The US has added four Chinese companies to an export blacklist for buying US-origin goods to support China's military modernization efforts, the Department of Commerce said in a statement published Thursday.

China's chip imports suffered their steepest drop on record last year, hamstrung by prolonged economic uncertainties and US export controls.

South Korea's memory-chip exports increased in October for the first time in 16 months, offering more evidence for the revival of demand for the country's most important products.

China's exports have dropped for fourth month in a row as the "world's factory" struggles with weak demand at home and abroad.

Italy made an "improvised and atrocious" decision in joining China's Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, defence minister Guido Crosetto has said.

A majority of Korean semiconductor companies responded to a Bank of Korea (BOK) survey by saying that their exports to China were unlikely to fully recover.

Analysts say the move will weaken export-control measures aimed at curbing Beijing.

Singapore is benefiting from the US-China discord in at least one respect: semiconductor sales.

The European Central Bank has announced a record rise in eurozone interest rates as it seeks to fight inflation. Prices in the bloc are rising at the highest pace for half a century as energy costs soar.

The Japanese yen on Thursday fell to 140 yen per dollar, reaching a level last seen in August 1998.

South Korea's early exports barely rose in August as geopolitical risks and central bank tightening weigh on the world economy.

Global exports of semiconductors to Russia have plummeted by 90% since the United States and allies slapped export controls on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday.

South Korea's export growth slowed sharply in June, partly due to a shorter work month but also as a result of softer global demand, as the nation ran a trade deficit for a third consecutive month.

Russia is turning to microchip manufactures in China to circumvent western sanctions which have boosted demand for bank cards linked to the Mir payment system, an executive with the domestic payment system said.

Japan will stop exporting semiconductors to Russia next week, joining the US and its European allies in efforts to cripple Russia's military capability.

if the United States were to find that a company like the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, in Shanghai, was selling its chips to Russia, "we could essentially shut SMIC down because we prevent them from using our equipment and our software."

South Korea's factory production jumped the most since mid-2020 last month, suggesting supply disruptions that hurt manufacturing in key industries were easing before an omicron-triggered surge in global infections.

A huge container ship that has been wedged in the Suez Canal since Tuesday has finally been freed from the shoreline.

China's leaders are finalizing their political and economic agenda for the rest of 2021 and beyond. How the country achieves technological independence and tackles the climate crisis will be near the top.

The US president signed an executive order on Wednesday requiring federal agencies to conduct 100-day reviews of supply chains for semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, electric vehicle batteries and critical minerals used in manufacturing products such as cars and weapons.

China may ban the export of rare-earths refining technology to countries or companies it deems as a threat on state security concerns, according to a person familiar with the matter.

South Korea's exports climbed at the fastest pace in more than two years in December, buoyed by a pickup in global demand as vaccines raised hopes for a recovery.

Vietnam and the UK concluded a free-trade agreement that will see 99% of tariffs between the two countries eliminated after seven years.

The Trump administration's new restrictions come in response to a new national security law that will extend China's influence over Hong Kong.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has announced plans to protect US national security by restricting Huawei's ability to use US technology and software to design and manufacture its semiconductors abroad.

Every economic shock leaves a legacy. The deadly coronavirus will be no different.

Those tariffs will now be delayed until December 15.

China has told India not to block its Huawei Technologies from doing business in the country, warning there could be consequences for Indian firms operating in China, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The trade war between the United States and China entered a more dangerous phase on Monday, as Beijing allowed its currency to weaken, Chinese enterprises stopped making new purchases of American farm goods and President Trump's Treasury Department formally labeled China a currency manipulator.

Japan will remove South Korea from its list of trusted trade partners, deepening a bitter row between the two countries.

Samsung has denied that it's making additional investments to increase chip production in the US. Local media reports had suggested that the company was considering this since South Korea's trade row with Japan is threatening its business.

Progress toward a US-China trade deal has stalled while the Trump administration determines how to address Beijing's demands that it ease restrictions on Huawei Technologies, people familiar with the talks said.

Samsung Display is in talks with SKC over the supply of colorless polyimide (CPI) used for foldable smartphones. This represents the first time that Korean corporations collaborate to substitute local products for items that are under the Japanese government's export control.

While spot markets make up a small percentage of the memory chip market, Ike Cho, a Bernstein analyst, said the South Korean groups are pushing up prices as they negotiate contracts for the third quarter with their customers.

The US may approve licenses for companies to re-start new sales to Huawei in as little as two weeks, according to a senior US official, in a sign President Donald Trump's recent effort to ease restrictions on the Chinese company could move forward quickly.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in urged Japan to withdraw new restrictions on exports in his first public remarks on a dispute that erupted last week and has intensified animosity between the two countries.

China continues to stress that the US must remove all the tariffs placed on Chinese goods as a condition for reaching a trade deal.

Japan tightened controls on exports to South Korea in an unexpected blow to the global technology supply chain that also marks a new low point in relations between the two US allies.

US semiconductor companies want no part of any trade deal that calls for stepped-up purchases from China, worried that would give Beijing more control over their industry.

The market sell-off triggered by fears that the US-China trade truce could unravel has created fresh uncertainty for companies on the hunt for acquisitions, threatening a five-year global takeover wave, dealmakers say.