Tariffs on Serbian goods sent to US dropping

The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a large part of President Donald Trump’s tariffs has weakened his ability to threaten and impose tariffs on other countries, and for Serbia it may also be a relief after the 37% tariffs that hit certain industries and were later reduced to 35%, writes Nova Ekonomija. Trump responded within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday, imposing a new 10% tariff on all imports and ordering new trade investigations that could lead to additional tariffs in a few months.

The US president insisted that trade and investment agreements reached with nearly 20 countries - most with higher tariffs - should remain intact. Less than 24 hours later, he increased the rate of the new tariff to 15% - the maximum level allowed by law.

– We are now in a better position, the only question is whether the new tariffs will be applied immediately and whether they will be at the level before April 2025 when Trump introduced the most recent tariffs. We reduced exports to America by 6% last year, but also increased total exports to the world by 8.5%. Some of our affiliated companies, some manufacturers of small machinery, were well positioned in the US, but they have practically left the market. Now with these changes, some things could perhaps be sorted out – said Bojan Stanic from the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia.

The manufacturing sector significantly slowed down growth in 11 months of last year, achieving growth of 1.9% in 2025 compared to 4.6% in the same period in 2024, partly under the influence of the implementation of new US tariff rates towards the EU, but also towards Serbia, according to Raiffeisen Bank data. As bankers explain, this is happening even though the volume of Serbia’s trade with the US is at a fairly low level and we have a lower inflow of foreign direct investment, but they still clearly affect a part of the industry.

So far, in addition to the 35% tariff, Serbian exporters have also been subject to a 50% tariff on aluminum, steel and copper products, which was introduced under another US law, and they should remain in force.

Also, although new passenger vehicles, auto parts and tires from Serbia are exempt from the “umbrella” tariffs, these goods are still subject to special taxation upon import, at a rate of 25%, writes Nedeljnik.

For now, however, there are still many unknowns related to Trump’s latest move. The new order includes tariffs of 15% for the next 150 days. But it is not guaranteed that this is the end, because if it suits Trump, he can introduce tariffs in other ways. During that time, some consequences for the US economy may become visible, economists explain.

Privredna komora Srbije

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

Bojan Stanić

Donald Trump

US tariffs

US tariffs on goods from Serbia