Trump Says US Doesn’t Need China, As Beijing Announces Tariffs

* New levies on $75bn worth of American goods start as soon
as September

BEIJING — China will impose additional tariffs of 5% to 10% on
$75 billion worth of American products, the country’s State Council
said Friday, retaliating against the latest round of tariffs
announced by the U.S.

A total of 1,717 products such as soy beans, crude oil, steel
plate and chemicals will be affected beginning Sept. 1, with
another 3,361 items including lumber, automobiles and textiles to
follow Dec. 15. The dates coincide with the start of new U.S.
tariffs on Chinese exports.

China already has imposed tariffs on $110 billion of its imports
from the U.S., or 70% of the total. Only $40 billion worth remains
unaffected, meaning Beijing will double down on levies for certain
items with its latest decision.

“We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off
without them,” President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday in
Washington, in response to Beijing’s announcement. “Our great
American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking
for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME
and making your products in the USA.”

Shortly after a cabinet-level meeting between the two sides at
the end of July, the U.S. said it would enact an additional tariff
on about $300 billion worth of Chinese products starting in
September. The Trump administration later postponed the date to
December for half of the affected balance, including smartphones
and toys, amid concerns of the tariff’s effect on the holiday
shopping season.

Some had hoped the delay would create more room for the two
sides to reach an agreement. Still, any new American tariff hike
will escalate trade frictions, Chinese Commerce Ministry
spokesperson Gao Feng said Thursday.

“If the United States acts arbitrarily, China will have to take
countermeasures,” he said.

The two countries plan another cabinet-level meeting during
early September in Washington. The State Council, China’s cabinet,
said that “cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the
United States” in its statement announcing the latest tariffs, but
the talks could fall through should tensions escalate.

asia.nikkei.com

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Magu Urges Nigerians to take Ownership of
Anti-corruption Fight

> The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu has urged Nigerians to take
ownership of the anti-corruption fight, stating that the fight
would yield better results when Nigerians see it their own.

> He observed that no community, society or country can
develop when corruption is entrenched in every facet of its
existence. Corruption he noted “is the fall out of bad leadership
and lack of integrity and ethics. It is the single bane of our
national development.”

> Magu stated these on Thursday, August 22, 2019 in Dankane
Hotel, Sokoto, where he was the special guest of honour, at a one
day sensitization campaign on “Value Re-orientation and the Fight
Against Corruption,” organised by National Orientation Agency
(NOA), Sokoto State.

> He commended NOA for what he described as the agency’s
“unflinching commitment to Nigeria, evident in its efforts to
positively change attitudes, values and behaviours to doing the
right thing.”

> Magu, who spoke through Lawan Abdullahi, EFCC Head of
Operations, Sokoto Zone, described the mandate of NOA as
“challenging and intimidating,” likening it to that of the EFCC,
which he said is the “conscience of the nation.”

> According to him, “Whenever I look at NOA as an
organization, I am fascinated by the relentless services and values
that it has added to the country, especially at the local levels,
where it helps to disseminate information on government policies
and relevant information that help in creating a peaceful
atmosphere for all citizens.”

> Speaking on the need to root out corruption in the system,
the EFCC boss stated that “Each and everyone of us should deploy
whatever weapon we have against the monster. EFCC does not claim to
know it all and cannot do it alone. For the war against corruption
to be successful, the people must own it in all ramifications.” He
noted that the EFCC was very appreciative of the “overwhelming
support of ordinary Nigerians,” stating that “if we have achieved
success in discharging our mandate, it is because the people are
very engaged with what we do, being at the same time victims and
beneficiaries of remedial interventions.

> “That is why I am especially happy that this event affords
us the unique opportunity to share ideas, hear from the people who
are at the receiving end, the unsung victims of mindless corruption
and impunity.”

> He reminded the participants that the thematic focus of the
meeting was “for all of us to do the right thing,” adding that “if
we get this right, Nigeria will have gotten it right.”

Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
August, 2019