From 38 to 12.5: Understanding the U.S. Tariff Rate on Guyana

By Wazim Mowla This week, the United States Trade Representative imposed a Section 301 tariff on 60 countries, including Guyana, at a rate of 12.5 percent. Read in isolation, that sounds like a new blow to the Guyana-US trade relationship. In context, it is simply a continuation of the tariff architecture Trump began building with his April 2025 “Liberation Day” announcement. Guyana’s standing with the United States today is the same as it was yesterday, a week ago, and a month ago. The list is global. Canada, the European Union, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela are all on it, alongside dozens of other economies of every size and region. Sixteen of those countries remain under further investigation, which could push their rates higher still. Guyana is not one of them. The 60 economies subject to the Section 301 forced-labor tariff Algeria Angola Argentina Australia Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Brazil Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador European Union Guatemala Guyana Honduras Hong Kong India Indonesia Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Libya Malaysia Mexico Morocco New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Peru Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore South Africa South Korea Sri Lanka Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Trinidad and Tobago Türkiye United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam This action has less to do with Guyana than with a fight between President Trump and his own institutions, like the U.S. Supreme Court, and what he perceives as unfair global trading practices. Consider the timeline: the Section 301 tariff replaces the Section 122 tariff, a flat 10 percent global rate, that expired today, July 24. That followed the Supreme Court’s February 2026 decision striking down Trump’s original “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Why apply a global tariff to so many partners at once, including close U.S. allies? Increasingly, the administration sees tariff revenue as a tool to pay down U.S. debt and keep American industry competitive. Global markets have absorbed each new round with less shock than the last; tariffs are becoming a fixture of American politics and commerce, not an aberration to be reversed. This is best understood as a continuation of economic nationalism that predates this administration and may well outlast it. Despite that backdrop, Guyana has stayed proactive. The 12.5 percent figure may read as alarming, but it is in fact the lowest rate this country has faced since April 2025, the product of sustained engagement that brought the rate down from an initial 38 percent. Guyana has taken every opportunity to make its case, including a voluntary appearance at USTR’s July 2026 hearing in Washington, where the government presented facts showing no evidence that forced-labor goods are made in, imported into, or exported from Guyana. As Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud has noted, the government’s focus now turns to finalizing an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, while pursuing an exemption from the replacement tariff. The relationship President Irfaan Ali has built with the current U.S. administration has made Guyana one of Washington’s strongest allies in the Western Hemisphere, a partnership that extends well beyond trade, from the Shield of the Americas to joint statements on regional peace and security. Guyana has certainly felt this broader U.S. tariff regime. But it is also one of the few countries on that list with the relationships and track record to keep pushing toward a fairer, mutual trade relationship. Wazim Mowla is an Advisor at the Guyana Embassy to the United States of America in Washington, D.C. and is a Senior Fellow at Guyana’s National Defence Institute.