Capitalise on ‘duty free, tariff free’ export to the EU- Ambassador

The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Guyana, René van Nes, during his remarks at the annual general meeting of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), encouraged local producers to capitalise on the duty-free and tariff-free access CARICOM member states have when exporting to the EU.

“The European Union has the economic partnership with CARICOM and that means every CARICOM member can export, duty free and tariff free, its products to the European Union.

“So, my encouragement to you obviously is make use of that opportunity,” the diplomat stated.

Though he acknowledged there are challenges with exporting to the EU, van Nes offered some solutions.

“It is not always easy to export to the EU because we do have our food and sanitary regulations, but we also have training courses that will help you if you are interested,” he said.

Further speaking on the current global trade environment, the Ambassador said: “The world depends on trust, trade depends on trust. So with the rule of law and rule-based international order now being challenged, that trust is being challenged, and I think that can well be one of the biggest losers of all the turmoil we see around in the world.”

Export tariffs are being perused more intensely following a recent tariff increase announcement from United States President Donald Trump.

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, during his weekly press conference on Thursday, assured domestic exporters that the Guyana Government is engaging the United States administration regarding new reciprocal tariffs that are soon to take effect.

Trump declared the imposition of a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the United States, along with higher duties on dozens of other countries. Under this new policy, Guyana is expected to face a tariff rate of 38%.

The Vice President said the government expected trade decisions from the US President as he was clear about his goals to prioritise US trade ahead of the 2024 elections. Even so, Jagdeo believes there is room for the government to engage the Trump administration on a lower tariff rate.

Jagdeo explained that this higher rate Guyana has is likely based on the fact that Guyana exports more to the US than it imports from that country.

Based on information supplied by Guyana to the United Nations global trade platform, Comtrade, Guyana exported US$3.3 billion worth of goods to the US and imported US$2.56 billion from that country. With those figures, there is a trade surplus of about US$799 million. Based on figures reported by the US, however, Guyana’s exports to the US totalled US$5.5 billion, while imports stood at US$1.3 billion. Therefore, there was a trade surplus of $4.1 billion.

However, there are exemptions to the new U.S. tariffs, which include petroleum products, aluminum ore, and gold – three of Guyana’s major exports to the U.S. As a result, while the government will pursue talks with the U.S., a significant portion of Guyana’s exports will remain unaffected.