June 4 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* As the financial sanctions that the United States imposes on foreign governments have become vastly more sophisticated, the Obama administration has deployed them more and more often. (http://r.reuters.com/wab89v)
* Officials at General Motors said an internal report on faulty ignition switches tied to 13 deaths would exonerate the company's chief executive. (http://r.reuters.com/hyz79v)
* Economists fear that an outbreak of ultralow inflation across the 18-nation euro zone is doing more harm than good to the bloc's economic recovery. (http://r.reuters.com/zab89v)
* BNP Paribas SA, under investigation for doing business with Sudan and other countries that the United States has blacklisted, is hashing out the final details of a criminal guilty plea for its parent company. BNP showed prosecutors a memo, drafted around 2004 by an outside law firm, that essentially authorized the bank to process certain transactions for Sudan, as long as BNP's employees in New York were not involved in the arrangement. (http://r.reuters.com/deb89v)
* The Commerce Department on Tuesday imposed steep duties on importers of Chinese solar panels made from certain components, asserting that the manufacturers had benefited from unfair subsidies. The duties will range from 18.56 to 35.21 percent, the department said. (http://r.reuters.com/feb89v)
* Automakers announced robust sales in the United States in May as several reported double-digit growth over last year - including General Motors, which continued to post strong results despite a widening recall crisis. (http://r.reuters.com/heb89v)
* As more middle-class Indians are able to afford costlier products, they drive the demand for organic, fair-trade and artisanal items. (http://r.reuters.com/keb89v) (Compiled by Supriya Kurane in Bangalore)