Taiwo Hassan 
…says it’s relief for Nigeria, others in global trade
…lauds Tinubu’s removal of VAT on goods, services
Following the US Court of International Trade’s blocking of President Donald Trump’s imposition of sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law, members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) have described the development as a relief for Nigeria, Africa and other countries. Specifically, they affirmed that the court decision would bring stability into the global trade.
The Nigerian private sector group stated that since Trump announced his retaliatory tariff on global trade, which was a violation of World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s constitutional ethics, the world had never been the same, saying Nigeria’s economy was visibly shaken amids the 14 per cent tariff imposed on goods expert to American markets.
Specifically, a ruling by three-judge panel agreed with plaintiffs that Trump doesn’t have authority to imposeome of the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The White House, which appealed the ruling, has 10 days to pause them. However, the Treasury Department data shows Trump’s tariffs generated $22.3 billion in federal revenue this month — higher than in April and March. Altogether, revenue has surged in recent months to about 4 per cent, up from roughly 2 per cent in recent decades.
Speaking in separate interviews with New Telegraph in Lagos, a former United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Representative in Nigeria on Agric Exports and Trade, and also a former Director-General (DG) of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. John Isemede, and a former Chairman of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Small and Medium scales Enterprise Group (SMEG), Dr. Jon Tudy Kachikwu, explained that the halting of the retaliatory tariff by the court was a victory for liberalisation of international trade convention.
Isemede called the event of Trump’s administration so far as the “worst self-inflicted policy wound” he had ever seen, saying that his tariffs announcement run pari pasu with WTO thereby distorting the laws guiding global trade in all ramifications.
He said: “The liberation day tariffs were shocking to the system. Markets are very volatile, it scares people. “Was I expecting it? Clearly the market wasn’t, as it crippled world stocks market trading.”
According to him, the trade war “is probably the most profound act of economic self-harm that I’ve seen in my career.” He further revealed that “financial markets are certainly no longer rubbing their hands. “When Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, US markets responded with a brief rally.
But this optimism has faded rapidly and has been replaced by a far more sober assessment of policy risks in the context of today’s fragile economic environment.
