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West African nations want to strike deals with the US over energy and rare earth minerals, but the Trump administration's looming expansion of travel bans risks derailing those efforts, Nigeria's foreign minister said on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump this month implemented full or partial travel bans for foreign nationals from a dozen countries as part of his immigration crackdown. A possible broadening of the restrictions to an additional 36 countries would include nearly all of West Africa.
"This would be most unfortunate if it comes to pass, because we are a region of opportunities ready to do deals," said Nigeria's Yussuf Tuggar, who currently chairs regional bloc ECOWAS's council of foreign ministers.
President Trump has upended longstanding trade relations since returning to the White House, using erratic tariff threats and aggressive tactics in a bid to secure better deals from trading partners.
As part of an agreement with Beijing, for example, Trump said China will supply the US with magnets and rare earth minerals critical to the auto and battery industries in exchange for Chinese students' continued access to US universities.
"We possess critical minerals and even rare earths," Tuggar told West African government ministers, citing the example of samarium - used for military-grade magnets and nuclear reactor control rods - found in his home state in Nigeria.
"We would like to do deals with the US, but visa restrictions are non-tariff barriers to deals," he said.
He also touted the oil and gas-rich region as an energy partner.
"We are also a strategic alternative to more distant and politically divergent energy producers. So, we will do deals for our prosperity. The only question is with whom," he said.
The US has cited reasons for the bans including governments' failure to produce reliable identity documents, corruption, and high volumes of visa overstays by certain countries' citizens.