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SHENZHEN, China — Huawei on Monday assailed the latest US move to cut it off from semiconductor suppliers as a "pernicious" attack that will put the Chinese technology giant in "survival" mode and sow chaos in the global technology sector.

      The Commerce Department said on Friday it was tightening sanctions on Huawei -- seen by Washington as a security risk -- to include denying it access to semiconductor designs developed using US software and technology.

      "The decision was arbitrary and pernicious and threatens to undermine the entire (technology) industry worldwide," Huawei said in a statement.

      Huawei has largely weathered an escalating 18-month campaign by the Trump administration to isolate it internationally.

      But it "will inevitably be affected" by the new American salvo, rotating chairman Guo Ping said at an annual summit of technology analysts that Huawei organises at its headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

      Survival mode 

      "Survival is the key for us now," Guo said, issuing an appeal to Huawei's suppliers and customers worldwide to stand with it.

      He declined to give a detailed forecast of the impact when asked by journalists.

      But the Huawei statement said the US decision "will have a serious impact on a wide number of global industries" by creating uncertainty in the chip sector and technology supply chains.

      US officials said Huawei had been circumventing sanctions by obtaining chips and components that are produced around the world based on American technology.

      Washington last year said it would blacklist Huawei from the US market and from buying crucial American components, though it has extended a series of reprieves to allow US businesses that work with Huawei time to adjust.

      On Friday, it extended this reprieve by another 90 days but said these exceptions are not likely to be extended further.

      Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had said that even as Huawei seeks to develop its own components in response to US sanctions, "that effort is still dependent on US technologies."

      US officials accuse Huawei, the world's biggest supplier of telecom network equipment and number two smartphone manufacturer, of stealing American trade secrets and say it could allow Beijing to spy on global telecoms traffic.

      Huawei strenuously denies the charges, saying the United States has never provided any proof of a security threat.

      The sanctions against the company have been a key driver of heightened US-China trade tensions.

      China's Ministry of Commerce on Sunday warned it would take unspecified "necessary measures" to protect Huawei.

      US officials said the new rules would have a 120-day grace period. 

      A senior State Department official said the move would not necessarily deny Huawei access to these products but require a license allowing Washington to keep track of the technology.

       US trying to 'crush' rivals 

      Huawei is poised to become a global leader in the coming advent of fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless networks and Washington has lobbied other countries to shun Huawei gear over potential security risks.

      China's government has poured money into developing home-grown semiconductors -- the building blocks of tech -- but it still lags behind the US, Japan and South Korea, which analysts say is a glaring Achilles heel for Chinese companies like Huawei.

      Huawei said the US was "leveraging its own technological strengths to crush" foreign companies.

      The resulting disruptions to supply chains will ultimately harm US interests, it added.

      Declaring Huawei was "taking the lead" in global tech, Guo suggested that Washington's pressure was fuelled by fear that the United States was falling behind technologically.

      "Any other country or company with more advanced technologies may put US supremacy at risk," he told the industry conference. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook said on Friday it had acquired the animated graphics startup GIPHY and would integrate the company in its Instagram visual social network.

      Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the news site Axios said the California-based tech giant was paying $400 million.

      GIPHY is a platform and search engine for "stickers" and other products using the graphics interchange format or GIFs.

      "GIPHY, a leader in visual expression and creation, is joining the Facebook company today as part of the Instagram team," Facebook said in a statement.

      "GIPHY makes everyday conversations more entertaining, and so we plan to further integrate their GIF library into Instagram and our other apps so that people can find just the right way to express themselves."

      GIPHY was created in 2013 with a simple goal in mind. That is “to make communication more fun," a blog from the GIPHY team said.

      "That's why we're thrilled to announce that GIPHY has been acquired by Facebook and is joining the team at Instagram.

      "Instagram has revolutionised self-expression. More than one billion people use Instagram to communicate how they're feeling and what they're passionate about -- we can't wait to help those people become even more animated."

      The news comes with social networks seeing usage grow as a result of billions of people sheltering in place due to coronavirus lockdowns.

      At the same time, tech critics have warned about the pandemic boosting the power of top Silicon Valley firms, and some lawmakers have called for a moratorium on mergers and acquisitions involving the large companies.

      Facebook said it has partnered with GIPHY for years and that the company would continue to operate its library.

      "We're looking forward to investing further in its technology and relationships with content," said Instagram vice president of product Vishal Shah.

