Syria will be hurt further by Trump’s 41% tariff rate — the highest on earth

In May, he spoke to a crowd of people in Ritz -Carlton Rayada, surprised US President Donald Trump the listeners Advertisement He said that he would ask to lift the full US sanctions on Syria, many of which have been in place for decades.

“Now, it’s time to shine … good luck, Syria,” Trump said.

Less than three months later, the Trump administration struck Syria with The highest tariff rate From any country in the world: 41 %.

Syria has a very little trade with the United States due to long sanctions, but some trade between the two exists. In 2023, Syria exported $ 11.3 million commodities to the United States, according to Economic Summary Observatory, It imported $ 1.29 million in US commodities, giving the United States technically a commercial deficit with the country of the poor Middle East.

Trump says that the drawings imposed by his administration – which were based on a Harve criticism of the account Applied to each country in April using trade deficit numbers – aims to address trade imbalances. He did not comment specifically on the situation of Syria.

But since he is facing the specter of rebuilding his destroyed state after 13 years of war under a new government with a very fragile grip on power, the country needs all the help that it can get.

“After years of destroyed civil war, the country is in urgent need of a direct foreign direct investment to start the long and difficult process for rebuilding and development,” said Georgio Kviero, CEO of Gulf Consulting Gulf Consulting Company, told CNBC.

“While the recent lifting of many of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union was a welcome development of the economic aspirations of Damascus, Washington’s imposition of sharp definitions now threatens to restrict any significant trade capabilities with the United States.”

the The overthrow of the Assad regime during a shock attack By the anti -Assad militia groups in December 2024, the global community was amazed and the possibility of a new beginning for the devastating country. The new President of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharra-a former member of al-Qaeda, describes himself as his reform-is currently leading the transitional government in the country.

Syria remained under the imposition of countless international sanctions, but those imposed by the United States are the most severe, as they apply to third parties as well, and deterring countries and other groups of dealing with the country.

Recently, since Trump Official lifting of penalties In June, Syria hosted delegations from many countries, including the United States and the wealthy Gulf states that pledged support and investment for reconstruction. At the same time, there were storms of sectarian violence in different parts of the country and the bibliocytes of the Israeli bombings.

More than two -thirds of the electricity network in Syria Non -functionalAccording to assistance organizations, with major cities such as Aleppo and Damascus, they face the power outage for more than 20 hours a day. In many rural areas and conflict, there is no power at all.

“This is not an economy that struggles as much as an economy that seems almost constantly over the past few months, is about to collapse, unless very active steps are taken for the sake of this and giving it an opportunity to recover,” said Ha Hiller, a senior colleague at the Royal Services Institute in London.

“Therefore, any step you deviate from it, I think, very dangerous.”

Qatar recently announced a project through which the development fund will buy and provide it to Syria – which is transported via Azerbaijan and Turkey – to support more than 5 million people, with the expectation of improving daily energy supplies by up to 40 %.

Fahd Al-Soliti, Director General of the Qatar Development Fund, described how Damascus will need to rely heavily on aid from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Nations-especially that the customs tariff will harm the possibility of developing useful trade relations with the United States, and he said if a critical was in close contact with the American government to support a series.

“We are working closely with our partners in the United States. For this reason from the first day … we are working close to the Treasury … We take with them to create a good economic system,” Sulaiti told CNBC.