Browsing: tariffs

• Central banks across Africa weighing interest rates in the next three weeks are poised to lower them, cautious that the opportunity to ease further may dissipate after President Trump formally assumes office.
• The Trump presidency is anticipated to strengthen the dollar further, primarily due to his commitment to significantly raising tariffs on imported goods.
• A new wave of inflation, driven by the strengthening dollar from the Trump effect, would exacerbate the already high inflation rates in many African countries.

Donald Trump’s return to the Whitehouse sent the dollar surging against both G10 and emerging market currencies in a change that has potentially far-reaching macroeconomic repercussions for African nations.

As Trump’s victory became evident, the “Trump Trade” pushed 10-year Treasury yields up by 0.16 per cent to 4.44 per cent. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the dollar’s performance against a basket of major currencies, saw its largest single-day increase since …

Negotiators agreed to raise the East Africa Community’s (EAC) upper tariff band to 32 per cent.

This breaks a deadlock that has delayed review of the customs taxes for close to 10 years.

Currently, east Africa’s three-band common external tariff (CET) structure has an upper rate of 25 per cent, which is the private sector blames for letting in cheaper goods from outside the bloc.

Raw materials and capital goods are currently charged zero per cent by the region, while inputs are charged 10 per cent and 25 per cent on finished goods imports.

In addition, items that can be produced within, EAC has put them under the sensitive list to attract CET at rates between 35 and 100 per cent this includes a number of products such as maize, rice and textile.

According to the agreement, the tariffs will be reviewed to charge import duty of 32 per cent …