As part of continuing trade talks with Washington, India is considering eliminating import levies on US liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and ethane. According to media reports, this move is intended to increase fuel imports from the US and is consistent with India’s plan to remove import duties on US liquefied natural gas (LNG). Butane, propane, and ethane—all necessary for the production of petrochemicals and cooking gas—are currently subject to a 2.5% import tariff. India bought 18.5 million metric tonnes of LPG, mostly from the Middle East, for $10.4 billion in the fiscal year 2023–2024. With 65,000 barrels per day last year, India is now the second-largest importer of US ethane after China. However, due to restricted ship availability, storage, and processing capacity, logistical problems make it difficult to increase US ethane imports. Energy Aspects analyst Cheryl Liu pointed out that it will be difficult for the US to boost ethane shipments to India. It is because India appears to have already maximised its usage of ethane as a feedstock due to advantageous present margins. The main purchaser of ethane, Reliance Industries, a significant participant in India’s petrochemical industry, highlights the difficulties in growing this trade.
India Aims to Broaden its Bilateral Trade with US
India’s intentions are a part of a larger trade pact that aims to offset a $45.7 billion trade surplus that now favours India by increasing bilateral trade with the US to $500 billion by 2030. Officials from the finance and commerce ministries will make the final judgement on these duty reductions. Logistical issues continue to be a major obstacle to increasing US ethane imports in the near future, notwithstanding the possible economic advantages. Washington and New Delhi agreed in February to work together on the first phase of a trade deal that is anticipated to be completed by the end of this year. In addition to resolving India’s $45.7 billion trade imbalance, the objective is to increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Sources inside the Indian government claim that representatives from the finance and commerce ministries would ultimately decide whether to lower tariffs.
LPG Import the Right Choice for India
Given that India imports over 60% of its LPG needs, the import scenario offers a simpler opportunity for the country. In terms of logistics, it is easier to increase LPG imports than ethane, according to Prashant Vashisth, vice president of Moody’s affiliate ICRA. This approach supports India’s objective of negotiating advantageous economic terms with the US while securing a steady energy supply. India keeps looking for the best ways to strike a compromise between its trade goals and its energy import requirements as trade negotiations move forward. The conversations reveal a calculated desire to increase economic relations with the United States while diversifying energy sources.
It will help unlock government benefits for MSMEs on the Tide platform through easy digital registration.
Aims to accelerate formalisation for MSMEs on its platform
Improve access to credit and incentives from over 800 government schemes
Bridge the awareness gap in MSME funding and compliance
Tide in India, a leading business management platform, announced its strategic partnership with eMSME, a pioneering fintech platform dedicated to simplifying access to government schemes, funding, and compliance solutions for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This collaboration introduces three essential services – GST Registration, Udyam Registration, and Scheme Discovery Reports – exclusively for Tide members in India.
The new features on Tide will fast-track MSME formalisation by simplifying GST and Udyam registration – unlocking access to credit, government benefits, and the wider digital economy. Formalisation is key to unlocking credit, government incentives, and entry into the digital economy – benefits often out of reach for unregistered businesses.
Small and micro businesses in India often operate without official registration, which can be challenging. Tide and eMSME aim to bridge this gap by offering seamless access to vital registration services and government benefits. The partnership will help Tide’s 650,000 members to easily navigate business compliance and unlock growth opportunities.
Key Services Launched:
GST Registration: Facilitates businesses in obtaining a Goods and Services Tax (GST) number, ensuring compliance with taxation norms and enabling smoother financial operations.
Udyam Registration: Simplifies registering as an MSME, granting access to various government schemes, subsidies, and incentives designed to promote business growth.
Scheme Discovery Report: Provides personalised reports that identify government schemes from a pool of over 800 options, tailored to the needs and profiles of individual businesses.
Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO of Tide in India, said: “At Tide, we’re committed to empowering small businesses by simplifying access to financial and compliance services. Our partnership with eMSME bridges the awareness gap that holds many entrepreneurs back from leveraging government support. Scheme Discovery is a game-changer, helping MSMEs identify the right schemes, understand their eligibility, and unlock critical incentives. By integrating these tools into the Tide platform, we’re making it easier for small businesses to formalise, grow, and succeed in today’s dynamic economy.”
According to the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, 1.3 crore MSMEs (21%) were registered with GSTINs as of December 2024. In addition to incentivising businesses to move from the informal to the formal sector, GST helps MSMEs get a competitive edge in domestic and global markets by reducing costs through ITC. Moreover, the streamlined tax system also helps MSMEs integrate into organised supply chains, increasing their market reach. This means that about 80% MSMEs are losing out on major opportunities that come with formalisation, and Tide’s effort under this partnership will help them get over the line.
The Scheme Discovery feature is vital for Indian MSMEs, many of whom remain unaware of government schemes designed to support them. Tide’s Bharat Women Aspiration Index 2024 found that nearly 95% of women entrepreneurs don’t know about existing financial schemes (Awareness of Central Sector Scheme among the Entrepreneurs in MSME Sector: An Investigative Study). This lack of awareness extends across the broader MSME sector, especially in rural areas, leaving countless businesses unable to access crucial support and growth opportunities.
The Scheme Discovery feature directly addresses this gap by enabling SMEs to identify relevant government schemes and assess their eligibility, helping them adopt a more targeted and effective approach to accessing essential finance and resources.
CA Tanishq Hingad, COO, eMSME, “For many entrepreneurs, figuring out where to start — whether it’s with registrations, compliance, or accessing government support — can feel overwhelming. This collaboration with Tide brings these critical services together on a single, easy-to-use platform, helping members access what they need without confusion, delays, or complexity. This collaboration with Tide is a big step toward our vision of revolutionising the MSME ecosystem and letting entrepreneurs focus on what matters most: growing their business.”
Among the many benefits of the official registration of businesses with government authorities, these are some of the most significant ones:
Ease of Taxation: Simplifies the process of filing business and income taxes, ensuring compliance and reducing administrative burdens.
Improved Cash Flow: Enables businesses to claim input tax credits, enhancing liquidity and financial management.
Access to Government Schemes: Opens doors to thousands of government-sponsored benefits aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and business expansion.
India has over 6.3 crore MSMEs, but a large proportion remains unregistered, limiting their ability to scale and benefit from formal financial systems. By offering a seamless way to register and discover relevant schemes, Tide is not only helping small businesses unlock growth opportunities but also contributing to India’s vision of a stronger, more resilient MSME sector that drives economic development and job creation.
About Tide
Founded in 2015 and launched in 2017, Tide is the leading business financial platform in the UK. Tide helps SMEs save time (and money) in the running of their businesses by not only offering business accounts and related banking services, but also a comprehensive set of highly usable and connected administrative solutions from invoicing to accounting. Tide has 650,000 SME members in the UK (11% market share) and 650,000 members in India. Tide launched in Germany in May 2024. Tide has also been recognised with the Great Place to Work certification two consecutive years in a row (2023-24 and 2024-25).
Tide employs more than 2,000 Tideans worldwide. Tide’s long-term ambition is to be the leading business management platform globally.
About eMSME
eMSME, a brand of AJVA Fintech Pvt. Ltd., is a digital platform designed to empower MSMEs. We simplify access to government schemes, regulatory compliance, and essential financial products — improving credibility and bankability for businesses. Built after extensive consultation with business owners and banking experts, eMSME offers three tech-driven SaaS tools that deliver cost-effective, time-saving services tailored for India’s MSME sector.
The definition of a modern home is changing, and so are its energy needs. Livguard Solar 360 rises to meet these expectations with a solar solution engineered for efficiency, intelligence, and durability.
With Akshay Kumar lending his voice to this powerful campaign, Livguard sends a clear message: the future of energy is not only green but also precise and performance-driven.
The Solar 360 solution stands out with its end-to-end delivery from expert consultations and custom design to robust installation and remote monitoring. Add to that 10% higher power generation, and it’s clear why Livguard is setting new industry standards.
