US tariffs expected to have ‘limited direct impact on Guyana’ – IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its 2025 Article IV report, said the recent tariff announcements from the United States are expected to have a limited direct impact on Guyana, as most of the country’s exports remain exempt.

“Recent tariff announcements are expected to have a limited direct impact on Guyana amid increased external risks.

“… only 2 percent of GDP in exports is subject to the tariff, as 90 percent of Guyana’s exports to the United States—comprising almost entirely petroleum, with small shares of gold and aluminum— is exempt from the April 2nd tariffs (although aluminum faces a 25 percent tariff as per Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act),” the IMF said in its report.

US President Trump said he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on dozens of other countries. Guyana was among the countries to face a “reciprocal tariff,” a higher tax rate of 38%, though that move has been paused.

Guyanese authorities have been engaging the US on the tariffs, in hopes that the reciprocal figure will be reviewed.

Recently, Guyana’s Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo explained that this higher rate Guyana has is likely based on the fact that Guyana exports more to the US than it imports from that country. With that trade surplus, he believes President Trump is making good on a promise to “balance the scales.”

However, he also acknowledged that the lion’s share of Guyana’s exports to the country in 2024- some US$3.1 billion- came from the petroleum sector. Since ExxonMobil and Hess, two US companies, have the majority share in the oil-producing consortium offshore Guyana, Jagdeo hopes the two countries can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Like the IMF noted in its report, Jagdeo also pointed out that there are exemptions to the tariffs. Those exemptions include petroleum products and gold- two of the major Guyanese exports to the US.