:00:00. > :00:18.Today's general strike in Nigeria is on, despite
:00:19. > :00:21.a court action to block the walk out, as the country faces its
:00:22. > :00:26.Fighting back: The US approves measures to slap tariffs on Chinese
:00:27. > :00:48.The price increase would be a whopping 522%.
:00:49. > :00:50.Hello and welcome. I'm Sally Bundock.
:00:51. > :00:53.Also in the programme: Tim Cook, the boss of Apple, is in
:00:54. > :00:58.Nigerian labour unions are expected to go ahead with a general strike
:00:59. > :01:01.today after rejecting a ruling by the Nigerian courts to block
:01:02. > :01:11.The strike comes a week after the government proposed to raise
:01:12. > :01:19.Politicians hope a reduction in fuel subsidies will help to address
:01:20. > :01:24.So, why is the largest oil producer in Africa struggling to match
:01:25. > :01:31.The answer is because of the currency.
:01:32. > :01:33.The global plunge in oil prices has taken its toll
:01:34. > :01:38.This has reduced the non-official value of the Nigerian currency
:01:39. > :01:45.against the dollar, as you can see from this graph.
:01:46. > :01:48.As a result, fuel suppliers have struggled to source the US dollars
:01:49. > :01:53.required to import the refined fuel that can be used by motorists.
:01:54. > :01:57.To address this shortfall, the Nigerian government has proposed
:01:58. > :02:05.raising the price cap from 43 US cents to 73 US cents per litre.
:02:06. > :02:08.Joining us from Oxford is William Attwell, Africa analyst at Oxford
:02:09. > :02:22.Good morning. It sounds like a very critical time for Nigeria. It has
:02:23. > :02:25.been struggling for a while, with this problem with the oil price
:02:26. > :02:31.lowering. Give us your take on how this week will go. That's right.
:02:32. > :02:39.Yes, as you say Nigeria is under some severe financial strains as a
:02:40. > :02:44.result of the historically low oil prices. One of the consequences of
:02:45. > :02:49.retail prices being capped at a lower level domestically has been
:02:50. > :02:55.that it creates disincentives for traders and importers to actually
:02:56. > :02:59.bring refined fuel into the country. The reason that a major oil producer
:03:00. > :03:06.imports its own gasoline for domestic markets is that its own
:03:07. > :03:11.refineries are very dilapidated. Around 70% or more of its refined
:03:12. > :03:17.fuel is actually imported. So this subsidy cuts is in many ways an
:03:18. > :03:22.attempt to try to increase incentives for bringing that refined
:03:23. > :03:27.gasoline into the country. How do you think this will be resolved? We
:03:28. > :03:32.can see the problems from the point of view of the government, and yet
:03:33. > :03:38.you can understand the issues from the point of view of trade unions as
:03:39. > :03:42.well. Of course. Those concerns by trade unions and much of the wider
:03:43. > :03:51.population are very real. Inflation is running at over 13% already and
:03:52. > :03:54.if we see this price increase holding, there's the very strong
:03:55. > :04:01.possibility that, given the knock-on effects on the wider economy, we
:04:02. > :04:03.could see inflation rise much more. I think it will be extremely
:04:04. > :04:10.difficult for the government to hold the line on this policy. Back in
:04:11. > :04:15.2012, under the previous administration, a similar attempt to
:04:16. > :04:21.remove fuel subsidies failed dramatically. So I think the
:04:22. > :04:27.administration of the president will really struggle to hold the line
:04:28. > :04:33.here and I wouldn't be surprised if there is some backtracking. All
:04:34. > :04:37.right. We appreciate your time and analysis on what is happening in
:04:38. > :04:42.Nigeria. Of course we will keep you up-to-date on that as the situation
:04:43. > :04:46.develops. Now let's move on to the United States. It has raised import
:04:47. > :04:50.duties on Chinese steelmakers by more than fivefold after accusing
:04:51. > :04:53.them of selling their products below market prices. The tax is
:04:54. > :04:59.specifically applied to Chinese made flat steel. This is used to make
:05:00. > :05:03.cars, shipping containers for other construction purposes. US Commerce
:05:04. > :05:08.Department ruling comes amid heightened trade tensions between
:05:09. > :05:15.China and the US over several products, including chicken meat.
:05:16. > :05:17.Steel is an especially sensitive issue.
:05:18. > :05:20.US and European steel producers claim China is distorting the global
:05:21. > :05:22.market and undercutting them by dumping its excess supply abroad.
