With America’s present posture, experts have expressed optimism that Nigeria has the leverage to deepen trade relations with other partners such as China, Japan, and other European and Asian countries to ward off the effects of Donald Trump’s hostile tariffs.
They believe that Trump’s stance of 14 percent tariff on export of good to America is a wake-up call for Nigeria to reexamine its international trade and economic relations.
America is one of the major trading partners of Nigeria, but with the new world order, experts believe that if Nigeria and Africa can pursue the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) with the desired determination, it will enhance intra-African trade and reduce the reliance of African nations on other nations of the world.
President, Calabar Chamber of Commerce and industry (CALCCIMA), David Etim, believes Trump’s tariff stance is a global trade policy shake up that cuts across many jurisdictions.
That implies that there is no more free trade, as such Etim advised that it’s a golden opportunity for Nigeria to reposition, strategize effectively, calling on the private sector to dialogue with government and address structural issues affecting the country’s ease of doing business.
“I believe that with what trump has done, he has definitely the issue of preferential trade terms with America.
“We need to rejig, retool Nigeria and take advantage of the situation. I see it as blessing in disguise.”
He viewed that Nigeria needs to re-position, “we have the largest economy in Africa, we need to leverage our economic mass for better benefits.
For Daniel Dickson-Okezie, an SMEs Expert and member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Trump’s 14 percent tariff is certainly not a fair trade.
He said the move will cause the well needed revenue from export to drop.
“It’s going to affect Nigeria negatively, so much, in that first, the well-needed revenue from forex expected from export will drop again.
“A lot of Nigerians who are exporting to the U.S. may be temporarily put out of business, and will really suffer a slide down in business. On the part of Nigeria, he said it will certainly reduce the country’s exports, which is not good for the economy.
He however advised that in such a situation, both businesses involved and Nigeria as a country have to think out of the box to survive.
What Nigeria needs to do
For Etim, he said in recent times, Nigeria has pivoted towards the Middle East like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and others in terms of trade, suggesting that the government should look closely at South America as a potential.
“I believe that if Trump’s idea is to create a fresh negotiating platform for global trade, Nigeria must re position and rethink its entire trade mechanics completely.
“We need to look more at trading with emerging economies,like China, India, South America.
“We need to look more at implementing bilateral trade agreements and become more mercantile in our trade,” emphasizing the need for a better business environment for small businesses to thrive and increase export.
“The government needs to start thinking about how to open doors for MSMEs internationally, create a better business environment in Nigeria for MSMEs to thrive.
Because it is only when the MSMEs are thriving in the country that they can think about export. We cannot be struggling with electricity and think about exporting because we will not be competitive.”
You cannot produce with diesel at 1,000 plus and export to anywhere?
“When the countries you are exporting to, like Ghana has about 24 hours of electricity.
“So we need to begin to think inwards, while also thinking outwards. We need to scale up our production in Nigeria.
“We need to scale up our mechanisation to improve primary agricultural produce.
Mechanization is not just the token mechanization that federal government or state governments do.
We need to think about how we can create a better business environment for our businesses.”
He suggested that the president should carry along with him small business owners to discover new grounds and opportunities and not already made businesses.
“He needs to start thinking about how to open doors for MSMEs internationally.” Dickson-Okezie, pointed out that Nigeria can apply the principle of reciprocity in international trade.
“Yes, it has affected Nigeria. There’s no doubt about that. It’s going to affect Nigeria’s forex, businessmen and Nigeria’s economy. As a country, what Nigeria can do, of course, is the usual thing.
Nigeria will respond accordingly by also slamming high tariffs on the U.S. After all, Nigeria exports so much from the U.S. That’s one of the things that we can do.
“We need to look for other stocks, other countries that we can export to. There are always buyers elsewhere. “If we get our acts together, we can export to other countries of the world and not necessarily U.S. “We reduce what we’re exporting to U.S. and at the same time reduce what we are importing from the US as a way of response.
That’s what the government and individuals can do. Nigeria can negotiate with the U.S.
“You can negotiate a better conditions, both in international trade and in international affairs generally. But all we need to do is get our acts together and move fast.
If we cannot negotiate that, well, we slam tariffs on goods being imported from the U.S “We raise our own even higher than that and ensure that people now import from other countries instead of U.S. by way of reciprocity. If we slam the U.S. with similar high tariffs,certainly we will be in a better position to negotiate because we import more from their than the U.S. imports from Nigeria.
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