It's tariff time again—and Canada and India are in the crosshairs
Botswana accepts it won't be De Beers' majority owner, report says. Looking for treasure in the Diamond District. It's The Jewelry Wire daily digest for Wed., July 22, 2026. Ad support from GN Diamond
GN Diamond: Where great prices lead to true partnerships. The diamond source that thousands of jewelers trust.
Trump imposes new 50% tariffs on Canadian goods—which, yes, includes jewelry
President Trump has imposed new 50% tariffs on a long list of Canadian imports—including several categories of jewelry.
The new levies even apply to goods that enjoyed duty-free status under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was signed by Trump in 2020. The administration is arguing that agreement has no bearing on these new levies, which were applied using the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
According to a Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) member alert, the affected jewelry categories include:
non-industrial diamonds, worked but not mounted or set. (Keep in mind that this only affects diamonds that are cut in Canada.)
silver jewelry.
gold necklaces and neck chains.
precious metal jewelry.
imitation jewelry.
See the whole list here.
Sara Yood, president and CEO of the JVC, tells The Jewelry Wire that, since Canada is not a major jewelry exporter to the United States, the impact on the industry “will likely be fairly limited.”
Still, smaller Canadian jewelers say the duties could seriously hurt their business. The Canadian Press spoke to Sue Henderson, the head of Toronto-based Suetables, who says that U.S. tariffs have become such a problem for her that she no longer advertises to American customers.
“We still get orders in the States, but very few, and we don’t encourage it,” she said.
Also this week, President Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Brazil, but those duties specifically exempt rough (but not polished) gemstones. However, if the rough stones are polished in India and Thailand—as most of them are—then they could be tariffed, as trade law says a gem’s origin is determined by where it was cut and polished. Which brings us to a possibly bigger tariff story coming up …
Indian tariffs may increase after Friday
The current 10% levies on almost every import into the United States are due to expire on Friday, July 24.
The Trump administration has indicated that, when those tariffs are done, it will impose new levies on 40-plus countries, for purportedly not enforcing existing forced labor laws. That list includes India, which the U.S. Trade Representative is threatening with a 12.5% tariff.
Ironically, earlier this year, India and the United States struck a deal that was supposed to settle all trade disputes between the two nations. But that was before the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s original tariffs. Officials now hope to reach a new accord before Friday. If there is an agreement, it might be a big win for the natural diamond industry, as it will likely allow Indian-cut natural diamonds to be imported into the United States duty-free.
But that will only happen if a deal is forged. If it isn’t—and reports have suggested talks have stalled—then all Indian imports may be saddled by a 12.5% tariff, starting Saturday.
Botswana accepts it won’t become De Beers’ majority owner: report
Botswana now realizes that it can’t afford to buy a majority stake in De Beers, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
According to the news service, President Duma Boko’s oft-stated intention to win control of the company held up the sale of De Beers for nearly two years and “deterred private buyers, who feared the business would be beholden to political interests.” Boko had hoped Oman would fund the purchase, but “that nation is preoccupied by the war between Iran and the U.S.—and the knock-on effect it’s had on oil revenue,” Bloomberg said.
Moeti Mohwasa, Botswana’s minister for the state president, told Parliament last week that while the country might still seek a majority stake, it has to take its finances into account, according to the report.
The story concludes that “Boko may have to be content with a larger—but still minority—stake in De Beers.” It says that the president’s change of heart allowed Anglo American to finally pick a winning bidder for its 85% stake—the consortium headed by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny.
CIBJO says that lab-grown diamonds shouldn’t use Four C’s
CIBJO’s Diamond Commission plans to recommend that “synthetic” should be the preferred term for man-made diamonds, and that lab-growns should not use the GIA-developed Four C diamond grading system.
The traditional grading scale is “a tool intended to define the rarity and uniqueness of natural stones, where each one is different from the other,” said Udi Scheintal, head of the Diamond Commission, in a report released in advance of the group’s upcoming Congress in Vicenza, Italy. “We need to end the use of the 4Cs for grading synthetic diamonds, given that they are industrially produced. They should be subject to a specific quality-control nomenclature, which is suitable for man-made products.”
Scheintal added that when lab-grown companies use the Four C’s, “the consumer is misled to believe that synthetic diamonds are rare like natural diamonds. This is clearly not the case, because the synthetic diamond manufacturer determines and controls the production parameters, with the objective of achieving predetermined quality characteristics.”
Video of the day
Popular “treasure hunter” Kresh looks for scraps of diamonds and gold in New York’s Diamond District and finds quite a bit.
Today’s jewelry links cover Emerald, Tiffany, the Louvre, the Jaipur Jewellery Show, Birks Group, Sherry Smith, Sam Brokema, Kalshi, and Philippe Stern.
