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US President Donald Trump (R) and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud take part in a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Riyadh on May 20, 2017.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. President Donald Trump will touch down in the Persian Gulf region – or as he may soon be calling it, the Arabian Gulf – on May 13, for an official trip with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The stakes are high, as the visits take place amid turbulent geopolitical tensions. On the agenda will be Israel-Gaza war ceasefire talks, oil, trade, investment deals, and the potential for new policy developments in the areas of advanced semiconductor exports and nuclear programs.
“We expect to see a lot of announcements. And I think in a broad spectrum of areas as well,” Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Friday. She noted the potential removal of Trump’s 10% tariffs on aluminum and steel, which would be a positive for the Gulf states as some of them export those metals to the U.S., though they make up only a small percentage of the countries’ GDPs.
Trump has long enjoyed a warm relationship with Gulf Arab states, in particular the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where his children have several business ventures and planned real estate projects. Those relationships could strengthen the countries’ hands when it comes to negotiating new trade deals – while also raising concerns among critics over potential conflicts of interest, accusations the Trump family rejects.
During the president’s initial term in office, his first overseas trip was to Saudi Arabia – a country now hosting the negotiations that Trump hopes will end the Russia-Ukraine war, making the kingdom ever more important to Washington. Qatar, meanwhile, has played a central role in negotiations between Israel and Hamas over ceasefires and hostage releases.
Wall Street and AI in the Gulf
The presidential visit is drawing several Wall Street and Silicon Valley titans to the Saudi kingdom. A Saudi-U.S. investment forum announced just this week and set to take place on May 13 in Riyadh will feature guests including BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and CEOs of major firms like Citigroup, IBM, Qualcomm, Alphabet, and Franklin Templeton, among others. White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks will also be in attendance.
“We also expect to see a lot of investment deals being announced,” Malik said. “And both ways, we’ve already seen the UAE announce a number of investments in the U.S. in areas such as AI, energy, aluminum, but we also think that there will be opportunities for U.S. companies to increase investment.”
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have invested heavily in AI infrastructure with the goal of becoming global hubs for the technology. Therefore, likely top of mind for those leaders is the future of U.S. semiconductor exports, the most advanced of which they so far have not gained access to due to national security concerns. But that may soon be changing.
The Trump administration on Wednesday announced its plan to rescind a Biden era “AI diffusion rule,” which imposed strict export controls on advanced AI chips, even to U.S.-friendly nations. The rule will be replaced with “a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance,” a U.S. Commerce Department spokesperson said Wednesday, though the details of the new rule have not yet been shared.
The UAE’s state AI firm G42 has made efforts to align with U.S. regulations, including divesting from Chinese companies and partnering with Microsoft, which last year invested $1.5 billion in G42.
Nuclear ambitions
The Trump administration has been actively engaged in talks with Iran over its nuclear program – talks that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have expressed support for. That enthusiasm marks a stark contrast to those countries’ attitudes toward any U.S. deals with Tehran during the Obama years.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia wants its own civilian nuclear program and has asked the U.S. for approvals and assistance in this direction. Any U.S. support for a Saudi nuclear program was previously contingent on Saudi Arabia normalizing diplomatic relations with U.S. ally Israel – but that could change during this visit, according to media reports citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, during a visit to the kingdom in April, said that Saudi Arabia and the U.S. were on a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement – but that any further announcements would come from Trump himself.
Israel-Gaza negotiations
Another major topic will be the future of Gaza. Trump has vowed to bring about an end to the war, while also controversially suggesting that the U.S. could take control of the war-ravaged Strip which he described as “important real estate,” comments that drew strong rebukes from Arab leaders.
The U.S. has continued to push for ceasefire deals, most recently floating a 21-day cessation of hostilities and release of some hostages, while Israel this week approved expanding fighting and territorial control in Gaza.
“We have yet to hear a comprehensive plan from the Arab world,” Greg Branch, founder of UAE-based Branch Global Capital Advisors, told CNBC on Friday while discussing Trump’s upcoming visit.
“If we’re going to see a response that’s going to be Arab-led, it’s probably now or never,” Branch said. “I think that will be handled very delicately behind the scenes … probably more of a long-term geopolitical risk than any immediate macro risk.”
Oil and financing
Branch suggested that lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria under its new government could also potentially be discussed. Meanwhile, reports that the Trump administration will announce a U.S. renaming of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf would be enthusiastically welcomed by Arab states, but could draw severe anger from Iran at a time of delicate nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
Oil prices will also be in focus; Trump has long pushed OPEC states, led by Saudi Arabia, to pump more oil to lower prices for American consumers. For a combination of reasons, Saudi Arabia is doing precisely that – but it may have to change course in the coming months if prices stay subdued, hurting the kingdom’s revenues.
