Chamwe Kaira
The Jewelers of America (JA), the national trade association for fine jewelry businesses, is lobbying the United States government to exempt diamonds from tariffs, a move that could affect Namibia’s diamond industry.
JA said it met with Peter Navarro, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to President Donald Trump, and his staff in Washington, D.C. The talks focused on the challenges in the global supply chain for polished diamonds and the possibility of adding diamonds to the Annex II list of products excluded from tariffs as a critical mineral.
JA president and CEO David Bonaparte was joined by Tim Haake of Haake & Associates and Ronnie Vander Linden, president of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA).
“Tariffs are a huge concern for the jewelry industry and their full impact on pricing and consumer confidence is yet to be seen. We are aggressively communicating to key members of the Trump administration to ensure the jewelry industry’s voice is heard. We had a constructive exchange of views and had an opportunity to express the industry’s concern about the effect of tariffs on our members. We are hopeful for a favorable outcome,” Bonaparte said.
In May, JA delivered a position paper titled ’The Impact of Broad Tariffs on the US Jewelry Industry’ to secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick, secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent, US trade representative Jamieson Greer, and Navarro. The paper outlined the negative impact of tariffs on members and the wider industry.
The association also urged its members to share their personal experiences through JA’s Legislative Action Center, where they can write directly to Trump and lawmakers to highlight how tariffs are affecting their businesses.
At the Chamber of Mines of Namibia Mining Indaba, Debmarine CEO Willy Mertens said the Namibian government and De Beers would engage the US on the impact of tariffs on Namibia.
Debmarine Namibia contributed N$15 billion between 2020 and 2024.
Mertens said that since tariffs came into effect on 5 April, loose polished diamond imports into the US from India dropped to an average of US$7 million per day, compared to US$16 million per day in March before the tariffs.
In early August, Namibia’s tariff rate on US goods was reduced from 21% to 15%. Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Zambia also saw reductions to 15%. South Africa’s tariff rate remained at 30%.