      "GIFs and stickers give people meaningful and creative ways to express themselves. We see the positivity in how people use GIPHY in our products today, and we know that bringing the GIPHY team's creativity and talent together with ours will only accelerate how people use visual communication to connect with each other."

BEIJING — China on Sunday warned it would take "necessary measures" to protect Huawei and other firms after the United States announced new restrictions on the Chinese company purchases of semiconductor technology.

      Washington on Friday ramped up sanctions on the company at the centre of US spying allegations, cutting Huawei off from global chipmakers.

      "China will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese firms," the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.

      "China urges the US to immediately cease its wrong actions," the ministry added, calling the restrictions a "serious threat to global supply chains."

      The threat of retaliation comes a day after Beijing condemned the US move as "unreasonable suppression of Huawei and Chinese enterprises."

      The US Commerce Department said on Friday its new sanctions would "narrowly and strategically target Huawei's acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain US software and technology."

      US officials have repeatedly accused the Chinese technology giant of stealing American trade secrets and aiding China's espionage efforts, ramping up tensions with the rival superpower while both sides were involved in a long-simmering trade war. 

      As a result, Huawei has increasingly relied on domestically manufactured technology, but the latest rules will also ban foreign firms that use US technology from shipping semiconductors to Huawei without US permission.

      The new restrictions will cut off Huawei's access to one of its major suppliers, the Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, which also manufactures chips for Apple and other tech firms. 

      Huawei has not yet responded to requests for comment.

BEIRUT — Lebanon, whose currency has been pegged to the dollar for 23 years, is ready to float the pound only after it secures billions in aid, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said on Friday.

      Speaking to AFP after talks started on Wednesday with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a plan to rescue Lebanon's free falling economy, he also said a restructuring of the banking sector would entail halving the number of banks in the country.

      A hard currency crunch in recent months has strained the official fixed rate of 1,507 to the dollar, with the pound losing more than half of its value to fetch well over 4,000 on the black market.

      "The IMF always asks for the freeing of the pound's exchange rate," Wazni said.

      But "we need to change the stabilisation policy to one of a flexible exchange rate in a first stage and for the forseeable future," he said, referring to an initial managed flotation.

      "When we receive financial support from abroad, we will transition to floatation" according to the market, he said.

      "The Lebanese government has asked for a transitional period to pass through a flexible exchange rate before we reach floatation," he added.

      Wazni said the first phase would involve "a gradual increase of the exchange rate to the dollar," in coordination with the central bank.

      He said this was necessary because the government feared "huge deterioration of the pound exchange rate" otherwise.

      Lebanon, which was hit last autumn by unprecedented protests, asked the IMF for financial assistance on May 1 after laying out a much-awaited financial rescue plan.

      That plan aims to drum up billions of dollars in aid, reduce the deficit, restructure a colossal debt, and reorganise an oversized banking sector.

      Wazni said the restructuring would be done "step by step".

      "Lebanon counts 49 commercial banks and it is normal for that number to decrease to around half of that in the next stage," he said.

      Lebanon is in the grips of a severe liquidity crunch, with depositors unable to make transfers abroad or withdraw dollars.

      The Mediterranean nation is one of the most indebted countries worldwide with a debt equivalent to 170 per cent of its gross domestic product. 

      It defaulted on a repayment for the first time ever in March.

NEW YORK — US department store JCPenney, which has not turned a profit since 2011, on Friday became the latest American retailer to be pushed into bankruptcy by the coronavirus pandemic.

      The iconic business said it was filing for Chapter 11, a mechanism which allows a company that can no longer pay its debts to restructure.

      The group, based in Plano, Texas, will close some stores across the US as a result, it said in a statement. 

      It has $500 million in cash and has received financing commitments of $900 million from lenders, it added. 

      The company missed a debt interest payment in April, fueling rumors of an impending bankruptcy. 

      "The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for our families, our loved ones, our communities, and our country," chief executive officer Jill Soltau in a statement. 

      "The American retail industry has experienced a profoundly different new reality, requiring JCPenney to make difficult decisions in running our business," she continued. 

      "Until this pandemic struck, we had made significant progress rebuilding our company... While we had been working in parallel on options to strengthen our balance sheet and extend our financial runway, the closure of our stores due to the pandemic necessitated a more fulsome review to include the elimination of outstanding debt," Soltau said. 

      Founded in 1902 in Wyoming by James Cash Penney, the chain survived the Great Depression and established itself in the second half of the 20th century as an anchor of giant suburban shopping malls, then symbols of American consumerism. 

