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Dr. Ashni Singh, who is in charge of Finance and Public Service, will meet with local exporters on Friday. The meeting is about the new tariffs the United States has placed on exports.
The news was shared by Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, Vice President and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), during a press meeting in Georgetown.
Even though oil, gas, gold, and aluminium are not affected by the higher tariffs, Dr. Jagdeo said people who export farm products could be badly affected. He pointed out that many people depend on farming jobs, so it’s important to understand how these new rules might hurt them.
Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump added a 10% basic tariff on all countries and even higher tariffs on 90 countries, including Guyana, which got a 38% tariff. But on April 9, Trump paused these “reciprocal” tariffs for three months, except for those on China.
Dr. Jagdeo said the government will use this time to speak with exporters and see how both the 10% and 38% tariffs are affecting them. The government also plans to talk with the U.S. during this 90-day pause to fix the issue.
He explained that the U.S. is using trade data that does not match Guyana’s own records. The U.S. claims Guyana sold them $5.5 billion in goods in 2024 and only bought $1.3 billion, which looks like a $4.1 billion trade gap. But Guyana’s data shows only an $800 million gap.
Dr. Jagdeo rejected claims from the opposition party, the PNC/R, that the government was careless. He called those claims false.
He also said Guyana won’t fight back with its own tariffs, calling that a “stupid” idea. Instead, the government wants to work calmly and peacefully with the U.S. to solve the problem.
Since the above report was written, Donald Trump has reduced so-called “reciprocal” tariffs to 10%, allowing for a 90-day negotiation period before bespoke tariffs are reimposed. This gives Guyana a window for further discussions with the US.
Source: Guyana PIS.
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