Serbia has officially requested an explanation from the U.S. administration regarding the 37% tariffs imposed on its exports, sources from Nemanjina Street and representatives of the business sector confirmed to “Blic Biznis.”
As a reminder, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on countries worldwide last night, with Serbia being one of the hardest-hit, facing a 37% duty. The calculation was based on Serbia allegedly imposing 74% tariffs on American goods (74 divided by 2 equals 37), a claim that has baffled Serbian analysts and economists, who say they have never encountered such high Serbian tariffs.
How Trump arrived at the 74% figure is explored in a separate report by “Blic Biznis.”
On the other hand, Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Sector for Strategic Analyses, Services, and Internationalization at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, emphasized in an interview with “Blic Biznis” that caution is needed and that a precise interpretation and response should be awaited.
“At the moment, we cannot determine the basis on which our tariff was calculated at 74% for U.S. imports into Serbia, given that most of these tariffs, especially on industrial products, range between 5% and 10%, possibly some at 20%. So, this 74% estimate, from which they derived a 37% tariff, is still not clearly defined. In other words, the math doesn’t add up. We are waiting for clarification from the American side,” Vesović said.
He also pointed out that the U.S. administration may have factored in trade and tariff barriers, including VAT, when making the comparison.
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THE TARIFF IMPACT IS CERTAIN
One thing is certain—the tariffs will hit Serbia hard.
“The most vulnerable sectors are tire exports, some auto parts, and primarily steel products. Initially, we will certainly face issues in those sectors. However, we will wait for further clarification to better understand the situation,” Vesović added.
He also noted that Serbia generally has low tariffs.
“Our trade with the U.S. is balanced, meaning we import roughly as much as we export. It is possible that some products, which we do not import at all, were included in the calculations. However, nominally, our tariffs are low, which makes it difficult to see how they arrived at this math. In any case, the 74% figure almost does not correspond to actual economic reality,” he explained.
ECONOMISTS’ FIRST REACTIONS
“Blic Biznis” analyzed the first reactions from Serbian economists, who closely followed the announcement of the so-called “Day of Liberation.”
“A 37% price increase means Serbian products will lose their competitive advantage in the U.S. market compared to alternative suppliers from other countries that have been hit with lower tariffs or are not sanctioned at all,” Mijušković said.
Stanić specifically pointed out that the new 25% tariffs on car and auto parts imports are particularly concerning for Serbia.
“This is bad news for the ‘Fiat Panda,’ which was expected to enter the U.S. market. In total, Serbia exports about 620 million euros to the U.S., which is not among our most important markets, but we do export weapons and auto parts. The largest part of our exports to the U.S. has actually been ICT services, but it seems they will not be significantly affected,” Stanić added.
Serbia’s largest exports to the U.S. consist of ICT services, which accounted for the majority of the country’s 1.7 billion euros in service exports in 2024. Other key sectors include the defense industry, steel, and automobiles produced in Kragujevac.
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Source: Blic, Foto: AP