Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa suspends tariffs on US imports

Zimbabwe’s
President
said
Saturday
he
would
suspend
all
tariffs
on
goods
imported
from
the
United
States,
days
after
US
President
Donald
Trump
levied
18
percent
tariffs
against
the
southern
African
nation.

The
mineral-rich
country’s
main
trading
partners
are
the
United
Arab
Emirates,
South
Africa
and
China,
and
its
limited
exports
to
the
US
comprise
mainly
of
tobacco
and
sugar.

“I
will
direct
the
Zimbabwean
government
to
implement
a
suspension
of
all
tariffs
levied
on
goods
originating
from
the
United
States,”
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
said
in
a
post
on
X.

The
total
goods
trade
between
the
two
countries
amounted
to
$111.6
million
in
2024,
according
to
US
government
data.

The
relationship
between
Zimbabwe
and
the
US
has
been
marked
by
decades-long
pressure
campaigns
against
former
ruler
Robert
Mugabe
since
the
early
2000s.

Harare
has
regularly
blamed
US
sanctions
for
the
disastrous
economic
crisis
that
has
afflicted
the
country
for
more
than
two
decades,
and
has
moved
away
from
the
West,
strengthening
economic
ties
with
the
UAE
and
China.

Washington
last
year
abolished
the
former
sanctions
programme
but
imposed
targeted
sanctions
on
Mnangagwa
and
other
senior
leaders
in
Zimbabwe’s
government
and
ZANU-PF
ruling
party,
citing
rights
abuses
and
corruption.

Mnangagwa
at
the
time
said
the
sanctions
imposed
by
then
President
Joe
Biden
were
“illegal
and
unjustified”.

Prominent
journalist
and
activist
Hopewell
Chin’ono
said
Saturday’s
announcement
of
the
suspension
of
tariffs
on
US
goods
was
a
“knee-jerk
reaction”,
suggesting
it
could
be
an
effort
by
Mnangagwa
to
get
the
sanctions
removed.

“Acting
unilaterally
contradicts
the
principles
of
regional
economic
cooperation,”
especially
with
the
Southern
African
Development
Community
(SADC),
and
risked
“sidelining
the
interests”
of
Zimbabwe’s
main
trade
partners,
Chin’ono
wrote
on
X.

“Does
Zimbabwe
even
export
enough
to
the
US
to
justify
trying
to
appease
Trump’s
administration
in
this
way?,”
he
asked.

AFP

Post
published
in:

Featured