Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced the suspension of all tariffs on goods imported from the United States, in what is seen as a strategic response to recent tariff hikes imposed by Washington on Zimbabwean exports.
In a post shared Saturday on X (formerly Twitter), Mnangagwa stated, “I will direct our government to implement a suspension of all tariffs levied on goods originating from the United States.” The move, he said, aims to boost American imports into Zimbabwe while encouraging the expansion of Zimbabwean exports to the U.S. market.
The decision follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of 18 percent tariffs on imports from Zimbabwe earlier this week. Though trade between the two nations remains modest—totaling around $111.6 million in 2024—the gesture marks a notable shift in Zimbabwe’s trade policy.
Zimbabwe’s main export partners include South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and China, with exports to the U.S. mainly comprising tobacco and sugar. The new tariff suspension raises questions about whether the country stands to benefit significantly from increased trade with the U.S., given its current export levels.
Relations between Harare and Washington have long been strained, dating back to the early 2000s during Robert Mugabe’s presidency. While the U.S. formally ended its broader sanctions program last year, it replaced it with targeted sanctions against Mnangagwa and senior officials in the ruling ZANU-PF party, citing human rights violations and corruption.
Mnangagwa, who condemned those sanctions as “illegal and unjustified,” now appears to be making a conciliatory gesture—one that some critics argue may be aimed at persuading the U.S. to reconsider its stance.
Prominent Zimbabwean journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin’ono dismissed the tariff suspension as a “knee-jerk reaction,” suggesting it contradicts the broader goals of regional cooperation through bodies like the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“Does Zimbabwe even export enough to the U.S. to justify trying to appease Trump’s administration in this way?” Chin’ono questioned in a post on X, warning that such unilateral decisions risk alienating the country’s key trading allies in the region.
As the geopolitical and economic implications of this move unfold, observers will be watching closely to see whether the U.S. responds—and whether the tariff suspension yields any tangible trade benefits for Zimbabwe.