Fitch predicts a recession for countries, because Trump slams the tariff of 14% on exports from Nigeria, others

A very large new tariff from President Donald Trump will send a dramatic level of US tariffs to a level that is not visible since around 1910 and can encourage many countries into the recession, the top ranking agent, the Fitch rank has been predicted.

Trump’s very aggressive tariff step is regulated to lift the US tariff level from only 2.5% last year to 22%, according to Fitch.

That exceeded the tariff level of around 20% which was demanded by the United States after the famous smoot-hawley tariff law in 1930, which triggered a global trade war which according to economists made great depression.

“This is a game changer, not only for the US economy but also for the global economy,” Olu Sonola, Head of US Economic Research in Fitch ranking, wrote in a statement on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

Sonola said “many” countries “were likely to go into a recession.

“You can get rid of most of the predictions out of the door if this tariff level remains a long time,” said the Fitch economist.

Also read: CNPP Demands NNPC Forensic Audit Under Fired Gceo, Kyari

Earlier on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, Trump announced that exports from Nigeria to the US would withdraw a 14% tariff compared to the 27% claimed by the US government he received from Nigeria.

This is even when the US President slammed a 10% tariff at all US imports, along with a sharper and specifically state of mutual tariffs aimed at countries that impose more steeper duties on American goods.

The new tariff, which is immediately valid, applies to more than 50 countries. They include main trading partners such as China, the European Union, India and Japan, as well as developing economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

According to data from the National Statistics Bureau (NBS). Nigerian trade and the United States reached N31.1 trillion between 2015 and 2024 while the total imports in this period were N16.4 trillion or 8.7% of Nigerian global imports.

The announcement was made during the Rose Garden event which marked “Liberation Day,” marked the dramatic changes of the decade of free trade orthodoxy that had supported the global economy since World War II.

Trump stated the beginning of what he called a new era “Fair trade,” promising “American Industry Base Supercharge” and forced the old open foreign market to close US goods.

“This is one of the most important days in American history,” Trump said. “We will add to the basis of our domestic industry; We will open an open foreign market and break the obstacles of foreign trade.”

By: Babajide Okeowo

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