CVIJANOVIĆ: DECISION IMPOSING CUSTOM TARIFFS NOT SURPRISING, BiH IS OBVIOUSLY UNSUCCESSFUL COUNTRY

EAST SARAJEVO, JULY 8 /SRNA/ - Serb member and Chairwoman of the BiH Presidency, Željka Cvijanović, told SRNA that the USA’s decision imposing a 30 percent custom tariff on all goods entering America from BiH, starting August 1, is not surprising and was even expected by some.

"In a country like BiH, one can't even reach an agreement about sending a letter on a given topic within a set deadline. Then there’s the problem of the Council of Ministers adopting conclusions, or a minister sending a draft letter to the Presidency that respects the conclusions of the Council of Ministers, but not word-for-word the conclusions of the Presidency. Then, when one points out that today is the deadline and proposes modifications, that too has to wait a couple of days. Then one haggles over some meaningless sentence that sounds quite silly, but if one fails to accept it in all its stupidity, then the one will refuse to vote. And if one cannot go public and say - at the proposal of so-and-so, such-and-such was adopted . then the one is up against narcissistic mirrors with no end to it," Cvijanović stressed to SRNA, reacting to the US decision to impose custom tariffs on all goods entering from BiH as of August 1. The Serb member and Chairwoman has assessed that it’s a shame the letter wasn’t adopted last week when it was on the agenda, so it could have been sent on time, and emphasized that efforts must nevertheless continue in order to reduce the customs burden. Cvijanović has pointed out that this could be a case of deliberate political obstruction within BiH’s institutions, as it is obviously an unsuccessful state where nothing is recognized if it serves the common good, unless it’s used to clash with others under the guise of "defending the constitutional order." "In any case, the institutions and representatives of Republika Srpska clearly expressed their position several months ago that this issue needs to be resolved with the USA," Cvijanović emphasized. US President Donald Trump announced the decision to impose a 30 percent custom tariff on all goods entering America from BiH, starting August 1. "Starting August 1, we will impose only a 30 percent tariff on BiH. Please note that 30 percent is far less than the percentage needed to eliminate the disproportionate trade deficit," Trump stated.