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Big Plan Highlights

EnergyX
Big Plan and our clients had the incredible opportunity to tour EnergyX, guided by its founder Teague Egan. With Texas energy demand expected to double in the next five years, as forecasted by ERCOT, building energy manufacturing infrastructure and strengthening the supply chain here in the U.S. is more important than ever. Exciting to see innovation in action and the future being built right here at home in Austin!
Big Plan recently shared our insights on the latest round of tariffs and their impact on international business. Thank you to Austin Business Journal and 36Kr, a leading voice in China for technology and financial news, for inviting us to contribute to this important global conversation. We’re proud to bring perspective from both sides of the Pacific and help inform the dialogue around trade, policy, and economic strategy.

News & Updates

International

DHL suspends high value US deliveries over tariffs
DHL Express is suspending deliveries to the US worth more than $800 (£603) because of a "significant increase" in red tape at customs following the introduction of Donald Trump's new tariff regime.

The delivery giant said it will temporarily stop shipments from companies in all countries to American consumers on Monday "until further notice".

It added that business-to-business shipments will still go ahead, "though they may also face delays".
Nvidia C.E.O. Meets With Chinese Trade Officials in Beijing
A day after the U.S. government opened an investigation into whether Nvidia, America’s leading chipmaker, violated rules with its sales to China, its chief executive, Jensen Huang, met on Thursday with Chinese trade officials in Beijing.

Mr. Huang had been invited to meet with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a state-backed trade body, according to state media. He also met with He Lifeng, China’s vice premier for economic policy.

The visit was covered by Chinese state media, which reported that Mr. Huang said U.S. controls on Nvidia’s sales to China had a significant impact on the company’s business. Nvidia, the report said, will “continue to spare no effort” to make products that comply with regulations and “unswervingly serve the Chinese market.”
U.S. Gas Exports to China Stopped After Beijing Imposed Tariffs
China has stopped buying liquefied natural gas from the United States after imposing a 15 percent tariff on these shipments on Feb. 10, ship tracking data shows, in the latest sign that Beijing continues to decouple from the U.S. economy.

China’s imports of L.N.G. from the United States had already slumped to low levels from November through January, data from China’s customs agency shows. China instead expanded its purchases from Russia, which supplied China with four times as much L.N.G. last year as the United States did.
China and Cambodia agree on financing for a 94-mile canal linking the Mekong to the Gulf of Thailand
Cambodia and China have signed a $1.2 billion deal to finance an ambitious canal project that aims to boost trade efficiency by linking a branch of the Mekong River near Phnom Penh to a port on the Gulf of Thailand, the Cambodian government agency heading the project announced Friday.

The deal to fund the Funan Techo Canal was signed Thursday during the state visit to Cambodia of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the agency said in a news release. Xi returned home Friday after a three-nation Southeast Asian tour that also included Vietnam and Malaysia.

USA

Fed Chair Lays Out Game Plan in Case of High Inflation and Slower Growth
As President Trump’s trade policy has started to take shape, officials at the Federal Reserve have been more vocal about how such sweeping tariffs will affect the economy.

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the central bank, recently warned that levies of the scope and scale Mr. Trump was pursuing would most likely lead to even higher inflation and slower growth than initially expected — the makings of what’s known as a stagflationary shock.
Judge Rules Google Operates Illegal Ad Monopoly
Alphabet’s Google created a monopoly that allowed it to control parts of the online-advertising industry, a federal judge ruled Thursday, a decision that could upend one of the technology giant’s core businesses.

The ruling marked the second time in eight months that a U.S. judge labeled Google an illegal monopolist—and could lead the Justice Department to seek a forced sale of some of the company’s advertising products.

Alphabet’s shares fell 1.4% in Thursday trading. The company plans to appeal the ruling.
Merger of Capital One and Discover, Two Credit Card Giants, Wins Approval
Two of the country’s largest credit card companies are poised to merge after key banking regulators approved the deal on Friday, despite concern among some advocacy groups and lawmakers that it could lead to higher fees and less choice for consumers.

Capital One received the green light from the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to acquire Discover Financial Services in a roughly $35 billion deal announced in February 2024. Capital One, the nation’s ninth-largest bank, with $479 billion in assets, issues credit cards on networks run by Visa and Mastercard. Acquiring Discover will give it access to a credit card network of 305 million cardholders, adding to its base of more than 100 million customers.
U.S. Tries to Crush China’s AI Ambitions With Chips Crackdown
New U.S. chip-export limits that rocked global markets on Wednesday are the clearest sign yet from the Trump White House that whatever advances China makes in AI will have to happen without America’s help.

