In view of the recent tariff policy introduced by the United States government on products imported into the country, an economist, Doctor Emmanuel Osilem has advised the Federal Government to explore all it’s treaties with other nations as a measure to curb President Donald Trump’s unfavourable economic strategy.
Speaking in an interview in Port Harcourt, Doctor Osilem who lectures with Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Port Harcourt described tariff as a tax on imported goods listed the adverse effects of the policy on the nation. The recent quest for diversification in Nigeria will suffer a set back because our major source of revenue has been oil and gas sector and we have seen there is need to diversify to agriculture and other related sectors.
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But the current United States policy on tariff that would attract 10% to 14% taxes on any of such product will affect the diversification drive because it will discourage the essence to which Nigeria would have to get involved and then reduce our trade on non-oil and gas perceptive”, he stated.
However, Doctor Osilem pointed out the advantages of the economic strategy on United States to include preventing the nation from becoming a dumping ground to other nations. The importers pay those taxes and they are source of revenue to the country where the product is imported.
Secondly if you do not use tariffs, you are subjecting the local manufacturers or producers of that product to unnecessary competition and it affects their growth. It could be used by nations during trade wars for example the United States trade war with China. It is such that in the recent time it got to the extent that every product coming China to the United States would attract a tariff or tax of 145% increase”, he stressed.
The economist lamented that the policy would deplete the nations revenue accrued from non-oil sector and discourage diversification if drastic measures were not taken on time.
