Yemen's Houthi group is reportedly weighing plans to levy transit tolls on most vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the vital transit chokepoint connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
According to a report on Tuesday, the Houthi delegation attended the funeral ceremonies of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in July, during which Iranian officials held discussions with them on the proposed levy on vessels transiting through the strait. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report said that no timetable has been set for its introduction.
Located between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, the strait facilitates the passage of a significant portion of global trade, including energy supplies.
Yemen's Houthis weigh charging fees on Bab el-Mandeb Strait
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday firmly opposed the U.S. decision to impose trade restrictions on imported power inverters and advanced robots, calling the measure "discriminatory".
The spokesperson made the remarks in response to the announcement by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday local time to add power inverters and advanced robots produced in foreign countries to its "Covered List".
New models of these products will be barred from receiving FCC certification and from being sold in the U.S. market, according to the announcement.
The spokesperson noted that the FCC's relevant measures, while in the name of "non-discrimination", are actually discriminatory, targeting and suppressing Chinese enterprises and products. This is not the first time the FCC has taken such measures; it has previously imposed restrictions on various other Chinese goods.
For some time, the FCC, in disregard of China's repeated representations and its restraint, has continued to introduce and escalate restrictive measures. These moves have severely undermined China's legitimate trade interests, seriously disrupted the stability of bilateral economic and trade relations, and significantly destabilized global industrial and supply chains. China firmly opposes such moves, the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, robots and power inverters are normal international commodities, from whose trade all parties, including the United States, benefit. However, the U.S. has overstretched the concept of national security, ignored the strong calls from the business communities on both sides, and resorted to administrative power to artificially interfere with normal commercial transactions and trade exchanges between enterprises, persistently pushing for decoupling and supply chain disruption. Such practices, harming others without benefiting oneself, are typical acts of market distortion and unilateral bullying.
China urges the U.S. to immediately revoke the relevant measures and stop its erroneous practices. If the U.S. insists on going its own way, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, the spokesperson said.
China firmly opposes US import ban on inverters, robots
