Nigerias Exports to US Plummet by 527m
The trade relationship between the United States and Nigeria has suffered a significant setback, as official data from the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis show that US imports of Nigerian goods decreased by 527m in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
This represents a nearly 20 per cent year-on-year decline amid recent bilateral trade tensions between the two nations. In the corresponding period of 2024, the U.S. imported goods worth 2.65bn from Nigeria.
That figure fell sharply to 2.12bn between January and May 2025. The decline comes amid a wave of renewed protectionist measures spearheaded by US President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order on April 2, 2025, introducing a general 10 per cent import tariff on most countries.
Under this policy, known as the "Liberation Day" tariff framework, Nigeria was targeted with a higher tariff rate of 14 per cent due to its previous trade surplus with the US. Although Nigeria remains one of the US's largest African trade partners, the impact of Trump's renewed trade policy agenda is being felt.