Trump administration officials have signaled for months that they were considering a crackdown on exports of processors from U.S. companies such as Nvidia that have helped enable major Chinese advances in artificial intelligence. The latest reckoning came this week, with U.S. authorities moving to stop the flow of billions of dollars of Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial-intelligence chips to the country.

Texas

Amtrak pulls funding from Texas bullet train, derailing years long process
Lone Star Politics speaks with Congressman Jake Ellzey about the latest news from the Trump Administration: pulling funding for a Dallas to Houston high speed rail. Ellzey’s consistently has voiced the concerns of landowners in between the cities and believes this the latest news is the nail in the coffin.
Trump’s tariff fight upsets the ports that bring Texas $700 billion a year in business
Leaders of Texas ports and the companies that rely on the ports have spent the past two weeks of tariff upheaval doing what the ship captains do practically every minute of every day: Study the information and keep an eye on the horizon.

The one thing they agree on is nobody really knows for sure what the conditions will be for very long at the 23 Texas ports that by many estimates generate more than one-quarter of the state's gross domestic product.
Money moving around the Texas Space Commission
The Texas Space Commission, the state organization charged with overseeing $150 million in grant funding, awarded its third round of Space Exploration & Aeronautics Research Fund, or SEARF, grants this week. Five companies received $26 million combined, and four of them plan to perform work in the Houston area — including one from out of state.
Texas utility regulators could make grid history with 'superhighway' lines
Texas is facing a $30 billion question about the future of its electric grid: Is it time to create a new, stronger backbone that can grow along with the booming demand for electricity? Or should it stick with the current system and run the risk of playing catch-up a short time later?

Utility regulators this week could decide between expanding the grid with more of the 345,000-volt power lines that have crisscrossed Texas for 65 years or starting a new system that can carry more than twice as much voltage.

Austin

Austin Convention Center officially offline as $1.6B redevelopment begins
The Austin Convention Center is officially closed for business for the next four years.

City and tourism officials on April 17 kicked off the $1.6 billion redevelopment effort of the convention center, which closed at the start of April and will reopen for business in time for the 2029 spring festival season.
Austin's workforce development efforts hampered by federal budget
The city of Austin’s efforts to further promote workforce development is being slowed down because of the federal government’s budget decisions.

The cutback could impact the Austin Infrastructure Academy, a program that is being led by Workforce Solutions Capital Area to help find more workers for several of the huge capital and infrastructure projects that are ongoing in the area, including the expansion of I-35, the buildout of light rail, the redevelopment of the Austin Convention Center and the expansion of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The city of Austin has already committed $5 million to help support the Infrastructure Academy.
Real ID law will finally kick in May 7 — what you need to know to fly out of Austin airport
After nearly two decades of delays, the federal government will finally begin enforcing the national Real ID law on May 7.

That means travelers 18 years and older will need to present a Real ID-compliant driver's license to fly domestically from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Other acceptable forms of ID include a passport, passport card or state-issued Enhanced Driver’s License, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The same security measures will be taken at federal facilities.
Inside the rural Texas town where Elon Musk is basing his business empire
After fleeing Silicon Valley for political and business reasons, Elon Musk is building a corporate campus in rural Texas – but his new neighbours have mixed views.

Like most technology tycoons, Musk had long made Silicon Valley his home and headquarters. Once a supporter of the Democrats, his move to Texas is part of a larger tech world trend and also appears to reflect his own transformed ideological views.

Knowledge Vault

The U.S. Exports a Lot of Stuff to China. Here’s a Breakdown.
How the U.S. Lost Its Place as the World’s Manufacturing Powerhouse

Events

Expand & Enhance: Business Growth & Place-Based Incentives Workshops (Tuesday, April 22)
ABIA to host subcontracting event for airport expansion (Tuesday, April 22)
East Austin Growth Summit 2025 (Thursday, April 24, 2025)
The German Texan Beer & Wine Festival (Saturday, May 3rd)
ERCOT Innovation Summit (May 6, 2025)
ATX Policy Forum 2025 (Wednesday, May 14th)
2025 Federal Advocacy Visit (Monday, June 23rd - Wednesday, June 25th)
IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Expo (Oct 19 - 23, 2025)

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  • State of Texas 
  • National Minority Supplier Development Council
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