      But -- like clothing company J.Crew and department store Nieman Marcus, which have also filed for bankruptcy since the pandemic began -- it has struggled for years.

      Its decline began a decade ago with the advent of online shopping and the rise of Amazon as well as trendy, cheap chains like H&M and Zara. 

      In February, JCPenney had about 90,000 employees and nearly 850 stores in the United States, according to documents provided to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

      The company plans to reduce its number of stores in stages as part of its comprehensive restructuring plan. 

      It reported sales of $10.7 billion in 2019, a decrease of more than $7 billion in 10 years. 

NEW YORK — Global stocks were mostly firm on Friday as investors shrugged off weak economic data from Germany and the United States and focused on the easing of lockdowns rather than on fears of another coronavirus wave.

Equity investors in Europe went fishing for bargains a day after stocks tanked on news of spiking jobless claims in the United States.

"After two down days for the markets, the week is ending on a more positive note for equities," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

The German economy shrank by 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, federal statistics agency Destatis said, calling the quarter-on-quarter decline "the worst since the global financial crisis" in 2009.

The agency also revised its gross domestic product figure for the final quarter of 2019 from zero growth to a contraction of 0.1 per cent. That means Germany has experienced two consecutive quarters of decline, meeting the technical definition of a recession.

In spite of that, the DAX 30 finished up 1.2 per cent, with analysts viewing Germany as better situated than other eurozone members.

The downturn "was significantly smaller than the average for the eurozone and less than half the impact seen in the countries that saw the harshest lockdowns such as France and Spain," Oxford Economics said in a note.

On Wall Street, stocks were initially pressured following weak retail sales data and US actions against Chinese telecom giant Huawei that escalated Washington's tensions with Beijing.

But the Federal Reserve's muscular response to the coronavirus crisis has reassured equity investors, said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services.

These programmes include vehicles to purchase corporate debt, which means "solvent borrowers have a backup and that lifts their shares," he said.

In one bright spot for the US, the University of Michigan monthly survey showed consumer sentiment improved slightly in May, ticking up to 73.7 per cent from 71.8 per cent in April.

But Oxford Economics warned the bounce was "fragile," according to a note Friday. 

"Whether it can be sustained will depend in part on whether the government enacts further stimulus measures to help households and whether the relaxation of restrictions results in a resurgence in COVID-19 infections," the note said.

SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities in California say Tesla's only assembly plant in the United States could open as early as next week, albeit with enhanced safety measures because of the pandemic, after a very public anti-lockdown tirade by Elon Musk with support from President Donald Trump. 

      In a series of tweets on Wednesday, authorities in Alameda County, which includes the city of Fremont, home to the plant, said they had met with Tesla representatives, reviewed the electric carmaker's safety plans for the factory and made some extra recommendations.

      "If Tesla's Prevention and Control Plan includes these updates, and the public health indicators remain stable or improve, we have agreed that Tesla can begin to augment their Minimum Business Operations this week in preparation for possible reopening as soon as next week," the county health agency said.

      Musk said on Monday the company was resuming production, defying authorities and escalating a feud over the Pacific state's pandemic shutdown.

      "I will be on the line with everyone else," Musk tweeted. "If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."

      Musk's move comes amid rising disputes over the pace of easing the lockdowns imposed by states to contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

      The new statement from the county said police in Fremont would be on hand to verify that Tesla is observing social distancing and that other agreed upon safety measures for workers are being upheld.

      Tesla did not immediately respond to the announcement.

      Musk has been raging on Twitter for days about his unsuccessful efforts to restart production, claiming the ban violates "our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!"

      The US administration is pushing a reopening of the world's largest economy, battered by weeks of lockdown, even as the daily death toll has generally been rising by 1,000 to 2,500 in recent weeks.

      Trump weighed in Tuesday in support of Musk.

      "California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW. It can be done Fast & Safely!" Trump said in a tweet.

      Over the weekend, Musk threatened to move Tesla's headquarters and factory out of California as a result of the standoff.

PARIS — The rebalancing of the oil market is underway and will accelerate, the OPEC cartel said on Wednesday, days after some of its members voluntarily increased their production cuts.

      The world oil market was thrown into disarray earlier this year as lockdown measures imposed by governments to slow the spread of the coronavirus led to plunge in demand just as crude producers had been stepping up output in a war for market share.

      Prices tumbled, with the price of the benchmark US oil futures contract briefly plunging below zero.

