Serbia welcomes US decision to lift import tariffs
The United States has lifted tariffs on imports from Serbia, reducing the previous 35% duty to zero.
According to Serbia's public broadcaster RTS, the tariff suspension is expected to remain in place for at least six months before the US introduces a new tariff of between 10% and 12%, CE Report quotes FENA.
Domestic experts view the move as the first concrete step in implementing agreements reached during the launch of the US-Serbia Strategic Dialogue on July 18, led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić. However, opposition politicians argue that the tariff decision is unrelated to the dialogue.
In a joint statement issued after the dialogue was launched, the US State Department and Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the initiative signaled a "shared goal of strengthening the partnership between the two countries," while Belgrade described it as "historic."
Veljko Mijušković, a professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Economics, told RTS that around 700 Serbian companies would benefit directly from the tariff removal, particularly firms in the metal processing and chemical industries, as well as manufacturers of automotive parts, which had faced significantly more difficult business conditions over the past year because of the high tariffs.
According to Mijušković, eliminating the tariffs will also encourage Serbian companies to expand into the US market and create opportunities for stronger economic and political cooperation between the two countries.
He added that the absence of US tariffs could make Serbia more attractive to foreign investors, especially at a time when similar trade benefits are not available to European Union member states.
The Serbian opposition, however, insists that the tariff removal has no direct connection with the US-Serbia Strategic Dialogue.
Borko Stefanović, deputy leader of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), said Washington removed the tariffs because the US Supreme Court prevented President Donald Trump's administration from imposing tariffs under its previous legal framework—not because of the personal efforts of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, as he has sought to present to the domestic public.
To continue its policy of imposing higher tariffs, the US administration has instead relied on provisions of an older law allowing trade and customs restrictions on countries that use forced labor in the production of goods imported into the United States, including throughout the supply chain, Stefanović said in a party statement.
He argued that Serbia does not fall under the new criteria, while the previous tariff framework was invalidated by the US Supreme Court's ruling.
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