Suggestions of retaliatory measures on US tariffs ‘extremely stupid’ – Jagdeo

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo cast aside suggestions that Guyana should pursue retaliatory tariffs against the United States’ exports, describing such calls as “extremely stupid.”

Jagdeo said this as he commented on the May 8, 2025, Stabroek News Editorial at his Thursday press conference. That editorial focused on actions needed to cushion the blow of recent tariff announcements made by US President Donald Trump.

The editorial suggested that diplomacy alone, as Guyana has been pursuing, “is not a responsible approach.”

It also noted that “many nations, ours [Guyana’s] excepted, have already formulated retaliatory measures to counter the potential economic damage.

But Jagdeo said any suggestions of retaliatory tariffs were absurd.

Jagdeo says gov’t will engage US administration on tariffs, assures exporters of support

“What they are suggesting is that we are deficient in Guyana because we don’t plan to retaliate in Guyana.

“Now you have to be extremely stupid to hold that view. How can a country like ours, with a bilateral trade that we have with the USA, plan retaliatory tariffs against the US as one of the menu of measures to address that?” Jagdeo said at his press conference.

Instead, he posited, countries must seek to cooperate with each other and governments should formulate policies to support any groups that may be affected by these trade measures.

President Trump said he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on dozens of other countries. Guyana was among the countries to face a “reciprocal tariff,” a higher tax rate of 38%, though that move has been paused.

Jagdeo also said on Thursday that the government continues to engage the US administration on the tariff issue and has communicated its “strong arguments” about why the tariffs should not be applied to Guyana.

Even so, the Vice President said the government explored some measures it will pursue to keep Guyanese exporters competitive should the tariffs go back in place. Retaliatory tariffs are not one of those measures, he clarified, however.