Reciprocal tariffs: US slashes Guyana tariff from 38% to 15%

The White House on Thursday evening announced that the 38 per cent reciprocal tariff announced for Guyana in April has been reduced to 15 per cent.
This was confirmed by White House documentation released on Thursday.
Speaking with Guyana Times on Thursday evening, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that the Government of Guyana was very pleased that there was a downward adjustment.
He added, however, that Guyana was still hopeful for a further adjustment.
“We’re still engaged in talks and discussions, and we hope upon the completion of those discussions that we can get back down to the 10 per cent. But we’re pleased that there was a downward adjustment,” Jagdeo said.
Speaking on the issue on Thursday at his weekly press conference, the Vice President said that Guyana had submitted documents to the US Trade Representative’s Office regarding the tariffs and explained that the US authorities understood that the surplus was largely from oil exports.
“They know that it’s almost entirely from the export of oil into the US. So given that, I think we have… they’ve approached this matter differently… Now, unlike with some other countries which I think they take a harder line, they understood that the [Guyana’s] surplus is as a result of the oil export, not any unfair currency practices or protective barriers in Guyana that have led to that situation which they accuse other countries of. So given that, that goodwill there and the understanding, I anticipate that we should have a favourable outcome,” Jagdeo told reporters earlier on Thursday.
Currently, US-based oil major ExxonMobil and its co-venturers are conducting oil production activities offshore Guyana in the Stabroek Block.
Back in April, Guyana had been included on a list of countries facing reciprocal tariffs from the US, a measure that once implemented could have seen the cost of doing business increase, and had resulted in the Government of Guyana reaching out to its partners in the US, seeking answers.
According to a chart US President Donald Trump read from, Guyana had a 38 per cent reciprocal tariff rate applied to its exports to the US, in response to the 76 per cent tariff that Guyana was listed as imposing on US products.
However, the US then put a 90-day pause on these tariffs.
In May, Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and a team from Guyana, met with the US Trade Representative, Ambassador Jameson Greer, to discuss the tariff. At the time, Jagdeo had revealed that the meeting focused on explaining the economic context of the surplus, including the nascent nature of Guyana’s oil and gas industry and the dominant role US companies play in its development.
“It is the quiet diplomacy that we’ll work through. And we’re working with the US Government so that they understand why the trade surplus arose. It’s mainly because of our export of oil, and most of that is from Exxon, a US company. So, that is the approach we will take, not planning retaliatory tariffs,” Jagdeo had said.