US President Donald Trump's latest tariffs' regime sent global stocks tumbling and opened the door for a global trade war, amid pessimism over the prospects of trade between the US and its major trade partners.
Yet in Egypt, the same tariffs are seen as offering a strong push for trade with the US and a rare chance for the country to attract investments from states on which the US president imposes high levies.
"These tariffs open a new window of opportunity for Egypt, provided that we seize this opportunity," Yumn al-Hamaqi, a professor of economics at Ain Shams University, remarked to The New Arab.
"To tap into this opportunity, Egypt needs to solve the problems facing the development of its human resources and small businesses," she added.
With 10 percent only, Egypt fell within the category of countries with the lowest tariffs in the list declared by President Trump on 2 April.
In this, it stands on equal footing with several Gulf countries and others with low levies on US export to their markets.
Trade between the US and Egypt amounted in 2024 to $8.6 billion, with $2.5 billion in Egyptian exports to the US market.
In the same year, there was an increase of 6.7 percent in Egyptian exports to the American market, compared to 2023, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which is responsible for setting and administering overall US trade policy.
At odds
The low tariffs imposed on Egypt by the US president come at a time relations between Cairo and Washington go through considerable political tensions over regional issues, including President Trump's plans for the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
In February, President Sisi turned down an invitation to visit the White House and meet President Trump against the background of the American president's desire to take over the Gaza Strip and turn it into a "Middle East Riviera".
President Trump called earlier for Egypt and Jordan to take in Gaza refugees in preparation for implementing his major real estate project in the coastal enclave which has been almost totally decimated after 17 months of Israeli attacks.
Apart from snubbing the plan of the US president, Egypt also formulated a parallel plan for Gaza's reconstruction, one that promises to rebuild the war-devastated territory without displacing its people.
It rallied Arab and Islamic states behind the plan and is now preparing for an international conference in Cairo, where it will seek to raise the $53 billion required for the implementation of the Gaza reconstruction plan.
President Trump called President Sisi on April 1 and discussed with him the situation in Gaza and American airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen.
The phone call came only days after the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine published the details of messaging between Trump's administration officials on the planned bombing of Yemen's Houthis.
In their messages, some of these officials discussed the extraction of economic gains from Egypt and Europe in return for bombing the Houthis and potentially restoring the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and consequently in the Suez Canal.
Egypt has been heavily impacted by the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The Arab country sustained $7 billion in Suez Canal revenue losses throughout 2024, according to the Egyptian president.
Opportunities
The new tariffs imposed by the US president on Egypt and other similar states went into effect as of 5 April.
Trade between Egypt and the US is significantly tilted in favour of the US, with US exports to Egypt amounting to $6.1 billion in 2024.
Local economists view the low volume of Egyptian exports to the US market as a good opportunity for expansion.
"Egyptian manufactures report more orders from American importers," Rashad Abdu, the head of local think tank, Egyptian Forum for Economic Studies, told TNA. "The new tariffs are just giving Egyptian goods a competitive edge in the American market, making them offer a good opportunity for increasing exports to this market."
The head of the Apparel Export Council described Trump's new tariffs as a "golden chance" to increase exports to the US market.
"We have been waiting for this chance for nine or ten years now," Fadel Marzouq told a local television channel on 5 April.
Ready-made clothes formed the biggest slice of the Egyptian exports to the US cake in 2024, with the Americans paying $739.9 million for those exports.
Steel and iron came second in the list of the exports with $227.7 million, followed by carpets and floor covering with $123.3 million, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statics, Egypt's main statics body.
Other economists say, meanwhile, that the same tariffs give Egypt a rare chance to attract investments from countries on which the US president imposes high levies, including Asian states, especially China, on which President Trump imposes 34 percent tariffs and threatens to impose more in the coming period.
"We are qualified to attract investments from these countries, which will help us get a larger share of the American market through the export of more commodities needed in this market," al-Hamaqi said.
"However, this will make it necessary for us to move quickly to energise our production capabilities, including by offering more support to small businesses," she added.
China invests close to $28.8 billion in Egypt, making it one of the largest Asian countries investing in this Arab country.
The Chinese industrial zone in the Suez Canal region, where Chinese manufacturers have poured around $3 billion so far, is a symbol of growing investment relations with Egypt.
Investment hub
The opportunities Trump's tariffs create for Egypt come as the populous Arab country works tooth and nail to attract new investments that blow life into its own business climate and also create jobs.
In 2024, Egypt attracted $46.1 billion in foreign investments, becoming the largest investment-receiving country in its continent, according to the Egyptian minister of investment and foreign trade.
This was a major leap from the $10 billion in foreign investments the Arab country attracted in the previous year.
The rise in foreign investments pays Egypt's efforts to improve its business environment in the past decade through the introduction of significant amendments to legislation regulating the flow of foreign capital, the modernisation of its road network and the upgrade of its seaports.
These efforts reflect the urgency of investment attraction in a country with a growing population whose needs keep increasing by the day.
During a joint investment conference with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on 7 April, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country spends a sizeable amount of foreign currency on its imports, especially of food.
Apart from the need to save the foreign currency that goes for imports, Egypt also needs to attract investments that create jobs, especially with its 116 universities churning out over 700,000 graduates every year.
"The attraction of investments is a vital issue for the Egyptian economy and the Egyptian people because these investments contribute to improving Egyptians' quality of life," Abdu said.
"They create jobs for the long queue of graduates and reduce pressure on foreign currency reserves," he added.
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