Tarifs douaniers : "Highly detrimental to our economy", dit Ramgoolam, qui affirme qu'il écrira à Trump pour discuter des préoccupations de Maurice

La taxe douanière de 40 % imposée par le président Donald Trump sur les exportations de Maurice vers les États-Unis sera "highly detrimental to our economy", a déclaré le Premier ministre dans un statement au Parlement cet après-midi.

"The Executive Order means that our exports of goods to the US will now be subject to a tariff of 40%. This will be clearly highly detrimental to our economy. The US is the 4th largest buyer of Mauritian goods. Some 41 export-oriented enterprises, employing some 16,750 persons, depend on the US market. Being an AGOA eligible country, Mauritius has been benefitting from duty-free market access for some 6,400 product lines on the US market," a déclaré Ramgoolam.

Le chef du gouvernement affirme qu'il écrira au président Donald Trump pour soulever les préoccupations de Maurice.

Ci-dessous le statement du Premier ministre dans son intégralité :

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 
SITTING OF TUESDAY 8 April 2025

Statement on the US Executive Order “Regulating Imports with A Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits”. 

Madam Speaker,
    
With your permission, I am making a statement on the Executive Order entitled “Regulating Imports with A Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits” signed by President Trump on 2nd April 2025. 

President Trump invoked his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to address the national emergency posed by the absence of reciprocity in the US trade relationships and other harmful policies like currency manipulation and unfair trade practices. 

The Executive Order imposes a baseline 10% tariff on all imported goods as from 5th April 2025. The US will also impose an individualized reciprocal higher tariff proportionate to the level of its trade deficit with that country as from 9th April 2025. 

The Executive Order further states that these tariffs will remain in effect until such a time as the President determines that the threat posed by the trade deficit and underlying non-reciprocal treatment is satisfied, resolved, or mitigated. Some products that are exempted from this policy are steel and aluminium, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals, and energy products. Basically, all these goods are strategic for the US, which explains their exclusion. 

It is our understanding that the calculation of the reciprocal tariff is based on the trade deficit incurred by the US with Mauritius in 2024. In that year, Mauritius exported around USD 234.5 million of goods to the US while it imported only USD 48 million, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 186.5 million for the US.

The trade deficit as a percentage of Mauritius exports to the US is estimated at 80%.  Therefore, as per the US calculation, the reciprocal tariff for Mauritius is 80%.  However, this percentage was halved and a discounted reciprocal tariff of 40% will be applied for our exports entering the US market. 

The main products exported to the US include live primates, fish, sugar, and textiles and apparel.

As soon as President Trump assumed Office on 20th January 2025, he signed the America First Trade Policy Presidential Memorandum which aims at undertaking a number of studies and proposing recommendations to address persistent trade deficits, amongst others.

In February 2025 the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) had requested public comments on unfair trade practices and non-reciprocal trade arrangements affecting the US economy by the deadline of 11 March 2025. Accordingly, Mauritius made a submission highlighting that the top 20 US exports to Mauritius do not attract any tariff at all. The mutual benefits of AGOA were also underscored.

On 3rd April 2025, WTO Director-General stated that many members had contacted the WTO regarding the potential impact of the tariffs on their economies and global trade. She expressed concern over the decline in trade and the risk of a tariff war driven by retaliatory measures. Highlighting the potential for significant trade diversion, she urged members to handle the resulting pressures responsibly to prevent escalating tensions.

The Executive Order means that our exports of goods to the US will now be subject to a tariff of 40%. This will be clearly highly detrimental to our economy.   The US is the 4th largest buyer of Mauritian goods. Some 41 export-oriented enterprises, employing some 16,750 persons, depend on the US market. Being an AGOA eligible country, Mauritius has been benefitting from duty-free market access for some 6,400 product lines on the US market.

Other AGOA eligible countries like Lesotho, Botswana, and Madagascar will face a tariff of 50%, 37% and 47%, respectively. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a meeting, which included high level representatives from various Ministries, as well as public and private sector stakeholders, namely the MCCI, the Sugar Syndicate, Business Mauritius and MEXA, with a view to charting the way forward and mitigating the fallouts on our economy. 

I have chaired two meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

The following course of action was agreed:

1)    Discuss possible avenues with the US at the bilateral and regional levels;

2)    Work with like-minded group of countries, including AGOA eligible countries as well as the African Union mission in Washington D.C with a view to devising a strategy to open up discussions with the US side; and

3)    Negotiate a Bilateral Trade Agreement with the US which would provide the necessary predictability to our trading relations.

A High-Level Committee has been set up by Government to monitor the situation and liaise with all public, private and foreign stakeholders, including the Corporate Council for Africa, that can work together to mitigate the fallouts from the US Executive Order and ensure continued trade between Mauritius and the US.

Government will also engage with the US as the Executive Order provides that reciprocal tariff can be modified if the country takes “significant steps to remedy non-reciprocal trade arrangements and align sufficiently with the United States on economic and national security matters.”

I am also writing to President Trump, with a view to discuss the concerns of Mauritius.

8 April 2025