:05:23. > :05:33.Just talk us through this situation. This is not going to help relations
:05:34. > :05:42.between US and China. The tax is really huge. A whopping
:05:43. > :05:45.522%. The US says the Chinese products were being sold in the
:05:46. > :05:50.American market at below cost and with unfair subsidies and the
:05:51. > :05:53.commerce department ruling comes amid heightened trade tensions
:05:54. > :05:58.between the two sides over several products. The US steel industry
:05:59. > :06:02.claims that around 12,000 workers had been laid off in the past year
:06:03. > :06:07.because of unfair Chinese competition. But on the flipside
:06:08. > :06:11.Beijing is defending itself against these allegations, saying it isn't
:06:12. > :06:16.enough to reduce capacity and blamed local access and weak demand for the
:06:17. > :06:21.industry problems. They also say the weak economy in the mainland is more
:06:22. > :06:25.responsible for the industry problems and that it has taken steps
:06:26. > :06:30.to reduce its steel production. At this point there is still no
:06:31. > :06:35.reaction from Beijing, with this punitive tariffs being imposed by
:06:36. > :06:39.the US government. Analysts are expecting a retaliation coming soon.
:06:40. > :06:41.Watch this space. Thanks. See you soon.
:06:42. > :06:44.Apple's Tim Cook is visiting India for the first time, for a visit
:06:45. > :06:48.that's expected to include a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
:06:49. > :06:51.India has recently emerged as one of the last large growth markets
:06:52. > :06:53.in the smartphone world, as sales in the United States
:06:54. > :07:00.But so far demand for the iPhone has been slow,
:07:01. > :07:03.with Apple just taking just 2% of India's booming smartphone market.
:07:04. > :07:06.Not surprisingly that's because handsets are so pricey, often five
:07:07. > :07:22.Look around the phone shop here and you won't find many of these. More
:07:23. > :07:24.than 24 million smartphone handsets were sold in India in the first
:07:25. > :07:35.three month of this year, at less than 2% of them were Apple iPhones.
:07:36. > :07:39.The reason is the pricetag. Most phones cost between $100 and $200.
:07:40. > :07:47.The latest iPhone costs close to $1000. For Samsung -- Samsung and
:07:48. > :07:52.many other Indian makers are cleaning up the market, aided by
:07:53. > :07:58.low-cost goods. At Apple is not giving up yet. If you look at the
:07:59. > :08:01.top end of the smartphone market, it is getting back shed, especially
:08:02. > :08:11.from its big rival, Samsung. It has plans to open the first Apple store
:08:12. > :08:13.in India. The growing class of middle-class Indians can now afford
:08:14. > :08:15.the product. In other news: A bill that would
:08:16. > :08:17.allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi
:08:18. > :08:20.government has passed The Justice Against Sponsors
:08:21. > :08:24.of Terrorism Act now moves to Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister
:08:25. > :08:27.warned that the move could cause his government to withdraw US
:08:28. > :08:32.investments. US consumer prices rose
:08:33. > :08:36.at their fastest pace in three years in April as energy
:08:37. > :08:45.prices climbed, figures show. The Labor Department's Consumer
:08:46. > :08:47.Price Index rose 0.4% last month, the biggest one-month increase
:08:48. > :08:49.since February 2013. A build-up in inflation could
:08:50. > :08:52.see the Federal Reserve raising Japan's economy grew by 1.7% in
:08:53. > :09:03.the first three months of the year. The better-than-expected growth rate
:09:04. > :09:05.came after as higher government spending helped offset weakness
:09:06. > :09:07.in business investment and exports. Analysts are concerned about the
:09:08. > :09:10.outlook for consumer spending, which is critical to the economy given it
:09:11. > :09:22.accounts for about 60% of GDP. A quick look at the markets. Those
:09:23. > :09:25.stories about US inflation and growth in Japan are pulling down
:09:26. > :09:29.markets in Asia. It is a mixed picture at the moment but the
:09:30. > :09:33.Japanese yen has got stronger, as has the US dollar. It is believed
:09:34. > :09:39.Janet Yellen and the US Federal Reserve might increase rates in June
:09:40. > :09:42.in the US. The likelihood of that happening as far as economists are
:09:43. > :09:48.concerned has gone up. So Japan are just up slightly. The price of oil
:09:49. > :09:54.not quite $50 per barrel. That is how things went the night before in
:09:55. > :09:55.the US. Of course these are the markets across Wall Street. See you
:09:56. > :10:11.soon. The world's biggest cruise ship is
:10:12. > :10:16.in Southampton ahead of its maiden voyage.