US trade policies, specifically tariffs imposed on goods from China and Canada, could benefit Fiji’s imports, creating potential opportunities for growth in key sectors.
While the long-term effects of these tariffs were uncertain, this could be a glimmer of hope for Fiji, says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Professor Biman Prasad said.
“President (Donald) Trump is talking about tariffs in China, Canada, and Mexico. China is our trading partner, Canada is our trading partner,” the minister said.
“We may end up getting cheaper stuff from China because, they might be diverting the trade away from the US, because there are more restrictions, or the exports to the US from China could be more expensive as a result of the imposition of the tariff.”
Prof Prasad said Fiji would have to assess the impact on imports from China.
“So, the impact could be different for us. It could be different for other countries, and we are obviously keeping a tab on those developments.”
When asked about the US’ decision to pull out of the COP and the impact this may have on small Pacific Island countries such as Fiji, Prof Prasad said the Government was assessing this very carefully.
“The previous Trump Administration did that as well, the US under the Biden Administration, went back to the Paris Agreement. He has decided now, to take us away from the Paris Agreement.
“I don’t think that it is going to have a have a drastic impact, in terms of the advocacy, in terms of the agreement that we had at COP 29 the new quantified collective goal, the finance goal that provides, still provides a good foundation for us to pursue.”
Mr Prasad said it was premature to speculate exactly how the global picture was going to pan out, in terms of the impact on Fiji.
“Of course, there will be some international funding, climate funding agencies that could be impacted, which would have relied on US funding such as GCF.”
