Trump says he will cut fentanyl tariff on Chinese goods and expects ‘great deal’ with Xi – business live

Car manufacturers in the EU are “days away” from closing production lines due to dire shortages of chips, after China banned exports from Nexperia following the factory’s takeover by the Dutch government two weeks ago, the industry has said.The crisis warning and call on European leaders to strike a deal with China immediately comes just a day before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to seal a trade deal, easing the US’s chip and rare earth supply chain.Caught in the cross fire between the two superpowers, the EU will hold urgent talks with a senior delegation from China in Brussels on Friday.But the car industry warns it may be too late to avert production line closures.Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, said:Assembly line stoppages might only be days away

Profit upgrade at Next raises hopes UK shoppers still keen to spend

Next has raised hopes that UK consumers are still willing to spend despite pressures on household budgets, as it revealed sales and profit growth “materially above” expectations.The clothing and homeware retailer said it benefited from sunny weather over the summer, the online shutdown of the rival Marks & Spencer for several weeks after an Easter cyber-attack and an improvement in clothing supplies from countries such as Bangladesh compared with last year.The retailer, which now owns the UK rights to the US brands Gap and Victoria’s Secret as well as stakes in a plethora of labels including Reiss and Joules, raised its annual profit guidance by £30m – its fourth upgrade in eight months.Analysts said Next, which now expects full-year profits of £1.14bn compared with £987m last year, had proved “largely immune” to the pressures of a weak consumer environment and fears about November’s budget in the UK

Apple hits $4tn market value as new iPhone models revitalize sales

Apple topped $4tn (£3tn) in market value for the first time on Tuesday, joining Microsoft and Nvidia as the third company in history to hit the milestone, thanks to strong demand for its latest iPhones.Apple’s share price has increased by more than 50% since a low point in April, thanks to the debut of its latest products.“The iPhone accounts for over half of Apple’s profit and revenue, and the more phones they can get into the hands of people, the more they can drive people into their ecosystem,” said Chris Zaccarelli, the chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management, before the milestone was reached.Apple’s shares had struggled earlier this year on concerns over tough competition in China and how it would cope with high US tariffs on Asian economies such as China and India, its main manufacturing hubs.However, the latest smartphones, the iPhone 17 lineup, have won back customers from Beijing to Moscow, while the company has swallowed tariff costs instead of passing them on to consumers

OpenAI completes conversion to for-profit business after lengthy legal saga

OpenAI said on Tuesday it had converted its main business into a for-profit corporation, the conclusion of a lengthy and fraught legal saga.A crucial regulator, Kathy Jennings, the Delaware attorney general, said she approved the plan for the startup, which began as a non-profit in 2015, to change to a public benefit corporation, a type of for-profit entity that expresses commitment to bettering society.The company also said it had reorganized its ownership structure and signed a new agreement with its longtime backer Microsoft that gives the software giant a roughly 27% stake in OpenAI’s new for-profit corporation, but changes some of the details of their close partnership. OpenAI was valued at $500bn under the terms of the deal, making Microsoft’s stake worth more than $100bn.The restructuring paves the way for the ChatGPT maker to more easily raise capital and profit off its artificial intelligence technology, even as it remains technically under the control of its own original non-profit entity

England v South Africa: Women’s Cricket World Cup semi-final – live

38th over: South Africa 193-5 (Wolvaardt 96, Dercksen 0) Reward for Bell and a beef-up after that dropped catch. Just one run from it, a wide. She also clonks Dercksen on the helmet, but she’s all smiles as the the physio asks her what day of the week it is.Jafta retreats mouseishly, and the ball waves passed the outside edge to clonk middle and off stumps.37th over: South Africa 192-4 (Wolvaardt 96, Jafta 1) Kapp had just flayed a loose ball from Ecclestone through the covers for four

The Spin | Sophie Devine’s impact on women’s cricket should be measured in more than statistics

The New Zealand legend played with joy and fun, but was also a true fighter who spanned eras in the women’s gameAs the Women’s World Cup has progressed, sanding down the edges and turning up the four semi-finalists you might have predicted from the start, a sideshow has been quietly playing stage left. A down-to-earth sideshow – just like the woman herself – the Sophie Devine farewell.Devine made her New Zealand debut in October 2006, in an ODI and T20 series against Australia. Nineteen years later, still with the same open face and broad smile, she has played her final one-day international – a losing affair against England neither side will polish up for the mantelpiece. The most memorable moment came at the end with the affectionate guard of honour given to Devine by both sides and the Māori tribute led by Melie Kerr and sung by her teary teammates as the stadium emptied