Business
Armenia Faces 10% US Tariff as Economy Minister Meets Exporters to Assess Impact on $50 Million Trade
April 9, 2026
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Armenia's Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan met with a group of businesses that export goods to the United States and the European Union on April 8, 2026, in a session convened specifically to assess the commercial impact of new US tariff measures introduced under President Trump's reciprocal duties executive order. The meeting, confirmed by Armenpress, comes as Armenian exporters reckon with the implications of a 10% baseline tariff — the same rate applied to Georgia and Azerbaijan — on their goods entering the US market.
The tariff exposure is real but contained. Armenia's exports to the United States amounted to approximately $50 million in 2025, according to Minister Papoyan's own February briefing, when the tariff issue first emerged in press reports around the time of Vice President Vance's visit to Yerevan. The sectors most at risk are the country's main export categories: aluminium and aluminium products, precious stones and metals, agricultural products, and alcohol — particularly Armenian brandy and wine, which have established US market positions that a 10% price increase will directly challenge.
Suren Sargsyan, director of Armenia's Center for American Studies, analysed the impact publicly following Trump's April 2 declaration: "Some key industries may suffer due to a decrease in demand, particularly the export of aluminum, stones, precious metals, agricultural products, and alcohol." The sector-by-sector vulnerability varies significantly. For commodities like aluminium, where global price dynamics play a larger role than individual country tariffs, the impact may be absorbed. For branded products like Armenian brandy competing against non-tariffed alternatives on US shelves, a 10% cost disadvantage is more directly damaging to market position.
The broader trade context matters for interpreting the risk. Total trade turnover between Armenia and the US in 2024 was $282.4 million, with US exports to Armenia at $160.8 million and Armenian imports to the US at $121.6 million — a positive trade balance for Armenia of $39.2 million. The new 10% tariff applies to the Armenian export side of that equation. At $121.6 million in imports, a 10% tariff generates roughly $12 million in additional costs annually for US buyers of Armenian goods, which will either compress margins, raise retail prices, or reduce volumes — likely some combination of all three.
Armenia's digital economy and high-tech sector exports, which have been the fastest-growing component of the country's trade profile, are generally less tariff-sensitive than physical goods. Software and IT services are not subject to the goods tariff framework, and Armenia's 10,778 active high-tech companies — a figure that grew 33% in 2025 alone — are primarily service and software exporters who route revenue through international payment systems rather than physical customs checkpoints. The tariff therefore falls disproportionately on Armenia's traditional export sectors rather than its fastest-growing ones.
The April 8 meeting between Papoyan and exporters signals that the government is taking the issue seriously rather than treating it as a marginal adjustment. The broader strategic context — Armenia's expanding economic relationship with the US through the Vance nuclear energy agreement, NVIDIA investment commitments, and TRIPP corridor participation — gives Yerevan both the motivation and the diplomatic channel to negotiate sector-specific carve-outs or clarifications as the tariff framework evolves. How that diplomacy unfolds will determine whether the 10% baseline remains the ceiling or becomes a floor for Armenian goods entering the US market.
