Claim: President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Ghana because of VP Prof. Opoku-Agyemang’s USAID comment

Source: X

Verdict: False 

Research by Gifty Danso 

Following the imposition of a 10% tariff on Ghana as part of US President Donald Trump’s recently announced Reciprocal Tariffs regime, some Ghanaian social media users have claimed that the imposition was due to Vice President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang’s comment on USAID funding cuts last month.  

On April 2, 2025, the official X account of the White House shared a list of countries around the world and reciprocal tariffs imposed on each by the United States government.

Some social media users reacted to the announcement with claims suggesting that in the case of Ghana, the tariff was a punishment over the Vice President’s comment.

This report will investigate whether there is a correlation between the tariff imposition and the comment by Madam Vice President.

Fact-Check 

On March 17, 2025, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) shared a video of the Vice President fielding questions from visiting Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students at the Jubilee House. 

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang in addressing a question on foreign aid said, “Somebody (a student) is asking (about) the outside world and foreign aid, and I’ve heard the president of the country you’re studying in is slashing aid. 

“One of the questions he hasn’t asked himself, how much leaves our continent to his country? They think it’s just charity. It is not. At the right time, we’ll also take action, and it will not be funny.”

Was the tariff imposition a result of the comment from the Vice President? 

The post from the White House on X with the caption: “LIBERATION DAY RECIPROCAL TARIFFS” shows that Ghana was not the only country that was slapped with tariffs. Countries across the world including close trading partners of the US, like the European Union and the United Kingdom were all affected.

GhanaFact observed that the tariffs were in reciprocity on countries that had also imposed tariffs on the USA. The list shows that Ghana had imposed a tariff of 17% on the US, according to the data from the US government. 

Verdict

Therefore, the claim that President Donald Trump slapped Ghana with a 10% tariff because of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang’s USAID comment is False.