SI-US trade very minimal says PM

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Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele describes as minimal United States’ trade with Solomon Islands and that’s to do with kava.

Manele could not put an accurate figure on Solomon Islands’ exports to the U.S but he estimated it to be between $2m to $5m (per year or a number of years).

He also used the word minimal to describe the U.S.A’s support to the country with most of them going through NGOs.

Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on Solomon Islands export into the U.S as announced on 2^nd April.

PM Manele confirmed that he has tasked his office to get in touch with the Central Bank of Solomon Islands and Ministry of Finance to look at the issue in more detail and come up with an advice to the government.

Manele said “We may not feel the pinch directly.” But “we will” experience indirect impacts from some of our development partners that the US has imposed very heavy tariffs on them.

Minister of Planning Rex Ramofafia said the future of their prgrammes here will be known in the third week of April. Only the MCC programme was signed between SIG and the U.S but that too has been stopped whilst the Scale programme had closed since last year.

Ramofafia said some of the U.S projects through the multilateral partners like climate change will have an impact on “us.”