EADaily: Trump does not spare Armenia either: The strategic charter is one thing, tariffs are another

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump effectively unleashed a trade war, giving it the broadest possible scope. On April 2, he announced new tariffs on goods imported from 183 countries and territories. Armenia was included in this impressive list, facing a 10% basic tariff. Two other republics in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan and Georgia, were subjected to the same restrictive measure, EADaily reports.

As noted, Armenian authorities have remained silent regarding the “import surcharges” imposed by the Republican administration of the White House. This can be explained by the fact that Armenian-American trade is not particularly significant in value. Yerevan’s silence is likely a result of the recently signed strategic partnership charter between Armenia and the U.S. The government of Nikol Pashinyan probably prefers not to irritate Trump’s team with comments about raising tariffs for a trading partner in the South Caucasus, especially given that the aforementioned “basic (minimum) rate” of 10% has been set for it.

The publication noted that until 2021, the volume of imports from the U.S. amounted to $20 million, which increased to $346 million in 2021-2022, and further to $550 million in 2023. However, in 2024, it decreased to $320 million.

“As a result, Armenia will have to work more closely with its partners in the Eurasian Economic Union, particularly Russia, which is the republic’s largest and practically irreplaceable trading partner. To remind, the volume of Armenian-Russian trade exceeded $12.4 billion in 2024, marking a record increase of 56.5% compared to 2023. Thus, Armenia’s trade with Russia, based on data from the country’s Statistical Committee, was 31 times greater than the corresponding figure with the U.S.,” EADaily writes.