By Francesca Hangeior

China has warned the United States not to take “discriminatory actions” against its firms, following reports that Washington is planning to ban the sale of vehicles using Chinese and Russian technology.

Bloomberg and other media reported Sunday, citing sources, that the United States was mulling new rules that would ban hardware and software made in China from its vehicles.

Asked about the reports, foreign ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, said China urged, “the US to respect market principles and provide an open, fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises”.

“China opposes the US’s broadening of the concept of national security and the discriminatory actions taken against Chinese companies and products,” Lin said.

“China will resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” he added.

The rules, if confirmed, would mark the latest escalation of a simmering trade row between the US and China.

In May, Washington unveiled steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports like electric vehicles and semiconductors.

The tariff hikes hit $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, targeting strategic sectors like EVs, batteries, critical minerals and medical products, the White House said.

The tariff rate on EVs is set to quadruple to 100 per cent this year while the tariff for semiconductors will surge from 25 per cent to 50 per cent by next year.

Those plans were finalised this month, ahead of November’s presidential election, where both Democrats and Republicans are seeking to show a tough stance on China as competition between both countries intensifies.

The tariff hikes on the $18 billion worth of goods were taken after a review of levies imposed under then-president Donald Trump, which impacted some $300 billion in goods from China.

Apart from tariff increases including those on solar cells, the US Trade Representative’s office confirmed that a 50 percent duty on semiconductors a sharp rise from before would start in 2025.

US President Joe Biden has accused Beijing of “cheating” rather than competing on trade.

By Francesca Hangeior

The Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, has said that the construction of the 3.5 billion dollar Bakassi Deep Seaport would soon commence.

This is contained in a statement issued by the ICRC’s Acting Head of Media and Publicity, Ifeanyi Nwoko, in Abuja on Monday.

Ewalefoh made this known at a High-level Stakeholders’ meeting where a statement of endorsement for the port project was signed.

The ICRC D-G who said the construction would commence under the administration of Govenor Bassey Otu of Cross River State, assured that the project would be completed in record time.

He said that his assurance was premised on four things which include the fact that the government of the state had demonstrated great commitment and zeal required for the project.

Others he said were the newly streamlined ICRC Public Private Partnership processes; the securing of a financier for the project; and the support of all other stakeholders present.

Ewalefoh said the 3.5 billion dollar project whose funding has been secured from the African Import-Export Bank, is to be executed as a PPP project.

He said that the ICRC had streamlined its PPP processes to ensure they were faster than before.

According to Ewalefoh, we are not compromising standards, we are only making the process more efficient which I have commenced as the D-G of ICRC.

He assured the Governor of Cross River that the project would be completed under his tenure with the support of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Shippers Council and all the stakeholders.

The statement read, “You have demonstrated that you have what it takes to do it, just like President Tinubu has given confidence to investors to bring their funds to Nigeria.

“This is not a project that you started, the baton was only handed over to you, but like the man on the last lap, you are running the fastest and you will cut the tape.

“With the team you have assembled and the activities that are going on, you will arrive at the destination of the Bakassi Deep Seaport.

“I am convinced that in your tenure, with your team, Bakassi Deep Seaport will be a reality to the people of Cross River state and Nigerians.”

The D-G said that the port was very important as it would diversify the traffic from the Western Port and serve as a succour to the Eastern parts of Nigeria.

He added that the Bakassi Deep Seaport is an Agro-Value-Chain port that will explore the potential in the nation’s agricultural sector in the South-South part of Nigeria, the North as well as all of Africa.

Ewalefoh thanked Afreximbank for believing in the state and Nigeria as he reassured investors that Nigeria was a choice destination for investment opportunities.

The statement said a high point of the meeting was the signing of the declaration of endorsement by all critical stakeholders to the projects including the ICRC and the Cross River State Government.
Others include the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Shippers Council.