In that vein, financing will be an important agenda item for the kingdom during Trump’s visit, according to ADCB’s Malik.
Saudi Arabia in November pledged to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the course of Trump’s term — but it also has sky-high costs for its own Vision 2030 investment ambitions. Lower global oil prices and big-ticket public spending projects have brought about widening budget deficits for Riyadh.
“With oil prices where they are, Saudi will look at more financing support from America as well as they look to progress with their investment program,” Malik said.
As it scrambles to turn things around, Nissan is scrapping plans to build a new LFP battery plant in Japan. The facility was expected to be key to reducing EV battery costs to keep up with leaders like BYD.
Nissan abandons plans for new EV battery plant in Japan
Nissan is scrambling to turn the company around. The Japanese automaker announced on Friday that it will “abandon plans to build a new plant” in Japan that was scheduled to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
The decision comes as Nissan is “considering all options to restore its performance.” Nissan said it will continue working on a strategy for EV batteries “aligned with market needs” as part of its turnaround efforts.
Nissan just received approval to build the new EV battery plant in Japan from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) in September.
The batteries were set to be installed in Nissan’s mini vehicles starting in 2028, part of an investment of over $1 billion (153.3 billion yen).
Nissan was scheduled to receive up to 55.7 billion yen ($384 million) in government support to help build a domestic supply chain.
Like other Japanese automakers, Nissan is facing weaker sales in key markets like China and North America. The company expects to post a net loss as high as 750 billion yen ($5.2 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2025.
The new LFP plant was expected to help Nissan cut EV battery costs by 20% to 30%, with up to 5 GWh annual production capacity.
Later this year, Nissan will launch the next-gen LEAF in the US and Canada. After unveiling the updated EV in March, Nissan claimed the new LEAF will have “significant range improvements.”
Nissan dropped the iconic hatch design for a more crossover-like profile. It will also come with a native NACS port to access Tesla Superchargers.
Although official specs and pricing will be revealed closer to launch, Nissan’s vehicle programs chief, Francois Bailly, told TopGear.com the new LEAF is expected to have 373 miles (600 km) driving range (WLTP)
Electrek’s Take
Although Nissan cited “market needs” and is looking to cut costs as part of its turnaround plans, abandoning the LFP battery plant will likely only set it back further in the long run.
BYD and other leading EV brands are quickly gaining market share in key regions like Southeast Asia, Central, and South America, as well as parts of Europe, where Japanese automakers like Nissan and Toyota generate a good portion of sales.
Now, BYD is taking aim at Japan. The Chinese automaker plans to launch its first mini EV, or kei car, next year, which is expected to be “a huge threat” to Japanese automakers.
Nissan’s decision comes a day after Toyota’s President, Koji Sato, said the company is “reviewing” plans to sell 1.5 million EVs by 2026.
Source: Nikkei, Nissan
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Mazda has announced that it will use the North American Charging Standard (NACS), also known as Tesla’s charge connector, on its upcoming electric vehicles in Japan.
The Japanese automaker had already announced that it would adopt NACS for its electric vehicles in North America, like all other automakers in North America, after Ford got the ball rolling.
But this new announcement is about Mazda bringing the NACS connector to Japan.
Mazda wrote in a press release today:
Mazda Motor Corporation (Mazda) today announced an agreement was reached with Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) for charging ports on the company’s battery electric vehicles (BEV) launched in Japan from 2027 onward.
This is will give Mazda EV owners in Japan access to Tesla’s Supercharger network.
The automaker says that NACS will be standard on its electric vehicles in Japan, and that to access non-NACS chargers, owners will need adapters:
Mazda BEVs will be compatible with other charging standards besides NACS with the use of adapters.
Mazda is actually not the first automaker to bring the NACS, which now might need a name change, to Japan.
Last year, Sony Honda Mobility’s AFEELA EV brand also announced plans to deploy its EVs in Japan with the NACS connector as standard.
Electrek’s Take
It makes sense. Japan doesn’t have a standard connector, and like in North America, Tesla has used its own connector in the market. CHAdeMO had its moment as a connector in Japan, and a few other markets, but it is getting phased out.
It would make sense for the entire Japanese market to adopt NACS.
Considering AFEELA is just getting started, I didn’t think it would create a snowball effect, but Mazda might now get the ball rolling.
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