U.S. tariffs on North Macedonian goods take effect

National Bank Governor Trajko Slaveski believes it's too early to feel the effects of the newly introduced U.S. tariffs, which currently stand at 15 percent for North Macedonia, CE Report quotes MIA.

He noted Thursday that, since the decision was made just recently, the necessary analyses are yet to be conducted.

“There’s no visible impact from the tariffs yet. Even U.S. projections suggest it’ll take five to six months to feel the effects. The tariffs were only just introduced. We need to conduct analyses to assess the extent of the impact. At this point, I don’t have precise data on that,” Slaveski said during a press conference.

The U.S. decision to impose a 15% tariff on North Macedonian products takes effect today, after being adopted on August 1.

A 15% tariff will also apply to the European Union, with whom the U.S. signed a trade agreement on July 27. Among the countries in the region, products from Croatia and Slovenia will also face a 15% tariff, those from Serbia will be subject to a 35% tariff, from Bosnia and Herzegovina 30%, while Albania and Montenegro will have the lowest rate, at 10%.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski expects the U.S. tariffs to decrease below 15%, as negotiations are set to continue in the second half of August after the summer holidays, as he said a week ago.

The Ministry of Finance believes tariffs could be reduced to 10 percent, while Customs Administration Director Boban Nikolovski said the tariff rate should be finalized by the end of September.