A Serbian business leader has criticized the United States' questionable calculations when drawing up its so-called "reciprocal tariffs", arguing these figures were based on inaccurate and unfounded data, and warned the policies will only result in higher costs for Serbian businesses.
Amidst widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" on all imports before announcing higher rates on certain trading partners, which saw Serbia originally facing a 37 percent duty.
After several days of chaos on the global financial markets, Trump on Wednesday suddenly announced he was putting a 90-day pause on the higher tariff rates to the European Union and all other countries except China.
While the U.S. claimed it had a trade deficit with Serbia of 600 million euros (about 676 million U.S. dollars) in 2024, data from from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS) suggests this figure has been hugely inflated.
Data from the chamber showed the country's exports to the U.S. last year amounted to 620 million euros, while imports totaled 683 million euros, resulting in a trade deficit of just 60 million euros, less than ten times the figure claimed by the United States.
In an interview with the China Media Group (CMG), Mihailo Vesovic, the chamber's vice president, questioned the method in how the U.S. came to their conclusion.
"From our angle we have a deficit of 60 million, but from the calculation that U.S. Customs, there's basically 600 million surplus on the Serbian side. So that's the way they calculated the new tariffs," he said.
Despite the higher tariff rate having been dramatically halted for three months, Vesovic warned that Serbia's main export sectors are still set to suffer from the Trump administration's tariff policies, with the U.S. already introducing a 25-percent tariff on both auto imports and on aluminum and steel.
"One of the main Serbian export products is rubber tires, and that is a sector that will be hit the most, but also the automotive industry, especially the producers of components, then some producers of pet food, some food products, aluminum and steel products. So those are the most sensitive products that we do export and that will be subjected to the tariffs," Vesovic stated.
He further highlighted that many Serbian businesses could face additional costs due to the U.S. tariff adjustments, which were made without prior notice or grace period, pointing to the chaos caused by Trump's unpredictable policy shifts.
"A lot of companies already have goods on probably boats traveling to the United States, and they were sent on one tariff, and they're going to come on the U.S. market and the tariffs were different. They need to negotiate also with their importers, because it's a question of who will account those tariffs in the final price of the product and who will take that account into their margins. So this is a very difficult situation," Vesovic said.
Given the high level of uncertainty in the current external environment, Vesovic called on the U.S. to approach trade policies based on the principles of equality, fairness, and predictability. He also stressed that Serbian businesses need to plan ahead, reassess export markets, and implement a diversified strategic approach to mitigate potential risks.
US tariff calculations unfounded, impacting local businesses: Serbian business leader
