The tariffs, announced on April 9 by the European Council, target products such as motorcycles, poultry, fruits, wood, clothing, dental floss, peanut butter, and hairspray. The measures are a direct response to recent US-imposed tariffs on steel, aluminium, and automobiles, along with further reciprocal tariffs announced by former President Donald Trump.
Among those watching closely was the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), which expressed satisfaction at the decision to exempt diamonds from the tariff list.
“European import tariffs could have caused significant harm to Belgium’s diamond industry, without meaningfully impacting the US in return,” the AWDC said in a statement.
Karen Rentmeesters, CEO of AWDC, added: “We are extremely pleased and grateful that our efforts over the past weeks have led to the European Council’s decision not to impose tariffs on US diamonds. From both a political and economic standpoint, the impact on the US would have been negligible, whereas the impact on our sector here would have been significant.”
The diamond trade between the US and Belgium is substantial, with the United States accounting for 16 percent of Belgium’s total diamond trade—valued at approximately $3.9 billion annually. The nature of the trade involves frequent cross-border shipping, which would have made it especially vulnerable to new tariffs.
The AWDC’s lobbying efforts appear to have played a crucial role in safeguarding the sector from unintended economic fallout.
