Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said on November 24 that the country had received official confirmation from the United States on the complete removal of the 15% tariff applied to cocoa and agricultural exports of the West African country.

According to Mr. Ablakwa, the US government has officially notified the Ghanaian government that the 15% tariff that US President Donald Trump imposed on Ghanaian cocoa and certain other eligible agricultural products has been lifted. He added that US diplomats have confirmed that “the reversal of the 15% tariff took effect on November 13 following President Trump’s new Executive Order.”

The decision to lift the tariffs reversed a Trump-era policy that had sharply increased the price of Ghanaian exports entering the US market.

Ghana exports an average of 78,000 tonnes of cocoa beans to the US each year. Minister Ablakwa added that at the current spot price of $5,300 per tonne, Ghana would be able to earn an additional $60 million per year thanks to the removal of US tariffs.

He said the duty removal would apply to other Ghanaian agricultural products such as cashew nuts, avocados, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, ginger and pepper.

Ghana welcomed the move by the United States, the world's leading importer of chocolate and cocoa products, he added.

Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa producer, relies heavily on export revenues to stabilize its currency and finance public spending.

Source: VTV

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