Blindsided by the 38% tariffs that the United States has imposed on products from Guyana, the Government of Guyana is now engaging US officials on those tariffs in an effort to better understand the reason behind them and seek a way forward.

At his weekly press conference this afternoon, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that Government will be approaching the US Government to clarify some issues which he believes could see the tariffs for Guyana being reduced.

The Vice President said while Guyana respects economic policy of the United States, he believes that there is some information that needs to be clarified.

The US has claimed that Guyana imposes tariffs of 76% on imports from America, triggering the 38% reciprocal tariffs on Guyana, which represents half of the tariff faced by US products.

The Vice President said he has been studying the trade data between Guyana and the US, and that data points to Guyana importing far more from the US than it exports to the US. He said the US benefits from a trade surplus when it comes to Guyana.

“So, when you apply this, the bigger your trade surplus is with the United States of America in percentage terms, the higher would be your reciprocal tariff and it is across the board, it is for friends and foe alike, the United States have applied this across the board based on this formula, that we think they applied,” Mr. Jagdeo said.

Mr. Jagdeo said the import data from the country will form part of the discussions with the US Government. He said the information that is available on the UN trade system and the information in the possession of the Guyana government are conflicting and he believes once there is clarity, the tariff could be reduced for Guyana.

“I think there is still room to discuss a lot of these issues with the United States of America to clarify if there are differences of data of which the calculation was made which hopefully can result in a lower tariff, because the United States has already made it clear that every country in the world would have to face tariffs,” the Vice President noted.

He said the question is not whether Guyana agrees or disagrees with the tariffs, but rather, it is to maintain the US market for exporters.

According to the Vice President, the US remains a crucial market for Guyanese products. He urged exporters not to panic, while promising that the Government will work together with them to address their concerns.

“I want to assure all of our exporters that we will work with them as we learn more of the issue, we will be meeting with them and working with them to ensure that they can continue to access to U.S market and other markets in the world and they would have the full support of the government of Guyana so that we do no lose economic output or welfare associated with the lost of economic output,” Mr. Jagdeo assured.

The increase in the tariffs would result in products being imported to the United States fetching a higher price on the market. Exporters and manufacturers fear that with increased prices, the demand for their products could fall, resulting in less earnings and profits.

The Donald Trump Administration has described its increased tariff policy as an effort to “Make America Rich Again”.

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