Solar isn’t just about saving energy anymore, it’s about rethinking how we live. Livguard Solar 360 aligns with the vision of a self-sufficient, connected, and sustainable Indian home.
In a cluttered solar market, Livguard’s unique positioning, precision engineering, smart tech, and celebrity trust make it a category-defining innovation.
Power your home with intelligence. Power your lifestyle with Livguard.
Mamaearth‘s parent business, Honasa Consumer Ltd., a skincare brand, has filed a lawsuit against Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL), a major player in the FMCG industry, alleging that a Lakme advertisement is deceptive and derogatory. A recent Lakme campaign called “SPF Lie Detector Test” unfairly criticises rival goods, including one that closely resembles a sunscreen from The Derma Co, another Honasa brand, according to a case filed before the Delhi High Court by Honasa. With its dramatic “hit and run” visual metaphor, the commercial implies that competing sunscreens fall short in terms of SPF protection. Honasa contends that by using similar packaging and misleading inferences, the advertisement denigrates its products and misleads consumers.
High Court Agreed to Honasa’s Claims
Following a preliminary hearing, the Delhi High Court stated that the Lakme advertisement was derogatory “on the face of it” and asked HUL to respond. According to a statement from HUL, SPF in-vivo testing is the gold standard and internationally accepted technique for evaluating the effectiveness of sunscreens. Lakme has been using this technique for its sun portfolio since 2015. Regretfully, a number of brands—some of which are internet bestsellers—have been making exaggerated claims about SPF 50. In the best interests of customers, independent testing by certified laboratories shows that they fall well short of the claims made. This would be equivalent to deceiving them about sunscreen, which has effects on the skin, including pigmentation, ageing, and spots. The goal of the brand’s Lakme Sun Superiority campaign is to give Indian people access to sunscreens they can rely on.
Honasa Demanding an Immediate Action by Taking Down Ad
Honasa is requesting that the commercial be taken down right away because it claims that it harms the reputation of its businesses. Both parties are set to present their arguments during the anticipated hearing of the case today. Ghazal Alagh, a co-founder of Mamaearth, had earlier welcomed Lakme to the in-vivo-tested SPF 50 club in a LinkedIn post. According to Alagh, there hasn’t been much rivalry in the Indian FMCG market for a while, which has made big, established firms comfortable. Mamaearth is proud to have been breaking these conventions and bringing these brands to light repeatedly. In order to force manufacturers to use clean label ingredients, the company used the Mamaearth brand. And now once more, The Derma Co. is paving the way for truthful, proactive disclosures and scientifically supported claims. Customers have loved this so much that several competitors are envious. She went on to say that it makes them delighted to see historic businesses reappear and even outright replicate things from their names to their packaging. Mamaearth will continue to lead the way and innovate.
Good Monk, the flagship brand of Superfoods Valley, a Bengaluru-based startup, raised $2 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by RPSG Capital Ventures, and saw participation from existing investors Multiply Ventures, Sharrp Ventures and ThinKuvate.
The latest backing by RPSG Capital Ventures marks a significant milestone in the growth journey of Good Monk, further reinforcing their vision to disrupt the way India consumes nutrition. With the support of seasoned investors, the company is poised to grow its market in India.
Founded by parents, Amarpreet Singh Anand and Sahiba Kaur, who were frustrated by the lack of clean, effective and easy-to-use to use nutrition choices, Good Monk launched a nutrition mix that helps smuggle the right nutrients into a family’s daily food without altering the taste or smell of food. Their range offers clinically proven solutions for kids, adults and 50+ year old consumer groups. Good Monk’s goal is to inspire India to eat nutritious and live healthy, by using the power of technology, deep consumer understanding, modern science & traditional wisdom.
Good Monk was recently part of Shark Tank Season 4 and successfully earned a deal on the show from Vineeta Singh, Co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics.
