SUN FEB 15 2026-theGBJournal| Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced that the decision to eliminate tariffs on all African countries except one, Eswatini, will take effect on May 1st.
Xi said African countries will be exempt from tariffs except for Eswatini, which maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan. China considers the democratic island part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to reunify it.
China, Africa’s largest trading partner and a key backer of major infrastructure projects in the region, already applies a “zero tariff” policy to imports from 33 African countries, but Beijing stated last year that it would extend this policy to all 53 of its diplomatic partners on the continent, except Estwani.
Xi said the zero-tariff deal “will undoubtedly provide new opportunities for African development”, announcing the date as leaders across the continent gathered in Ethiopia for the annual African Union summit.
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