News from Amman on September 26th Title: The impact of US tariffs intensifies, and Jordan's export industry is in trouble

The New York Times reporter.

Under the influence of U.S. trade protectionist policies, the Jordanian export industry is suffering a significant impact.The uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs has sparked an urgent call from the Jordanian industry to diversify the country¡¯s export markets and increase export capabilities.

Export trade plays an important role in Jordan's economy, while the United States is Jordan's largest export market. Jordan's exports to the United States amount to about 2.2 billion dinars (about $3.1 billion) in 2024, accounting for a quarter of Jordan's total exports. Currently, the so-called "peer-to-peer" tariff rate imposed by the United States on Jordan's products is 15%, making this weak economic base in the Middle East even more challenging.

The garment industry is Jordan's largest export industry.A number of garment companies visited by journalists said that U.S. tariffs have caused industry profits to be compressed and competition to intensify.

Jordan Zunwei Garment Co., Ltd. is located in the industrial park of Amman, Jordan. It is the largest garment factory in the industrial park, and more than 80% of the company's products are exported to the United States. Oriana Aveche, executive manager of the company, said that the new tariffs imposed by the United States will be borne by factories, importers and consumers, and the ultimate victims will be consumers, and factories may bear 0.5% to 1% of the tariff costs.

For small factories, she said, the impact of the tariffs was ¡°fatal¡± because the operating costs of the factories were very high, the profitability of the small factories was less than 4 percent, and many of these factories relied on bank loans to operate and were vulnerable to risk.

Jiang Chao, head of Jordan Yayun Clothing Co., Ltd., said that because the tariffs imposed by the United States on Jordan's clothing industry are higher than those imposed by Egypt, Kenya and other countries, overseas orders may be transferred to countries with lower tariff costs, and customers' "placing orders" have shown a slowdown trend.

The food industry is also an important export sector in Jordan, and industry associations and producers say the U.S. tariffs have a significant negative impact on the industry.

In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Ahmed Hadri, president of Jordan Exporters Association, said that some customers asked for a 5% price reduction to improve competitiveness, but the profit margin of exported goods did not exceed 7%. If the price was reduced by 5%, then "the profit was not worth mentioning", and exporters still had to pay utilities, income tax, etc. "In this way, we would work for free".

Goldbird Food Industry is a larger food import and export company in Jordan, whose head, Mahmoud Masud, said in an interview with Xinhua news agency that tariffs have compressed the company¡¯s profit space and that they have reduced exports to the United States.

Local experts pointed out that U.S. tariffs were introduced at a time when the Jordanian economy was already facing challenges and would put a significant burden on Jordanian exporters who rely on the two-country Free Trade Agreement to invest. Yad Abu Haretam, president of the East Industrial Investor Association in Amman, said U.S. tariff policy uncertainty was the biggest challenge facing Jordanian exporters.

The Jordanian industry has widely called for Jordan to strengthen export market diversification in response to U.S. trade protectionist policies, while taking measures to strengthen export competitiveness.

Jordan's Economic and Social Council called on Jordanian exporters to strengthen their exploration of other export markets such as Europe and Africa. Salim Dib, secretary of the Jordanian Goldsmiths and Jewelers Association, said that the Jordanian government is still committed to negotiating with the United States to reduce the tariffs imposed on jewelry, while jewelers are seeking to expand new markets such as Gulf countries and North Africa to make up for the export reduction that will occur.

In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Ihab Qadri, representative of the leather and textile industry of the Jordanian Industry Association, said that in order to improve competitiveness, the industry needs to improve operational efficiency, expand production capacity, and improve logistics and marketing environment.

Rad Taller, head of the Department of Economics at the University of Jordan, published an article in Jordan's Amon News Network, saying that Jordan needs long-term structural reforms, including updating production lines, upgrading labor skills to meet market standards, increasing local content of products, building a globally competitive Jordanian brand and diversifying the market to reduce its dependence on the United States.