Also with the guidance of investors like Sanjay Ramakrishnan, Multiply Ventures and Rishabh Mariwala, Sharrp Ventures, the brand has been able to build a strong consumer base and grow 11x in the last 12 months with a focus on innovation and product diversification. Their support has been pivotal during the initial phase of the brand and with RPSG Capital Ventures coming in at this point, will facilitate the next level of growth.
“At Good Monk, we believe that nutrition should be easy, effective, and clean. Our mission is to empower Indian families to take control of their health without compromising on taste or convenience. We are thrilled to have RPSG Capital Ventures partner with us in this journey and are grateful for the continued belief by existing investors – Multiply Ventures, Sharrp Ventures and ThinKuvate who participated in the round.”, said Amarpreet Singh Anand, Co-founder, Good Monk.
Commenting on the investment, Sahiba Kaur, Co-founder, Good Monk says, “With unhealthy wellness products masquerading as healthy options, one of the biggest challenges facing us today is getting the right nutrition without complicated routines or unpleasant tasting products. The partnership with RPSG Venture Capital will facilitate investing in R&D and product development to present better nutritional alternatives.”
Commenting on the round, Abhishek Goenka, Managing Partner at RPSG Capital Ventures said, “We have strong conviction in nutrition, health and wellness as a space and have constantly backed companies in this category such as Nutrabay, Plix and True Elements. We are seeing a surge in use of nutritional supplements, where consumers are seeking innovative formats that make dietary supplements uncomplicated, convenient and effective. Good Monk has demonstrated impressive, clutter breaking, product innovation which we believe will disrupt the market significantly.”
Good Monk is currently retailing across its website and leading e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. The brand is constantly expanding its presence across digital footprints and making the brand available to its consumers at places they would prefer to purchase the brand.
About Good Monk
Good Monk is a hero Nutrition brand from Superfoods Valley. A Bengaluru-based Nutrition Startup that’s committed to solving key nutrient deficiencies across India by building a range of clean, easy-to-use and effective nutrition products.
About RPSG Capital Ventures
RPSG Capital Ventures (www.rpsgcapital.vc) is an early-stage consumer venture capital fund established in 2018. The fund typically invests in Series A rounds with first cheques of up to $5 million in the consumer brands ecosystem across F&B, beauty, health and wellness, entertainment, lifestyle goods and digital enabler categories. With 15+ investments including The Souled Store, mCaffeine, Perfora, Vedix and Plix, it has 3 active funds with a combined corpus of INR 750 crores. RPSG Capital Ventures has a focused portfolio approach, ensuring that the team can devote attention to each portfolio company and is strongly invested in their success, leading to a 90% success rate to date.
So far, Inflection Point Ventures has invested over INR 810 crores across 210+ startups.
That Sassy Thing, India’s first sexual wellness brand for women has raised INR 6 crores. Their seed round has been led by IPV (Inflection Point Ventures) and notable entrepreneurs and investors such as Bala Sarda (Vahdam Teas), Saurabh Munjal (Lahori Zeera), Kirti Jangra (Animall Technologies), have also joined the cap table over the two rounds. The company also saw participation from Chandigarh Angels Network (CAN).
Founded in 2021, That Sassy Thing is disrupting the highly underserved sexual wellness market with a women-first, stigma-free and fun approach. Their range of products—full body massagers, aloe-based lubricants, and intimate washes—combine safety, discretion, and thoughtful design. Beyond products, the brand has pioneered a comprehensive, sex-education-first approach, offering India’s first free, credible sex-ed masterclasses online.
The brand was co-founded by Sachee Malhotra and Himanshu Bhalla, a husband-wife duo, who bring over 2 decades of combined experience across the sexual wellness, D2C, and creative consultancy sectors. Sachee holds a Master’s in Brand Communications Strategy from Virginia Commonwealth University, U.S and has previously worked on brands such as Arata, VegNonVeg, Smoke Vodka, Damensch, Zeno Health, noon.com, etc. Himanshu is a Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (DU) graduate and has led creative mandates for marquee names like UNESCO, Penguin Books, and Manforce Condoms through his brand consultancy.
