petrol prices kept steering buyers away from combustion-engine cars, data from consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence showed on Wednesday.

Registrations of new battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles rose 6% from a year earlier to 1.6 million in April, a proxy for sales, although they fell 9% from March's record monthly high, BMI said.

"Demand continues to be supported by policy incentives, rising petrol prices, and growing Chinese OEM presence," BMI said in a statement.

Governments kept measures in place to limit fuel prices after war in the Middle East disrupted a major shipping route for oil.

In Europe, registrations climbed 27% to about 400,000 units in April, while countries in the European Economic Area and Switzerland have committed nearly 200 billion euros ($235 billion) to their EV ecosystem, a recent study showed.

The global picture, however, was uneven.

In China, April registrations fell 8% from a year earlier to roughly 850,000 vehicles after support for auto trade-ins was withdrawn and a tax break on electric-vehicle purchases expired.

Senior officials from the US and China on Wednesday began a fresh round of trade talks in Seoul, South Korea, just hours before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing.

Chinese and US delegations convened for the talks at Incheon International Airport, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported. The meeting is being seen as a precursor to Trump’s upcoming discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla will increase its investment in battery cell production at its plant outside Berlin by almost $250 million, boosting its capacity target for the site, the company said on Tuesday.

Tesla announced in December investments amounting to almost 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) at the site in Gruenheide, south-east of the German capital, as it seeks to bring battery cell and vehicle production all under one roof from next year.

With the latest investment, Tesla plans to create the conditions for annual production capacity of 18 gigawatt hours, up from a previously planned 8 GWh.

"The ramp-up of battery cell production will also be accompanied by a significant increase in labour demand," the company said in a statement, estimating its staffing needs in battery cell production at more than 1,500 employees.

Tesla currently employs almost 11,000 people in Gruenheide, the company's only gigafactory in Europe.

($1 = 0.8519 euros)

From a rout in Asian currencies to the closure of a low budget U.S. airline, the dragging Middle East conflict is starting to bite across the globe and test the resilience of financial markets.

Here's a look at some of the pressure points that are building:

1/ ASIA FEELS THE SQUEEZE

Currencies in Asia have suffered some of the sharpest falls across FX markets since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February. Around 80% of sea-borne oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz is usually destined for Asia, making it the most exposed region to any disruption.

Indonesia has seen its rupiah tumble to a record low on Tuesday, while the currencies of fellow Asian fuel importers including India and the Philippines have also hit historic lows. Central banks have intervened in currency markets for weeks, either directly or through state-bank action, and are looking for more measures to take. Currencies in South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia have also come under pressure.

"Central banks will be reluctant to sell down reserves," said Mitul Kotecha, head of Asian FX and rates strategy at Barclays. "As such, we're probably going to see more creative measures to support their respective currencies."

U.S. President Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping on May 14 to 15, where U.S. officials say a deal for Beijing to buy more U.S. energy could be under consideration.

Tariffs imposed during the U.S.-China trade war have halted most Chinese imports of U.S. oil and LNG, which were worth $8.4 billion in 2024, the year before Trump began his second term.

Here is a summary of the major elements of that trade.

LNG

China's imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) have tended to swing with geopolitical events, creating an opening should ties improve, analysts say.

During the trade war in 2019 during Trump's first term, Chinese imports of U.S. LNG fell to just 260,000 metric tons despite China's overall imports of the superchilled fuel rising 15% to 59.4 million tons that year.

Countries in the European Economic Area and Switzerland have committed almost 200 billion euros ($235 billion) to their electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, research group New Automotive said on Tuesday.

The investments underline the scale of the region's push to cut its reliance on China, which the International Energy Agency said earlier this year made more than 80% of all batteries produced in 2025, including those used outside EVs.

The commitments include 109 billion euros in the battery supply chain, 60 billion euros in EV manufacturing, and between 23 billion and 46 billion euros in public charging networks, with more than 1 million public charge points deployed.

"Europe now produces batteries for roughly one in three EVs sold domestically, and announced capacity could meet future demand if fully utilised," New Automotive said.

Germany accounted for almost a quarter of the region's investment, making it the largest national hub in Europe's EV sector, according to New Automotive.

"The country anchors both domestic production and wider European value chains with leading OEMs transitioning at scale alongside major international battery manufacturers," it said.

As President Donald Trump prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, the U.S. auto industry and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are hammering him with a simple message: Please don't offer China any access to the U.S. car market.

Trump in January told the Detroit Economic Club that it would be "great" if Chinese automakers wanted to build plants in the U.S. and employ Americans, adding: "I love that. Let China come in, let Japan come in."

His comments rang alarm bells in an industry that had systematically lobbied successive administrations to bar Chinese cars from the U.S. market with tough data security rules and high tariffs on electric vehicles.

Saudi Aramco reported a 25% jump in first-quarter profit on Sunday, showing its resilience as U.S.-Iran war tensions curtail Strait of Hormuz shipping, with the state oil giant's East-West crude pipeline running at full capacity to mitigate the impact to supplies.

The world's top oil exporter earned a net profit of $32.5 billion in the three months ended March 31, beating an LSEG consensus estimate of $30.95 billion.

Total revenue surged nearly 7% from a year earlier to $115.49 billion due to higher prices and volumes sold of both crude oil and refined and chemical products.

Iran's blockade of shipping through the crucial Hormuz waterway amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict - which has curtailed energy supply and sent prices surging - prompted Aramco to ramp up crude flows from its east coast to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.