Q COSTARICA — For the country’s producers and productive sectors, the news that the United States has imposed 15% tariffs, higher than the 10% announced last April, is unexpected and disappointing, especially since the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Comex) had assured that negotiations were on track.
Business chambers were quick to express their concern and anger over the situation, which will affect the prices of their products and their sales to the country’s largest trading partner, the United States.
For example, for the National Chamber of Agriculture, the 15% tariffs affect sensitive products for national producers and make them even more vulnerable than they were, after seven months of poor results, according to the Monthly Economic Activity Report (IMAE) of the Central Bank of Costa Rica.
This worsens the situation for those struggling to sustain their productive activities.
“Costa Rica and the United States have historically maintained a good trade relationship. Unfortunately, today it is evident that our country has repeatedly yielded to the demands of US negotiators, hoping to maintain favorable market access conditions. However, this latest blow demonstrates that such concessions were given for nothing,” denounced Abel Chaves, president of the Chamber.
Chaves added that this U.S. decision also demonstrates that free trade agreements have been losing effectiveness and the legal protections with which the countries have signed.
Furthermore, he emphasized the urgent need for the government to provide clear explanations and, above all, to take concrete actions to defend the national agricultural sector from decisions that put it in an even more critical situation. He also emphasized the urgent need for the Ministry of Foreign Trade to reflect on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Pacific Alliance.
For his part, Gustavo Jiménez, executive director of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFÉ), stated that they are conducting the corresponding analysis of the impact these tariffs will have on the coffee sector.
Comex reported that it was surprised by the Trump administration’s announcement of a new executive order establishing an increase in the tariff applied to exports of Costa Rican goods, from 10% to 15%. However, after analysis and conversations with U.S. authorities, it confirmed that the criterion that weighed the trade surplus between Costa Rica and the United States was the trade surplus. This occurs when the value of exports (what we sell) exceeds the value of imports (what we buy).
This change, as stated through the Communications Office, occurs in the context of a negotiation process in which Costa Rica has acted in good faith, decisively defending the restoration of improved access conditions for national exports. The government requested that U.S. authorities pause the implementation of the tariff increase while the corresponding negotiations continue.
In this regard, economist Luis Carlos Olivares explained that it is true that Costa Rica maintains a trade surplus with the United States in several key areas, especially in high-value niche export goods and services.
“Most importantly, at the aggregate level, for example, in 2024, the United States had a goods deficit with Costa Rica, meaning we exported more, by about US$2 billion. In services, the US deficit was also US$3.1 billion. But any type of negotiation must be understood within an asymmetric framework, in which Costa Rica is an actor with little bargaining power and definitely misses the technical nature of the tariff, which is rather arbitrary,” the expert indicated.
From his perspective, Costa Rica could adopt a series of unilateral measures complementary to good-faith negotiations, aimed at mitigating their economic and strategic effects, such as intensifying market diversification efforts to redirect exports to destinations such as the European Union, Asia, and Latin America, where there is demand for high-quality Costa Rican products.
At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the competitiveness of the productive sector by reducing logistics costs, facilitating procedures, accessing preferential financing, and improving the regulatory environment.
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