“As an investor, I believe women’s sexual wellness and educationare among the most overlooked and underfunded areas in the consumer lifestyle space. That Sassy Thing is boldly flipping the script—not just with well-designed products, but also with inclusive, credible sex education that’s changing the way women engage with themselves. We’re proud to back their mission and help them scale this important movement,” said Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, Inflection Point Ventures.
The brand has grown 200% YoY and served over 50,000 customers across India. Products are available via their website and major quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart. They’ve also started retailing at select cafés in Delhi NCR—reflecting a cultural shift and rising acceptance.
Their biggest strength lies in a women-first brand ethos that combines safe, playful product innovation with a mission to normalise conversations around pleasure, sexual health, and body literacy. With an engaged digital community and educational campaigns, That Sassy Thing has created a strong niche that merges commerce and culture.
“Sexual wellness needs a rebrand. For too long, women have been ignored or objectified in this space. We’re changing that narrative by focusing on women’s needs—vaginal wellness, PCOS, menopause—and giving them stigma-free access to products and education. With this fundraise, we’re doubling down on brand, team, and category-defining solutions,” said Sachee Malhotra, Co-founder.
“The market is massive and deeply untapped. With rising global exposure and changing mindsets, we’re poised to create India’s largest sexual wellness brand for women. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and this is just the beginning,” added Himanshu Bhalla, Co-founder.
The brand’s Healing from Sexual Trauma masterclass had won the UN Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2024.
The Indian sexual wellness market is projected to reach ₹24,000 crore by 2030. While male-focused brands have long dominated, there is an increasing push for gender-inclusive, wellness-driven narratives, creating immense room for growth in women’s sexual wellness.
About That Sassy Thing
That Sassy Thing is on a mission to build India’s boldest and largest sexual wellness brand for women—one that empowers, educates, and celebrates pleasure. With strong fundamentals and a culture-first approach, the brand is paving the way for a new era of stigma-free wellness.
About IPV
Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) is an angel investing platform with over 23,500+ CXOs, HNIs, and Professionals to invest in startups together. The firm supports new-age entrepreneurs by providing them with monetary & experiential capital and connecting them with a diverse group of investors. IPV has launched a $50 Mn CAT 2 VC fund, Physis Capital, to invest in Pre-Series A to Series B growth-stage startups. The fund has already deployed capital in two startups so far, with a few deals in advanced stages of pipeline.
On 16 April, Paytm revealed that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the company’s founder and CEO, had renounced 21 million employee stock options worth over INR 1,800 crore. This action came months after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had sent him show-cause notices for breaking the rules governing the granting of share-based employee benefits. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the company’s chairman, managing director, and chief executive officer, notified the company in a letter dated April 16, 2025, that he had voluntarily renounced all 2,10,00,000 ESOPs that had been granted to him under the One 97 Employees Stock Option Scheme, 2019, with immediate effect, according to a regulatory filing made by Paytm to the stock exchanges.
How this will Change the Business Dynamics of Paytm?
According to the filing, the company’s ESOP programme has refunded the remaining unvested ESOPs to the ESOP pool, while some have been terminated. The business added that this action will lead to a one-time, non-cash acceleration of INR 492 crore in ESOP expenses in Q4 FY 2025, as well as a corresponding reduction in ESOP expenses in subsequent years. In addition, Paytm stated that when it releases its Q4 Q4FY25 results, it will provide information about its ESOP cost timeline. A year prior to Paytm’s 2021 IPO, Sharma held a 14.7% stake in the fintech company. He transferred 30.97 million shares to Axis Trustee Services, which operated on behalf of Sharma’s family trust, in order to lower his ownership to 9.1% and qualify for ESOP incentives. Due to suspected factual misrepresentation, Sharma and other board members who served during Paytm’s November 2021 IPO received notices from SEBI.
