As of August 1, 2025, Tunisian products will be subject to a 25% customs tax when they enter the US market. The decision, formalized in a letter from President Donald Trump to a dozen heads of state, including Kaïs Saïed, marks an abrupt turning point in Tunisian-American relations. Yet there has been no official reaction from the Tunisian side. No protest, no clarification, no defense of national interests. The silence is total. And it is costly.

This customs surcharge, justified by Washington as a measure to "rebalance the trade deficit", is part of a new global trade war strategy assumed by the Trump administration. After introducing a floor surtax of 10% on all imports, the United States is stepping up a gear by imposing targeted punitive measures, without prior negotiation. Tunisia is now listed alongside countries such as Burma, Laos and South Africa as "trade violators".

For the CRLDHT, this measure is not only economically violent, but politically unjust and legally questionable. It violates the spirit of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed in 2002 between Tunis and Washington, as well as the principles of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which until then guaranteed easier access to the American market.

A punished economy, frozen power

What's shocking, beyond the American decision, is the total absence of reaction from the Tunisian government. Since the first warnings in April, no signal has been sent to the United States, no initiative has been taken within the WTO, no message has been sent to the Tunisian population to explain the situation. Even after the official receipt of Donald Trump's letter on July 7, the presidency, the government, the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained silent.

This silence is not a simple omission. It is the expression of an atrophied diplomacy, of a power locked in its authoritarian logic, incapable of articulating a coherent economic strategy in the face of external pressure. It is part of a series of failures accumulated since July 25, 2021, the date of Kaïs Saïed's constitutional coup. Since then, human rights violations, hate speech and accusations of treason against any opposition have replaced economic policy. And today, the whole of Tunisia is paying the price.

A slap in the face for key sectors

The 25% surtax imposed by Washington will hit hard at sectors that have already been weakened: olive oil, dates, textiles and electronic components. By 2024, Tunisian exports to the United States had reached $1.1 billion. This positive dynamic, the result of the competitiveness of Tunisian products, is now under threat. The risk is clear: to see these products replaced on the American market by those from other countries not subject to the same sanctions, such as Morocco, which benefits from a free-trade agreement.

Instead of mobilizing its diplomatic levers, Tunisia simply stood by. While the European Union, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Vietnam have all entered into negotiations, concluded agreements or obtained reductions in surcharges, Tunis has remained on the sidelines. This strategic passivity has far-reaching consequences. In a world where trade is becoming a diplomatic weapon, invisibility is a condemnation.

Rebuilding sovereignty

The response to this economic aggression cannot be limited to indignation. It calls for a rethink. The CRLDHT solemnly calls on :

• The Tunisian authorities to break out of their authoritarian isolation, re-establish democratic institutions and embark on a responsible and inclusive economic policy. It is by putting an end to political repression and reuniting Tunisians around a collective project that Tunisia will once again be able to make its voice heard on the international stage.
• The American administration to reverse this unjust, unilateral decision, which is contrary to the spirit of historic partnership between the two countries. The Tunisian and American peoples share bonds of respect and solidarity. It is unacceptable that a brutal measure should punish Tunisian workers for decisions taken without consultation.
• Tunisian civil society, in Tunisia and abroad, to organize to defend an alternative vision of sovereignty: based not on empty slogans or authoritarian posturing, but on social justice, the rule of law, equitable openness to the world and proactive defense of our economic interests.

A warning for the future

The American decision is not simply a tariff sanction. It is a message sent to Tunisia: that of a country perceived as isolated, vulnerable and incapable of defending itself. It highlights the urgent need for proactive economic diplomacy, strategic alliances and truth-telling with international partners.

The current silence of the Tunisian authorities is a strategic error. Recovery will require a political and diplomatic reconquest of Tunisia's place in the world. And this begins with a demand for truth, transparency and responsibility.

In a world where the absentee is always wrong, Tunisia can no longer afford to say nothing, do nothing or propose nothing. For it is not only our foreign trade that is at stake, but our collective ability to exist in an increasingly brutal and unbalanced world order.