The administration of US President Donald Trump is delaying a deal with the United Arab Emirates to sell billions of dollars in high-tech Nvidia chips. Washington fears that advanced technologies will end up in China, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing its sources.
Trump spoke in favor of supplying chips to the UAE during his tour of the Middle East in May. The parties hoped that they would be able to quickly agree on the details of the deal, Nvidia was ready to start deliveries, but they have not yet been able to reach a final agreement. This is due to concerns among some US officials that the latest chips will end up in China from the UAE.
According to sources of the publication, the deal can only be negotiated if Abu Dhabi agrees to new terms that meet the interests of US national security. Washington wants to exclude G42, the leading artificial intelligence company in the UAE, from the list of direct recipients of the chips. Such a change in terms could cause discontent in the UAE, the newspaper notes.
Bloomberg earlier reported that some US administration officials, hostile to China, believe that given Beijing's strong ties with Middle Eastern countries, some of the chips could be resold to China. The publication notes that the United States generally views the transfer of large numbers of chips used in artificial intelligence technologies abroad as a threat to national security.
Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa announced today at a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington that he intends to invest more than $17 billion in the United States, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The conversation between the two leaders focused on issues related to trade, Iran and security in the Middle East.
Prince Salman's plan envisages Bahrain's national carrier "Gulf Air" purchasing 12 aircraft worth $7 billion from the US company "Boeing" and possibly later acquiring six more aircraft. In addition, the purchase of 40 aircraft engines manufactured by the company "General Electric" is planned, a White House official said.
Bahrain is also expected to sign agreements with the American software giant "Oracle" and the technology equipment company "Cisco".
Bahrain is also seeking to increase its investment in the American energy, technology and manufacturing sectors, the White House official noted. The crown prince intends to invest in the development of local aluminum production in the United States, in the production of American liquefied natural gas and to purchase state-of-the-art artificial intelligence chips.
Under Trump's trade policy, Bahraini exports are subject to a base tariff of 10%. Bahrain, however, is not affected by the higher export tariffs imposed on a number of other countries.
In May, Trump toured the Middle East, where he signed a series of investment agreements. At the time, Saudi Arabia committed to investing $600 billion in the United States and also announced that it would buy nearly $142 billion worth of American weapons.
Bahrain, home to the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, is itself an important U.S. security partner. Bahrain established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords.
Ahead of today's Oval Office meeting, Trump said he would discuss Iran, which is under pressure to resume nuclear talks with the U.S., privately with Prince Salman.
Later this year, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will visit Washington to finalize these and other agreements and cement the progress made in building economic prosperity for the two countries, the U.S. official said.