SEBI’s Move Forced Sharma to React
In August 2024, Paytm received a show-cause notice from SEBI for Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s ESOP grant, which violated the regulations governing share-based employee perks. Large shareholders who have the power to affect business decisions are prohibited from owning ESOPs under SEBI’s market regulations. The corporation made improvements to its ESOP plan in March, including tying ESOP vesting to the most recent appraisal exercise’s annual performance ratings. Additionally, Paytm has distributed ESOPs to qualified workers at least twice in the last six months and increased the size of its ESOP pool in recent months.
Since its listing in November 2021, One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, has never reported a positive EBITDA. Nonetheless, it has continuously emphasised EBITDA prior to ESOP expenditures as a crucial indicator. On May 30, 2025, the business is expected to release the results of the March quarter. An international news outlet reports that Paytm is anticipated to disclose an adjusted net loss of roughly INR 9 crore and an EBITDA of INR 64 crore on revenue of INR 2,051 crore. It recorded an EBITDA of INR 559 crore for FY24 (excluding ESOP charges).
Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, has a clear and cutting warning regarding the new wave of tariffs from the Trump administration: The economic fallout could be more severe than many expect. In an appearance before the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell said that the actual scale of the new taxes on imports, especially those aimed at goods from China, far exceeded the Fed’s earlier projections. We now see the U.S. economy as headed for slower growth and an inflation rate that will be stronger than previously believed.
The U.S. has recently put a 10% tax on imports from most countries and a 145% tax on goods from China. When you account for existing tariffs, the effective rate on certain Chinese products is 245%. Exemptions for smartphones aside, the overall impact is bound to be huge. China, in turn, has slapped a 125% tax on exports from the U.S.
Investor Confidence Wanes Amid Market Volatility
International stock exchanges have been reacting very sharply to the unfolding trade tensions. This past week, right in the middle of the unfolding situation, all three major U.S. indices took quite notable drops. News reports this weekend, however, were even more unsettling, as they conveyed the idea to investors that all was not well out there, and that a gathering storm was on the horizon. Beyond the equity markets, a more troubling trend was emerging as well, the sale of U.S. government debt.
U.S. bond yields surged, necessitating the government to boost interest rates even more to entice buyers. Rates have since settled down but are still higher than most people would like.
Households and Businesses Report Sharp Decline in Outlook
Recent surveys indicate consumers and businesses have become much less confident. The sudden increase in tariffs has been one of the major culprits behind this drop in sentiment. Powell said many people now fear the tariffs are going to result in much higher prices and that the whole tariff situation is going to create a lot of economic uncertainty. Of course, the Trump administration sees the tariffs as a way to bring back a lot of manufacturing that has gone overseas and as a way to create a lot of new jobs.
He said that the full impacts are still coming to light and could necessitate the Fed to maintain a vigilant watch over how the developing economic conditions play out. Even with the turbulence, Powell reassured everyone that the U.S. economy is still on stable footing. For now, the Fed is keeping its benchmark interest rate steady, “at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%,” waiting for the dust to settle before making any policy adjustments.
Just days before its landmark antitrust trial began, Meta tried to settle the case by making a USD 450 million offer, a move that was led personally by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Reports say that Zuckerberg contacted Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson in late March with the offer. However, the FTC wanted something closer to a figure that was reportedly in the neighborhood of 30 billion USD, plus a consent decree, and deemed Meta’s offer too low. Ferguson was unpersuaded and let the case go to trial.
The FTC’s case contests the purchases by Meta of Instagram and WhatsApp. It accuses Meta of trying to eliminate competition and secure an iron grip on social media.
Trial Threatens Breakup of Instagram and WhatsApp
The trial, which commenced on April 14, has the potential to result in a ruling that would require Meta to reverse its well-known acquisitions. The FTC maintains that the purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp were not about innovation, but about stifling competition and increasing dominance in the marketplace. The emails presented during the trial have certainly raised eyebrows, and for good reason. One email in particular, sent in 2008 by none other than Mark Zuckerberg, has the look of a smoking gun.
An internal memo from 2018, which was made public during the trial, shows that Zuckerberg had thought about spinning off Instagram. This was at a time when antitrust concerns were increasing. It’s worth noting that this memo does not describe any step that actually was taken. What we have is a document that highlights the company’s awareness of pressure from regulators that was becoming more intense.
