ZAGREB, October 3, 2019 – The Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said on Thursday new US import tariffs would not significantly impact Croatian exports to the United States or the Croatian economy.
“Based on the information we have, we think the new tariffs the US will impose on products from Croatia won’t have a significant direct impact on Croatian exports to the US or a significant direct impact on the Croatian economy,” the HGK said in response to a query from Hina.
Although the tariffs will make access to the US market more difficult for some businesses, higher tariffs for Croatia will be imposed on agricultural goods which do not account for major Croatian exports to the US, the HGK said.
According to the national statistical office, Croatian exports to the US in 2018 totalled $403.9 million while imports were $213.8 million.
On Wednesday, the World Trade Organization granted the United States permission to tax as much as $7.5 billion of European exports annually over European subsidies to the plane maker Airbus. The US has announced that it will place a 25% tax on food imports from the European Union, including milk, dairy products, meat, fruit, juices, wine and whiskey.
The US plans to impose the tax on Croatian goods such as milk and dairy products, pork and its products, shellfish, prunes, cherries, peaches, pears, fruit and vegetable juices, except tomato juice.
European food producers have said the tariffs will cause them major damage.
More news about relations between Croatia and the United States can be found in the Politics section.
