Sovereign wealth fund GIC has filed a lawsuit in the US against China-based electric vehicle maker Nio and its executives, alleging securities fraud.
Nio is listed on three exchanges: New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. The suit was filed on Aug 28 in a New York district court. Besides the company, defendants include CEO William Li and former CEO Feng Wei. GIC invested in Nio back in 2017, as part of an RMB600 million ($108.9 million) round.
According to various China-based news websites, including Caixin, GIC says Nio inflated its revenue and profits. It did so by setting up a battery asset company, Weineng, in partnership with other battery makers.
As described by CarNewsChina.com, the issue lies with Nio’s Battery-as-a-Service, and over how revenue should be recognised.
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GIC’s suit alleges that Weineng helped Nio recognise substantial revenue while moving battery depreciation costs off its balance sheet. — The Edge Singapore
Trump declares US-China trade war, Bessent floats long truce
President Donald Trump said he saw the US as locked in a trade war with China, even as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed a longer pause on high tariffs on Chinese goods to resolve a conflict over critical minerals.
See also: Trump declares US-China trade war, Bessent floats long truce
“Well, you’re in one now,” Trump said on Oct 15 when asked by a reporter if the world’s two largest economies are in for a sustained trade war if they cannot reach a trade deal. “We have a 100% tariff. If we didn’t have tariffs, we would be exposed as being nothing.”
Trump spoke just hours after Bessent dangled the possibility of extending a pause of import duties on Chinese goods for longer than three months if China halts its plan for strict new export controls on rare-earth elements. The US and China have agreed to a series of 90-day truces since earlier this year, with the next deadline looming in November.
“Is it possible that we could go to a longer roll in return? Perhaps. But all that’s going to be negotiated in the coming weeks,” Bessent said during a press conference in Washington.
The duelling remarks underscored the whiplash investors have felt as tensions have flared in the relationship between Washington and Beijing. US equities extended gains after Bessent’s comments, while Trump’s remarks came after trading closed in New York.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer cast doubt that Beijing would go ahead with the plan, which he said would choke off trade in a wide variety of consumer products that contain even a trace of rare earths. “The scope and the scale are just unimaginable, and it cannot be implemented,” Greer said.
In the meantime, Bessent predicted a coordinated response to China’s move from the US and several allies.
“We’re going to have a fulsome, group response to this, because bureaucrats in China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world,” Bessent said on Oct 15 at a CNBC-hosted forum in Washington.
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Pointing out that “all my counterparts” are in Washington for the annual gathering of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank this week, he said. “We’re going to be speaking with our European allies, with Australia, with Canada, with India and the Asian democracies.”
An escalating tit-for-tat between Washington and Beijing has renewed investors’ fears that the world’s two largest economies could soon be locked in a full-blown trade war.
China’s new rules, announced last week, require overseas firms to obtain Chinese government approval before exporting products containing even trace amounts of certain rare earths that originated in China.
Trump responded by threatening to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods by Nov 1. He floated the idea of scrapping a planned meeting with President Xi Jinping and warned the US could cut off trade in cooking oil, a key input in biofuels.
The Treasury chief said that as far as he’s aware, Trump “is a go” on meeting Xi later this month in South Korea. Bessent said there’s a “very good chance” that he travels to Asia before Trump and meets with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Meanwhile, Bessent said he expected trade announcements to be made during Trump’s Asia tour. The president is expected to attend a summit with Asean in Malaysia before going on to Japan and South Korea, which will be hosting the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting.
The US is “about to finish up” negotiations with South Korea, Bessent added. Those talks have lately revolved around the contours of a giant investment programme. US-Canada talks are “back on track,” Bessent also said. He also indicated progress with India.
Bessent dismissed the notion that a slide in the stock market would force the Trump administration into a negotiating position with Beijing, saying that what spurs such talks is instead the economic interest of the nation. The US won’t negotiate with China “because the stock market is going down,” he said.
He also rejected the idea that the rising price of gold reflects some fundamental concern with regard to the dollar. He flagged that US interest rates have come down relative to other economies, and said with regard to the euro that it “should be strong,” given how currency theory would suggest exchange-rate appreciation when fiscal expansion is underway. — Bloomberg
ASML orders beat expectations as AI arms race boosts demand
ASML Holding said demand for its most sophisticated chip-making machines is soaring thanks to the artificial intelligence boom, signalling optimism just months after the semiconductor equipment maker warned the trade war could stymie growth.
The Dutch firm posted EUR5.4 billion ($8.1 billion) in bookings in the third quarter, it said in a statement on Oct 15. That compares to EUR4.9 billion expected by analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
ASML has rallied 30% this year, making it Europe’s biggest company by market capitalisation.
ASML, which is the only company that makes extreme ultraviolet lithography machines needed to produce the most advanced chips, is benefiting from a boom in AI infrastructure spending. OpenAI, the world’s most valuable startup, has already struck deals for data centres and chips that top US$1 trillion.
Third-quarter sales were EUR7.5 billion, compared to EUR7.7 billion forecast by analysts, as sales of some of its older models were lower than expected. Bookings of its extreme ultraviolet lithography machines were the highest in seven quarters.
Just three months ago, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet walked back his forecast that sales would grow next year, blaming trade disputes and global tensions. Those comments sent the company’s shares plunging 11%. Now, soaring demand for AI chips has changed his tone.
“We have seen continued positive momentum around investments in AI, and have also seen this extending to more customers,” Fouquet said in the statement on Oct 15. The company’s sales will favour its cutting-edge machines, but business in China will be “significantly lower,” he said in a video accompanying the results.
Net income in the period rose 2.3% from a year earlier to EUR2.1 billion.
“For 2026, we expect our net sales to not be below 2025,” Fouquet said in the video.
The guidance is “a bit more enthusiastic” than previous commentary, according to Degroof Petercam analyst Michael Roeg.
“The outlook is still cautious, which must be because they expect sales to China to decrease significantly in 2026,” Roeg said by email. “That must be compensated by higher sales in 2026 to customers in leading-edge logic and memory.”
Some of ASML’s biggest clients, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Samsung Electronics, recently reported robust AI chip demand.
The chip toolmaker plans to ride the AI boom in the coming years, and reaffirmed a target to grow annual revenue to as much as EUR60 billion in 2030 from EUR28.3 billion last year. It is developing a project that has the potential to double its workforce based near its Veldhoven, Netherlands, headquarters.
“We have long lead times, and therefore also in our supply chain, we make sure we have the materials that we need for he next couple of months,” Dassen said. “There is also potential impact on the wider on the wider ecosystem, which at this stage is very hard to predict.” — Bloomberg
