Trump tariffs: ADB forecasts little direct impact on Armenia

There will be little direct impact on Armenia from the Trump tariffs, according to Don Lambert, Country Director for the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Armenia Resident Mission.

Speaking at a press conference, Lambert said that the tariffs could have both direct and indirect impact.

“Our analysis shows that the direct impact of the new American tariffs on Armenia will be comparably mild and low,” he said when asked by Armenpress about the possible impact of the 10% baseline tariffs.

Lambert noted that Armenia has never been a top trading partner of the US and the share of the US in Armenia’s overall trade balance is small.

“In case of Armenia the tariff rate will be 10% which is significantly lower compared to many other countries,” Lambert said.

Regarding indirect impacts, the ADB official said it is more difficult to make calculations in this regard.

“Since the new US tariffs affect many partners, it is difficult to make concrete predictions about potential impacts given the overall economic environment. For example, Armenia seeks to have closer relations with the EU, thus it would depend on what impact the tariffs would have on European economies, and this would indirectly impact the Armenian economy as well,” Lambert said.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced a new baseline 10% tariff on goods from over 100 trading partners and reciprocal tariffs on those that his administration says have high barriers to U.S. imports. Rates are even higher for 60 countries or trading blocs that have a high trade deficit with the US. 

Armenia is among the baseline 10% countries.

Economist Aghasi Tavadyan had likewise said that the new tariffs won’t cause any serious economic damage to Armenia because the volume of the country’s exports to the US is low.