Praneeta Prakash 
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says they will have to make tough decisions on how they trade and who they trade with following the announcement of increased tariff on Fiji’s exports to the United States of America.
Under the new policy, Fiji will face a 32 percent tariff on its exports to the US.
This in response to the 63 percent tariff Fiji imposes on American goods.
Rabuka says the world is bigger than the United States, and they will have to look at new sources of imports and new markets for exports.
He says they are fortunate that there are a lot of friendly nations around the world that will trade with Fiji.
However he has refrained from labeling the development as a trade war.
“We cannot call it a trade war. We can just call it a trade blockade for Fiji. We cannot fight a war, a trade war particularly. We don’t have anything to counter with. So we will have to weather the storm and roll the punches.”
US President Donald Trump announced the tariff adjustments during an event at the White House, where he declared the move as “Liberation Day” for American trade.
Other Pacific countries will also see changes in their trade relations with the US as Washington moves to align tariffs more closely with what its trading partners charge.
The move is expected to impact trade relations between the US and Pacific countries with businesses and governments now forced to reassess their trade strategies in response to the increased costs.
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