The Serbian government received another slap in the face from the Donald Trump administration, and it was completely unexpected.
Rarely has any government in Europe been as happy and in a good mood over Trump's victory as this one in Belgrade. Official Belgrade boasted that the Trump administration was all friends of Serbia and that positive expectations were enormous.
There was jubilation in Serbia when Trump "abolished" USAID, when he spoke with Vladimir Putin, and when he humiliated Volodymyr Zelensky. It is impossible to know from those same people what the mood is now after Trump's decision to increase tariffs on Serbia from 10 percent to 37 percent.
Everyone is silent and silently trying to svare news from the White House. For some reason, Serbia is one of the most affected countries and is at the very top in terms of the height of the new tariff rates.
What may further upset the "pro-Trump government" in Serbia is the fact that the customs duty on exports from Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro is ten percent, and from the European Union 20 percent. No one from the authorities in Belgrade has explained how Kosovo deserves to fare much better than Serbia.
Where are all the many friends of Serbia in the Trump administration? What about the personal friends of the Serbian president in Washington? How is it that it didn't help Serbia that Trump gave Vučić not only a pen but also the keys to the White House after signing the Washington Agreement so that he could enter it whenever he wanted? Couldn't Trump's son have whispered a few words to his father about Serbia after meeting with Vučić in Belgrade, or his son-in-law who received, almost as a gift, the former General Staff buildings in Belgrade?
This is how "pro-Trumpers" imagine politics, just like progressives. For them, all politics boils down to I'll give you, you give me, so whoever gets it better, and Serbia is unlikely to get any benefit from Trump. It's not that they didn't expect it. Some went so far as to hope that Trump would return Kosovo to Serbia and that aminates secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is likely that Serbian politicians thick have been lying to their own citizens all this time when it comes to Trump. No one is friends with anyone here, except for some of Vučić's friends with Richard Grenell, but that has nothing to do with politics but with emotions, and nothing like that is possible. Serbia's entire foreign policy is based on the story of friends and respect for Serbia. Well, now we have seen how much the United States respects Serbia. There are no friends in politics and that is nothing new, because everyone knows that politics is based on interests.
Also, it is an enigma what Trump was guided by when deciding on the level of tariffs. In the simplest terms, the US administration has reduced by half the highest tariff rate that each country had against the US. Serbia charges tariffs against the US from 25 to 74 percent, and now Washington has decided to raise the tariff on goods coming from Serbia from 10 to 37 percent. This may be a general interpretation, but the entire calculation, which is quite complicated, includes the entire trade between the US and each individual country, i.e. the situation related to deficit and surplus.
The calculation wasn't even very clear to the President of Serbia, but he sent a message to the people that he would do all of this. ironed, almost certainly, after his meeting with Trump. He did not say when and where the meeting would take place, but he is sure that everything will be fine after it. He once again said that Serbia has friends and partners in the US, with whom they have already made contact. All this, in his opinion, should lead to a reduction in the 37 percent tariff rate for Serbia.
It is also interesting what Serbia exports to the US. First of all, it is about weapons and ammunition. Serbia also exports car tires, cars, delicatessen, wine and tea. The list of goods that Serbia exported to the US also includes liquid pumps and rotary electrical machines. Last year, Serbia exported goods to the US worth 670 million dollars. In the same period, Serbia imported goods from the US worth 740 million dollars. The most common non-electric power plants and engines, aircraft and equipment for them, passenger cars, non-specific chemical products and medical instruments arrive in Serbia from the US.
Serbia was expecting a good deal with the export of the Panda electric car to the US, which is produced by the FIAT factory in Kragujevac. The car will now be 37 percent more expensive, and the question is whether it will be exported from Serbia at all.
When it comes to the future export of Serbian goods to the US, the ability of Serbian "businessmen" who are well-networked and connected with colleagues from the region should not be ruled out. They will certainly find interest and a way to "push" Serbian goods to the US precisely through this unofficial cooperation with "partners" from Albania, Montenegro, and even Kosovo.
Serbia, regardless of all expectations and colorful lies from Belgrade, experienced another, unique, diplomatic embarrassment that will cost the domestic production of bus and truck tires, as well as the defense industry the most. Until when Belgrade will present itself as a representative and respected partner of Washington, it is clear without much philosophizing. International respect is not based on easy slogans and matchmaking, but on serious diplomatic work.
After all, the relationship between Serbia and the US is sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that it was Vučić who sent the former president of the Democratic Party, Dragan Šutanovac, to Washington as the new ambassador to this country, whom he had accused for years of regressing, robbing Serbia, destroying its army, and ultimately building a building on the territory of the municipality in the center of Belgrade, on a plot of land that was declared a pasture during the "yellow government".
In this way, respect is not only shown, but also earned.
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