Tag - supply-chains

 
 

SUPPLY CHAINS

The Internet Society of China has urged domestic companies to think carefully before procuring chips from the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2024
U.S. chips 'no longer safe,' Chinese industry bodies say in latest salvo
Their advice could affect U.S. chipmaking giants like Nvidia, AMD and Intel, which have managed to keep selling products in China despite export controls.
Rail trucks loaded with rocks containing uranium ore wait for transportation. Russia controls almost half the world’s capacity to separate the uranium isotopes needed for nuclear reactors
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2024
Russia takes aim at U.S. nuclear power by throttling uranium
Moscow controls almost half the world’s capacity to separate the uranium isotopes needed in reactors.
An automated truck is seen at Anglo American's Quellaveco copper mine in Peru in April.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2024
Japan and Peru to agree on mineral mining technology tie-up, report says
Resource-poor Japan has been actively reinforcing global supply chains for critical minerals — essential components for decarbonization technology.
The European Commission's executive vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng finish a joint news conference following the 10th China-EU High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue in Beijing in September 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2024
It's not just U.S. trade hawks. Europe fears China, too.
As China’s economic policies take hold, Europe's economic concerns may be just beginning.
Robyn Qiu (left) and her father Qiu Zhirong in their metal parts factory in Nantong, in eastern China's Jiangsu province, on Sept. 27
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 28, 2024
China's second-generation factory owners go digital to combat challenges
Flagging domestic demand in recent years has weighed on the manufacturing sector.
Flames leap out of an oven where rare-earth-based chemicals are roasted for more than 20 hours, in Changshu, China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 27, 2024
China tightens its hold on minerals needed to make computer chips
The country already produces nearly all the world’s supply of these materials. The new restrictions solidify that market dominance.
Many of today’s cars — both gas and electric — are equipped with devices connecting them to the internet or cloud services, making them potential targets for hacking.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2024
Biden administration to prepare ban on Chinese car software
The U.S. Commerce Department has been meeting with industry experts as it looks to address security concerns raised by a new generation of so-called smart cars.
Japanese radio equipment maker Icom director Yoshiki Enomoto shows its model IC-V82 device, which the company said they stopped production in 2014, during an interview at its headquarters in Osaka on Thursday.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 21, 2024
Hack of Hezbollah devices exposes dark corners of Asia supply chains
Counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product.
A man holds a walkie-talkie device after he removed the battery during a funeral for those killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 20, 2024
Exploding pagers attack shakes global trust in supply-chain security
While booby-trapped devices have been used in spycraft for years, the scale and violence of the attacks in Lebanon alarmed even some seasoned officials.
The Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials in California, is the only rare earths mine in the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 17, 2024
China’s grip on rare earths undercuts projects from U.S. to Japan
Japan's experience reducing its dependence on China shows that rare earths projects take longer and are more expensive than initially expected.
Ashwini Vaishnav (left), the Indian minister of electronics and information technology, and N. Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, take part in the foundation stone laying ceremony for India's first AI-enabled semiconductor fabrication facilities in Dholera, Gujarat, India, on March 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2024
Could India become an alternative to China in the ‘chip war’?
As decoupling from China gains traction, the U.S. and its allies are betting on India for supply chain restructuring and semiconductor development.
Nippon Steel has responded to the U.S. government concerns by saying it will invest billions of dollars to maintain and boost U.S. Steel facilities that otherwise would have been idled, "indisputably" allowing it to "maintain and potentially increase domestic steelmaking capacity in the United States."
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2024
U.S. fears Nippon Steel's bid for U.S. Steel could hit vital steel supply
The U.S. government is concerned that U.S. Steel would be less likely to seek tariffs on foreign steel importers if it is under the ownership of the Japanese steelmaker.
There is a significant divide between security experts, who emphasize the unquantifiable risks of geopolitical instability, and economists, who focus on the measurable costs of restructuring supply chains.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2024
Traditional economics fail the geopolitical test
The seemingly yawning gap between the views of the security specialists and the business and economics types is striking.
The Finance Ministry will apply foreign trade regulations to chipmaking equipment, requiring foreign investors to give prior notice when conducting direct investment in the sector.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2024
Japanese government tightens grip on chip supply-chain network
The move comes as Japan tries to revive its own capacity to produce semiconductors as a pillar of its economic security strategy.
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 13, 2024
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
The nascent concept goes beyond more regulations and restrictions, says Japan's first economic security minister, Takayuki Kobayashi.
The entrance gate of the SEG electronics market in Shenzhen, China, on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 5, 2024
With smugglers and front companies, China is skirting U.S. AI bans
The U.S. worries advanced semiconductors could help China develop superior weaponry, launch cyberattacks and make faster decisions on the battlefield.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as U.S. President Joe Biden looks on alongside other members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders week in San Francisco in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024
Japan to co-lead crisis response branch of the global trade initiative IPEF
Japan will be vice chair of the Crisis Response Network, a body under the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
Indian Ambassador Sibi George says one of his main tasks in his post is to boost Japanese public and private investments the South Asian powerhouse.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2024
India’s envoy in Japan calls for boosted supply chain and defense cooperation
The ambassador’s remarks come after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to continue prioritizing ties with Japan.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak to reporters in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 13, 2024
Japanese and German leaders deepen ties with new economic security framework
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaz Scholz agreed on the new mechanism during the Japanese leader's first visit to the country as PM.
Japan's excessive dependence on certain countries for chip imports is a risk to supply networks, government white paper has warned.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024
Government white paper flags Japan's risks of import dependencies
The paper stressed the importance of import source diversification, to prevent excessive dependence that poses a risk to supply networks.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?