FIJI’S remittance from the United States is next in the line of fire as President Donald Trump’s tariff crusade continue to evolve. In its latest Economic Review, the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) warned of impact in our remittances with the passing by the US Congress of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”.
This, RBF said in its June Economic Review, “introduced a 1.0 per cent remittance tax, effective from January 2026, that may significantly affect Pacific Island Countries that are heavily reliant on remittances”.
RBF’s remittance data showed Fiji earning a total of $1.32billion in personal remittance last year and around 24 per cent of that is attributed to the US, Fiji’s second highest source of remittances.
Between January and June this year, Fiji has raked in $629m in personal remittances, according to RBF data.
Downside risks to global growth projections revised upwards by the International Monetary Fund for both 2025 and 2026 persisted, RBF noted, given the tariff spectre.
“The US administration’s new tariffs are expected to disrupt global supply chains, potentially affecting Fiji through reduced visitor arrivals, remittance inflows and trade,” it warned.
Fiji’s exports to the US are already bearing the brunt of President Trump’s import tariff imposition, with data from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS) showing a declining trend in percentage and value since April when the Trump Administration began levying a 10 per cent universal tariff on its imports.
Fiji’s exports to the US dropped by 4.3 per cent to $35.3million in April, a $1.6m decline in value compared with March.
May saw the biggest drop this year – exports to the US in May fetched just $31m, a $5.6m drop in value representing a 15 per cent decline.
This was attributed to a drop in mineral waters, tuna and other ornamental fish.
