00:00Antwerp's diamond trade celebrated on Friday as the United States restored a tariff exemption for polished diamonds.
00:07It ends months of uncertainty for the Belgian industry.
00:09The exemption had lapsed after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's global tariffs in February,
00:15forcing Belgian diamond exporters to pay a 10 percent duty.
00:18Here's Karen Rentmeisters, CEO of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.
00:22It means that diamonds that are polished in our country can now move freely without tariffs to the United States.
00:31And why is it so important? The United States is 55 percent or more of world diamond consumption.
00:38So it's our major export partner when it comes to exporting polished diamonds.
00:43In 2024, Belgium exported 2.1 billion US dollars of polished diamonds to the United States.
00:50Rentmeisters says she now expects immediate activity from traders.
00:54A lot of people will have held on to certain shipments that they wouldn't have sent to the United States
01:00under a 10 percent tariff,
01:02and that they will send now. And knowing my people in my industry very well, they will do so immediately.
01:10The restoration comes as the White House imposed new tariffs of 10 and 12.5 percent on goods from 60
01:16trading partners,
01:16including the EU and China. However, many goods will be exempted from the duties,
01:21including polished diamonds, along with oil, gas, fertilizer and certain foodstuffs.
01:26There's no mining or manufacturing happening in the United States.
01:30So there's no local domestic market that needs to be protected from European diamonds.
01:34Physically using vibrations at the United States were served as the cross-training function.
01:35With oil.
01:36In return, it makesihi-esty.
