U.S. President Donald Trump Slams 10% Tariff on All Sierra Leonean Goods

United States President Donald Trump has implemented a 10 percent reciprocal tariff on all goods imported from Sierra Leone, as part of his sweeping “Liberation Day” trade policy.

Trump had said that countries would face a tariff rate at half the level they charge the US, as deemed by the White House, with a minimum tariff rate of 10 percent, saying that the calculation included non-monetary trade barriers and currency manipulation.

Trump stated that the 10 percent rate levied on Sierra Leonean goods mirrors the existing tariffs imposed by Sierra Leone on U.S. exports. The new tariffs, which affected 185 countries, has therefore, ended months of anxious wait and uncertainty, which had plummeted stocks around the US, Europe and Asian markets.

The moves are the latest escalation of a trade war that also includes plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on all foreign-made vehicles this week.

Accordingly, Trump slammed a baseline tariff of 10 percent across all countries, while upping the duties for various partners whom he described as bad actors with country like Lesotho getting as much as 50 percent levies on their exports to America.

While unveiling the tariffs, Trump stated he could have gone higher by imposing higher tariffs to match what each country charges to US.

“The tariffs will be not a full reciprocal,” he said. “I could have done that, yes, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries who didn’t want to do that.”

Sierraloaded understands that the new tariffs pose a potential threat to Sierra Leone’s exports to the U.S. White House data indicates that the two countries traded over $123 million in goods in 2022, primarily consisting of minerals, metals, and agricultural products.

The long term effects of these tariffs on the Sierra Leonean economy remain to be seen.

Aside from Sierra Leone, some African countries that will bear the brunt of the new policy include: Nigeria (14 percent); Algeria (30 per cent); Lesotho (50 per cent); Mauritius (40 per cent); Kenya (10 per cent); Namibia (21 per cent) and Ethiopia as well as Ghana 10 per cent apiece. South Africa was handed down a reciprocal tariff of 30 per cent.