Meta’s Defense: Competitive Market and Consumer Gains
Meta has pushed back on the FTC’s accusations, asserting that it vies for consumers in a fast-moving competitive landscape alongside platforms like TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X. Advocates for the firm maintain that both end users and the overall tech ecosystem have reaped benefits from the purchases in question, and they argue that the case against them is based on a stale, overly reductive take on the marketplace.
Meta criticized the accusation and emphasized that even the youngest users would know that Instagram and TikTok obviously compete. A Meta spokesperson said that his trial sets a bad precedent. The FTC says companies like Meta should not be able to grow through acquisitions. If they do, they should be broken up even when their services are not obviously competing.
Zuckerberg’s Political Lobbying Yields No Results
In the weeks just prior to the trial, Zuckerberg worked to secure political support, even lobbying President Donald Trump and his aides in an effort to directly influence the outcome of the trial. He held several high-level meetings at the White House, but in the end, they did not have much impact. Trump was not moved to intervene, and that absence of a White House intervention was a win for the FTC.
Zuckerberg’s larger initiative to repair the relationship with Trump, through monetary donations and changes in policy, seems to have not worked. The trial is now a focal point in Washington’s Big Tech pushback, another round in the ongoing argument about how much regulation the tech sector is going to have to live by.
The semiconductor sector faced a sharp pullback on Wednesday after the U.S. imposed new export restrictions on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips, and the leading chipmakers Nvidia and AMD bore the brunt of the action. Nvidia’s stock tumbled 6.9% after it disclosed a USD 5.5 billion impact tied to inventory, purchase commitments, and reserves related to its H20 chip lineup. AMD followed suit, warning of charges as high as USD 800 million that will impact its financials almost immediately because the MI309 chips are currently in production.
This development shows the deepening of the tech conflict between the U.S. and China, which is particularly sharp in AI. Investors are already anxious about the friction between the two countries, and they got even more nervous with inklings that tariffs might become part of the picture.
Licensing Mandates Raise Barriers for U.S. Chipmakers
Earlier this month, the U.S. government warned Nvidia that future shipments of its H20 chips, or any equivalent semiconductors capable of comparable memory or interconnect speeds, would be subject to licensing. The required licenses, which the government is likely to deny, permit the U.S. to restrict exports. Such a restriction would tug at Nvidia’s bottom line. Approximately 13% of Nvidia’s total revenue comes from China, per CFRA Research.
This shift in regulation could not only reduce income in the near term but also possibly give a competitive edge to Chinese firms. CFRA analysts say the intensified enforcement action might allow China-based companies, like Huawei, to gain more market share in artificial intelligence semiconductor development at a time when those companies have largely fallen behind in that particular technological race.
Tariff Uncertainty and Global Fallout Loom Large
The potential for more U.S. tariffs adds to the pressure. So far, certain electronics and semiconductors have been exempted. But industry analysts warn this leniency may not last. The sector is closely watching for the next round of trade measures from the Trump administration, measures that could target a much broader range of technology products.
Global suppliers are in no way shielded from these developments. ASML, a major Dutch supplier of semiconductor fabrication equipment, admitted to greater uncertainty coming from the latest tariff signals. The firm underscored that the overall macro environment is highly unpredictable and likely to remain volatile in the near term.
Investors Face Long-Term Risk Landscape
Experts are warning that instability in policy, particularly in the important technology sector, could continue to depress investor confidence. Bank of America pointed out that an oversupply of bad news for certain industries may persist until a number of important decisions are made, including the following:
1. Whether China will retaliate against U.S. companies.
2. Whether the U.S. will take reciprocal measures against Chinese firms.
3. What the broader rules will be concerning exports of AI to China and other countries.
At present, the worldwide competition for AI supremacy seems closely linked with political maneuvering. It’s a modern-age race, bound up with global power and wealth. This makes the terrain all the more complex and uncertain for companies and investors.
