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China escalates US trade tensions on two new fronts

10 December 2024 09:00 (UTC +04:00)

China’s escalating conflict with the US over trade is now extending to drones that have become a vital part of Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s war, APA reports citing Bloomberg.

Chinese manufacturers are said to have recently begun limiting sales to the US and Europe of key components used to build unmanned aerial vehicles. The moves are said to be a prelude to broader export restrictions on drone parts that western officials expect Beijing to enforce in the new year. China also has opened a probe into Nvidia over suspicions that the US chipmaker broke anti-monopoly laws around a 2020 deal—a huge shot across the bow of the artificial intelligence heavyweight just as Donald Trump threatens ramp up US sanctions. Chinese authorities said they opened the investigation into Nvidia’s recent behavior as well as the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of Mellanox Technologies. Beijing gave approval for the deal four years ago, on condition that Nvidia not discriminate against Chinese companies.

Two major New York City cases made news Monday. A 26-year-old man suspected in the fatal Manhattan shooting of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The man, identified as Luigi Mangione, was found with a “manifesto,” multiple fake identifications and a so-called ghost gun with a suppressor, similar to the one used in the shooting, according to police. Meanwhile, a Long Island man who choked an unarmed New York City subway rider for six minutes in 2023 was acquitted by a Manhattan jury in his death, immediately inflaming issues of race, crime and disparate treatment. The verdict cleared Daniel Penny, whose lawyers told jurors he was trying to protect other riders from an agitated, gesticulating Jordan Neely, of criminally negligent homicide. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed because the jury deadlocked on that count. Neeley’s father decried the verdict as unjust. During jury selection, the New York Times reported prosecutors had accused the defense of weeding out potential jurors because of race (Penny is White; Neely was Black). Penny was recently sued by Jordan Neely’s family over his death.