The European Union will not include polished diamonds in the countermeasure package it has put together in response to the new US reciprocal tariffs.
The move would have caused “significant harm” to Belgium’s diamond industry, without “meaningfully impacting” the US in return, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said Wednesday.
“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,” said AWDC CEO Karen Rentmeesters. “It is typical in our industry for diamonds to be shipped back and forth multiple times between Belgium and the US — for example, to obtain certification for one of the major grading labs based there. Without this decision, the same diamond could have been subject to tariffs not once, but twice: upon entry into the US and again upon return to Europe.”
The US is a key trading partner for Belgium, comprising 16% of its total diamond trade, which is worth $3.9 billion annually, the AWDC noted. The organization represents all Belgian diamond companies.
The AWDC pointed out that had the EU gone though with placing tariffs on US diamond imports, it would not have exerted pressure on the US to lessen or remove its duties, but would only have resulted in a boomerang effect on the trade.
“Import tariffs are based on a product’s origin,” Rentmesters explained. “For polished diamonds, this is the country where the stone was cut — which is rarely the US. As a result, any EU import tariff on US diamonds would affect only a small portion of actual trade, yet all diamond shipments would require stricter checks to ensure they weren’t cut in the US, leading to complex administrative burdens and serious delays — something our sector can ill afford.”
On April 9, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries except China. Current tariff rates will remain at 10%, while duties on China have been raised to 125%.
Image: The trading hall at the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. (AWDC)
