Demand to remove tax on the US: It harms the economy and diplomatic relations
Economic experts in Kosovo are urgently calling for the immediate removal of the 10 percent tax on imports from the United States of America, describing it as an unacceptable action that is severely damaging the country’s strategic relations and economic development.
Calling this tax “unjustifiable and harmful,” experts in economic developments emphasize to KosovaPress that the urgency for its abolition is not only economic, but also political and geostrategic.
Economic expert, Safet Gërxhaliu, sharply criticizes Kosovo institutions for, as he says, a lack of vision and failure to advance economic and diplomatic processes.
He estimates that the silence of Kosovo’s institutions and the lack of serious commitment to abolishing this tax is increasingly isolating the country in economic, political and geostrategic terms.
“First, it is a shame of the times for Kosovo, that a savior state, a strategic ally, such as the United States of America, is penalized with a 10 percent tax on imports from the United States. Second, all of this proves the institutional immaturity in Kosovo. Third, all of this proves that diplomacy, both political and especially economic, has been definitively buried in Kosovo. And effective diplomacy cannot be expected, either in political or economic terms, if we have a Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is covered up, or loaded with ignorant politicians, who really do much more harm than they advance these processes. There has been a more than verbal attempt by the Presidency that this tax should be removed. But in reality, nothing has happened. What is most worrying for the future of Kosovo is the political and economic silence of both the United States of America and European countries, as well as some countries in the Western Balkans,” says Gërxh.aliu.
In April of this year, President Vjosa Osmani had asked the executive branch to suspend the 10 percent customs tariff on goods coming from the US. This came after US President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs on imports from Kosovo, and from other countries.
It was criticized by the acting Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, who said “fiscal policies fall within the scope of the executive, specifically the ministry responsible for finance.”
Groanaliu expresses concern about the drastic decline in exports from Kosovo to the US, which he emphasizes is a direct consequence of the lack of close economic cooperation.
Another economist, Mustafa Kadrijaj, also believes that Kosovo should eliminate this tax on the US as soon as possible.
“Kosovo needs to take a step forward to remove the measure against the US because, no matter how it is, it does not affect the economic relationship with the US at all. Even if we had no taxes with the US, all the investment, all the product placed in the US cannot even keep the US consumption and economy alive for a few minutes. Knowing our journey as Kosovo, I believe that the Government of Kosovo needs to take a step forward to remove the tax and measures against the US.” says Kadrijaj.
KosovaPress has sent questions to the Presidency and the Government of Kosovo on this issue, but they have not responded by the time of publication of this article.
Kosovo’s exports to the United States of America have declined during the first five months of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. According to official data, from January to May 2025, Kosovo exported around 10.04 million euros to the US, while in the first five months of 2024 this figure was around 23.79 million euros.
This indicates a contraction of over 57.8 percent, to more than 13.7 million euros less goods exported to the US.
Kosovo’s imports from the United States of America have decreased in the first five months of this year, compared to the same period last year. According to official foreign trade data, from January to May 2025, Kosovo imported goods from the US worth around 322 million euros, while in the first five months of 2024 this value was around 356 million euros.
This change represents a contraction of 9.55 percent, or about 34 million euros less goods imported from the US to the Kosovo market./E.Krasniqi
/Kosovapress/