Zimbabwe’s main trading partners are South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and China, but it exports tobacco and rice to the United States.
Zimbabwean President Emerson Mnangagwa suspended all tariffs on goods from the US a few days after the White House imposed an 18% interest on imports from African countries.
He said, “Instructs the Zimbabwean government to implement a suspension of all tariffs imposed on goods arising from the United States, in the spirit of building mutually beneficial and positive relationships with the United States under President Trump’s leadership.”
“The measure aims to promote the expansion of US imports in the Zimbabwean market, but also promotes growth in Zimbabwean exports to the US,” he added.
Zimbabwe’s main trading partners are South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and China, but it exports tobacco and rice to the United States.
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The fee includes a flat 10% collection and includes additional fees tailored to the trade barriers of each country in the United States.
Tariffs in African countries have changed from 50% in Lesotho, 32% in Angola, 18% in Zimbabwe and 10% in Sudan.
In an interview with ABC News with Hassett, head of the White House National Economic Council, “This week,” he said, “more than 50 countries are reaching out and trying to negotiate this new position with the president… they are doing it because they understand that they are owing a lot of tariffs.”
Mnangagwa, who was re-elected as president in August 2023, uses the political slogan “reconstruction, reform and reconstruction” to seek to restore Zimbabwean economy after years of decline under Mugabe.
However, the Zanu-PF party is accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the Democratic reversal, human rights abuses and government corruption in Zimbabwe,” then Treasury Secretary Wally Adeimo said.
He also said, “Mnangagwa has provided protective shields to smugglers to operate in Zimbabwe, instructing Zimbabwean officials to promote the sale of gold and diamonds in illegal markets and to take away the bribes in exchange for his services.”
On March 31, rival facts within Zanu-PF called for anti-government protests, but the streets of Harare, the capital, remained largely empty as calls were largely ignored.
The blessed Geza-led faction is made up of the country’s veterans against white minority rule in the 1970s, and is opposed to the inauguration of Mnangagwa beyond the next presidential election in 2028.
Geza faction is replacing him as a Zanu-PF candidate in favor of 68-year-old Constantino Chiwenga.
Chiwenga, a former army general who led the coup that overthrew Mugabe in November 2017, has not commented on the issue of leadership.
Geza, known as Comrade Bombshell, has become an online feel with tens of thousands of people tuned to his YouTube channel.
Zanu-PF expels him and police say he is facing treason.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
