China is still years behind the U.S. despite Huawei’s breakthrough chips, Raimondo tells ’60 Minutes’
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 25: U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo listens as U.S. President Joe Biden participates virtually in a meeting on the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House on July 25, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday downplayed Huawei Technologies’ latest microchip breakthrough, arguing the U.S. remains far ahead of China in the critical technology.
The comments, made on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” are in line with the Commerce secretary’s stance that the Biden administration’s restrictions on chip sales to China are working, despite an advanced made-in-China chip surfacing in a Huawei phone last year.
“It’s years behind what we have in the United States. We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. China doesn’t. We’ve out-innovated China,” Raimondo said in the interview which aired Sunday evening in the U.S.
U.S.-blacklisted Huawei released the Mate 60 Pro smartphone in August, which sported a 5G-capable chip — a feat thought to have been made difficult by a series of U.S. export controls in late 2022. The phone launched while Raimondo was on a visit to China.
Prior to the trip, it was reported that Raimondo’s email had been accessed by Chinese-linked hackers.
“I have their attention, clearly,” she said, adding the U.S. would continue to pursue actions to protect U.S. national security and businesses.
According to a senior Commerce Department official, Huawei’s chipmaking partner SMIC “potentially” violated U.S. law by providing an advanced chip to the Chinese phone maker.
Since the release of the Mate 60 Pro, the U.S. has further tightened restrictions on sales of advanced semiconductor tech to China.
Chinese officials have repeatedly denounced the policies, which require licenses for any company worldwide to sell products with advanced U.S.-designed chip technology to countries seen as adversaries.
Many U.S. chip companies, which rely on China for a large amount of business, have also expressed concerns about losing market access.
“We want to trade with China on the vast majority of goods and services,” Raimondo said. “But on those technologies that affect our national security, no.”
The global chip race ramped up after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, triggering the U.S. and allies such as the Netherlands and Japan to tighten advanced tech export controls. CNBC previously reported that Russia acquired advanced Western technology through intermediary countries like China.
“It’s absolutely the case that our export controls have hurt [Russia’s] ability to conduct the war, made it harder,” Raimondo said, though she admitted that Russia has found some alternative sources of chips.
The Commerce Department has also overseen the allocation of the Biden administration’s almost $53 billion CHIPS Act, aimed at building the U.S. domestic semiconductor industry and undercutting rivals like China.
In recent weeks, billions in grants and loans have been earmarked for chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology, which are all increasing production capacity in the U.S.
Raimondo told CNBC earlier this month that all of the grant money allocated for the CHIPS Act will be sent out by year-end.
An attendee wearing a Super Mario costume uses a Nintendo Switch 2 game console while playing a video game during the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience at the ExCeL London international exhibition and convention centre in London, Britain, April 11, 2025.
Isabel Infantes | Reuters
Nintendo on Friday announced that retail preorder for its Nintendo Switch 2 gaming system will begin on April 24 starting at $449.99.
Preorders for the hotly anticipated console were initially slated for April 9, but Nintendo delayed the date to assess the impact of the far-reaching, aggressive “reciprocal” tariffs that President Donald Trump announced earlier this month.
Most electronics companies, including Nintendo, manufacture their products in Asia. Nintendo’s Switch 1 consoles were made in China and Vietnam, Reuters reported in 2019. Trump has imposed a 145% tariff rate on China and a 10% rate on Vietnam. The latter is down from 46%, after he instituted a 90-day pause to allow for negotiations.
Nintendo said Friday that the Switch 2 will cost $449.99 in the U.S., which is the same price the company first announced on April 2.
“We apologize for the retail pre-order delay, and hope this reduces some of the uncertainty our consumers may be experiencing,” Nintendo said in a statement. “We thank our customers for their patience, and we share their excitement to experience Nintendo Switch 2 starting June 5, 2025.”
The Nintendo Switch 2 and “Mario Kart World“ bundle will cost $499.99, the digital version “Mario Kart World” will cost $79.99 and the digital version of “Donkey Kong Bananza” will cost $69.99, Nintendo said. All of those prices remain unchanged from the company’s initial announcement.
However, accessories for the Nintendo Switch 2 will “experience price adjustments,” the company said, and other future changes in costs are possible for “any Nintendo product.”
It will cost gamers $10 more to by the dock set, $1 more to buy the controller strap and $5 more to buy most other accessories, for instance.
WATCH: Nintendo has ‘a lot of work to do’ to convince casual users to upgrade to Switch 2: Kantan Games
An employee walks past a quilt displaying Etsy Inc. signage at the company’s headquarters in the Brooklyn.
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Etsy is trying to make it easier for shoppers to purchase products from local merchants and avoid the extra cost of imports as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs raise concerns about soaring prices.
In a post to Etsy’s website on Thursday, CEO Josh Silverman said the company is “surfacing new ways for buyers to discover businesses in their countries” via shopping pages and by featuring local sellers on its website and app.
“While we continue to nurture and enable cross-border trade on Etsy, we understand that people are increasingly interested in shopping domestically,” Silverman said.
Etsy operates an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers with mostly artisanal and handcrafted goods. The site, which had 5.6 million active sellers as of the end of December, competes with e-commerce juggernaut Amazon, as well as newer entrants that have ties to China like Temu, Shein and TikTok Shop.
By highlighting local sellers, Etsy could relieve some shoppers from having to pay higher prices induced by President Trump’s widespread tariffs on trade partners. Trump has imposed tariffs on most foreign countries, with China facing a rate of 145%, and other nations facing 10% rates after he instituted a 90-day pause to allow for negotiations. Trump also signed an executive order that will end the de minimis provision, a loophole for low-value shipments often used by online businesses, on May 2.
Temu and Shein have already announced they plan to raise prices late next week in response to the tariffs. Sellers on Amazon’s third-party marketplace, many of whom source their products from China, have said they’re considering raising prices.
Silverman said Etsy has provided guidance for its sellers to help them “run their businesses with as little disruption as possible” in the wake of tariffs and changes to the de minimis exemption.
Before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs took effect, Silverman said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in late February that he expects Etsy to benefit from the tariffs and de minimis restrictions because it “has much less dependence on products coming in from China.”
“We’re doing whatever work we can do to anticipate and prepare for come what may,” Silverman said at the time. “In general, though, I think Etsy will be more resilient than many of our competitors in these situations.”
Still, American shoppers may face higher prices on Etsy as U.S. businesses that source their products or components from China pass some of those costs on to consumers.
Etsy shares are down 17% this year, slightly more than the Nasdaq.
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