      But OPEC and its allies have agreed on major cuts in production, by 9.7 million barrels per day, and the cartel believes an improvement is on the horizon. 

      "The speedy supply adjustments in addressing the current acute imbalance in the global oil market has already started showing positive response, with rebalancing expected to pick up faster in the coming quarters," OPEC said in its monthly report.

      The collapse in oil prices -- the main international benchmark has fallen by half since the start of the year -- is leading some producers to shut down wells and the cartel now expects non-OPEC production to decline by 3.5 million barrels per day this year.

      It believes the worst drop in demand will be recorded in the current April-June quarter.

      The easing of restrictions and the massive stimulus programmes adopted by governments could now help the market bounce back.

      OPEC said it now expects daily demand in 2020 to drop by some 8.5 million barrels per day from last year's level, which is a roughly 8.5 per cent drop.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia unveiled plans on Monday to triple its Value Added Tax (VAT) and halt monthly handouts to citizens, as part of a series of austerity measures, amid record low oil prices and a coronavirus-led economic slump.

      The measures, which state media said would boost state coffers by 100 billion riyals ($26.6 billion), come as the government steps up emergency plans to slash spending to deal with the twin economic blow.

      The austerity drive comes amid an already high cost of living.

      "It has been decided the cost of living allowance will be halted from June 2020 and VAT will be raised from 5 per cent to 15 per cent from July 1," Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.

      Jadaan said the measures were necessary to shore up state finances amid a "sharp decline" in oil revenue as the coronavirus pandemic saps global demand for crude.

      The government was also "cancelling, extending or postponing" expenditure for some government agencies and cutting spending on projects introduced as part of the ambitious "Vision 2030" reform programme to diversify the oil-reliant economy, the minister added.

      Jadaan last week warned of "painful" and "drastic" steps to deal with the double shock of the novel coronavirus and record low oil prices.

      Saudi Arabia, the top crude exporter and the Arab world's biggest economy, has shut down cinemas and restaurants, halted flights, and suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage in a bid to contain the deadly virus.

      Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf states, imposed a five per cent tax on goods and services in 2018 in a bid to generate additional revenue.

      The country had also introduced handouts worth billions of dollars to citizens, known as the cost of living allowance, to cushion the impact of rising costs.

      But the savings from the austerity measures are unlikely to plug the kingdom's huge budget deficit, which the Saudi Jadwa Investment group said would rise to a record $112 billion this year.

      Riyadh has posted a budget deficit every year since the last oil price rout in 2014.

     In April, the International Monetary Fund projected that the Saudi economy would contract by 2.3 per cent this year.

      Jadaan has said he expected Riyadh could lose half of its oil income, which contributes about 70 per cent of public revenues, as oil prices have fallen two-thirds since the start of the year.

      He said the world's leading crude exporter would borrow close to $60 billion this year to plug the budget deficit.

SINGAPORE — Oil prices were down in Asian trade on Monday after big gains last week on signs of a demand revival as some governments ease coronavirus lockdown measures.

      US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 2.95 per cent to $24.01 a barrel in morning trade.

      International benchmark Brent was changing hands at $30.27 a barrel, down 2.26 per cent.

      Both contracts were up on Friday, with WTI advancing 25 per cent from the previous week following unprecedented output cuts by major crude producers and hopes of demand returning as some key economies began to ease strict measures to contain the virus.

      It was the first back-to-back weekly gain for WTI since February.

      The number of active US oil rigs also continued to fall in a sign of dampened drilling activity.

      Analysts said traders were locking in profits on Monday, causing prices to fall.

      "Oil prices have eased this morning on light profit-taking flows, helped by data from India suggesting oil demand nearly halved last month," OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley told AFP.

      Analysts, however, expect the decline to be limited.

      "Crude oil prices continue to find support from increasing supply cutbacks amid the improving macro backdrop," ANZ Bank said in a note.

      "The US shale oil industry has been hit hard by the lower prices, with drilling activity already curtailed sharply."

      Oil markets were battered in April as the virus strangled demand owing to business closures and travel restrictions, with US crude falling into negative territory for the first time.

     But the market found support after some countries from Asia to Europe began rolling back restrictions as they passed the peak of their outbreaks.

      A deal agreed between top producers to reduce output by almost 10 million barrels a day also came into full effect on May 1.

      "While price action is bound to be choppy as economies try to move out of lockdowns, it is probably safe to say that traders have planked a base on oil prices," said AxiCorp global market strategist Stephen Innes.

      "Oil fundamentals are showings signs of improvement by the week."