China on Thursday singled out dozens of companies from the United States, including Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in a series of punitive trade measures that could ratchet up tensions between the two superpowers.

With weeks to go before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with a promise to impose new tariffs and sanctions on China, Beijing is once again showing it is ready to strike back.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said it added 28 companies to an export control list to “safeguard national security and interests.” It also banned the export of so-called dual-use items, which have both civilian and military applications, to those companies. And it placed 10 companies on what it calls an “unreliable entities list” related to the sale of arms to Taiwan, preventing them from doing any business in China and prohibiting their executives from entering or living in the country.

Among the companies called out by China were the leading American makers of defense systems, including Raytheon Missile Systems; Boeing Defense, Space and Security; and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. The companies did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Beijing has adopted an increasingly aggressive stance as it prepares for a second presidential term with Trump, an outspoken critic of China and its economic might.

Chinese regulators also have announced an investigation into American computer chip company Nvidia, banned the export of rare minerals to the United States and have taken more targeted swipes at individual companies to expose their supply chain vulnerabilities.

— New York Times

Apple to pay $95M in Siri snooping lawsuit

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the privacy-minded company of deploying its virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other trendy devices.

The proposed settlement filed Tuesday in an Oakland, Calif., federal court would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit revolving around allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.

The alleged recordings occurred even when people didn’t seek to activate the virtual assistant with the trigger words, “Hey, Siri.” Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with advertisers in an attempt to sell their products to consumers more likely to be interested in the goods and services, the lawsuit asserted.

Apple isn’t acknowledging any wrongdoing in the settlement, which still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

Aeromexico is world’s most on-time airline

Mexican airline Aeromexico had the world’s best record for on-time arrivals in 2024, according to an annual ranking released Thursday. Delta Air Lines scored the highest among U.S. carriers despite a computer outage that caused thousands of flight cancellations in July.

Aviation-data provider Cirium said in a report that nearly 87% of Aeromexico flights arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival, a widely used measure of on-time performance among airlines.

Saudia, the flagship carrier of Saudi Arabia, ranked second worldwide, with an on-time performance rate of just over 86%, Cirium said.

Atlanta-based Delta, Minnesota’s dominant carrier, achieved an on-time rate of more than 83%, good enough to rank third worldwide. The next-best U.S. carriers were United Airlines, at nearly 81%, and Alaska Airlines, at just over 79%, Cirium said.

Tesla sees first-ever yearly sales drop

Tesla sales fell slightly in 2024, the first annual decline in the company’s history, as rivals in China, Europe and the United States introduced dozens of competing electric models, giving buyers more choice.

The company said Thursday that it delivered 1,789,226 vehicles worldwide during the year, a slight decline from 1,808,581 in 2023. During the last three months of 2024, Tesla delivered 495,570 vehicles, up from 484,507 in the last quarter of 2023.

The fourth-quarter deliveries were the best ever for Tesla, according to the company, but were not enough to make up for sluggish sales earlier in the year.

Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, largely created the market for electric vehicles when it began selling the Model 3 sedan in 2017. Tesla still accounts for nearly half of all electric cars sold in the United States. But carmakers like BYD in China, General Motors, Kia-Hyundai, Volkswagen and BMW have challenged Tesla’s dominance, often with models that have newer designs and lower prices.

Jobless applications drop last week

The number of Americans applying for unemployment checks dropped last week to the lowest level since March, suggesting that suggest most U.S. workers continue to enjoy unusually high job security.

Jobless claims dropped by 9,000 to 211,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which strips out week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 3,500 to 223,250.

The overall numbers receiving unemployment benefits fell by 52,000 to 1.84 million, the lowest since September.

Thomas Simons and Sam Saliba, economists at Jefferies, called the drops “encouraging’’ in a commentary but cautioned that seasonal adjustments around the holidays can throw off the numbers.

The U.S. job market has cooled considerably from the red-hot hiring days of 2021-2023 when the economy was bounding back from COVID-19 lockdowns.

Feds may limit or ban Chinese drones

The Biden administration is considering a rule that could limit or ban Chinese drones in the U.S., the latest in a series of measures aimed at addressing national-security concerns linked to the country’s largest geopolitical rival.

The Commerce Department on Thursday said it’s seeking comments from companies about the possible impact of the proposed rule for drones from China and Russia, with a deadline of March 4 for submissions. That means any decision will ultimately be left to the Trump administration, which takes office on Jan. 20.

The agency cited the concern that the countries could “leverage their political and legal frameworks to co-opt private entities for national interests,” and that those companies have a dominant hold on the supply of drones globally.

“Securing the unmanned aircraft systems technology supply chain is critical to safeguarding our national security,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement on Thursday. The proposed rule “is an essential step in protecting the United States,” she said.

— From news services