US President Donald Trump sent two separate letters on Monday to the presidents of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as he posted on his Truth Social profile, informing them that higher tariffs will be introduced from August 1. The tariff on all Serbian exports to the US will be 35 per cent and for Bosnia, 30 per cent.
These tariffs are 5 percentage points less for Bosnia and 2 percentage points less for Serbia than was previously announced in April. Trump later announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries, except China.
Trump defended the higher tariffs as necessary for “more balanced, and fair, trade”, mentioning the US trade deficit with those countries. He called on both countries to move production to the US in order to avoid additional costs.
Trump’s letter to Bosnia was addressed to Zeljka Cvijanovic, Chair of the three-member Presidency and to President Aleksandar Vucic in Serbia.
“As you are aware, there will be no tariff if Serbia, or companies within your Country, decide to build or manufacture products within the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely – in other words, in a matter of weeks,” Trump’s letter to Vucic reads.
Trump sent similar letters about raising US tariffs to Laos and Myanmar [both 40 per cent], Cambodia and Thailand [both 36 per cent], Bangladesh [35 per cent], Indonesia [32 per cent], South Africa [30 per cent] and to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia [all 25 per cent].
The US President said the current US trading relationship with these countries had been “far from reciprocal” and the US has “concluded that we must move away from these longterm, and very persistent, Trade Deficits engendered by (current) Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers”.
Admir Cavalic, a Bosnian economic analyst, told N1 media outlet that the defence industry in Bosnia will be hardest hit by the new tariffs. “This was expected. We received warnings in recent months and did nothing,” he said, adding that this is bad news for Bosnia.
“It’s time to act and try to resolve this issue through bilateral relations. Citizens will only feel the indirect consequences. A drop in exports to the US could mean a lower potential for wages as well as employment for our workers,” he said.
According to the latest data, Serbian exports to the US from January to May 2025 accounted for 2.2 per cent of total exports. In 2024, it exported goods to the US worth $670.1 million [572.6 million Euro], up from $556.9 million [476 million Euro] in 2023.
The most exported goods from Serbia to the US were tyres, arms, machine parts, animal feed, fruits and copper. Imports from the US amounted to $739.4 million [631.2 million Euro] in 2024, up from $588 million [502 million Euro] in 2023.
The US accounts for just 1 per cent of Bosnia’s total foreign trade and the impact is significant only for the defence industry. Trade between the two countries has grown by 71 per cent over the past decade.