It means the United States will keep an ad valorem “reciprocal” duty of 15% on imports that qualify as originating in North Macedonia — i.e., most North‑Macedonian products shipped to the U.S. will face an extra 15% tariff unless they are specifically carved out. Some North‑Macedonian goods may be excluded (to receive 0%) if they are identified in Annex III to Executive Order 14346 or otherwise negotiated in a final agreement.
Annex III (the “Potential Tariff Adjustments for Aligned Partners”) is a detailed list of HTS product lines that may be eligible for a zero‑percent reciprocal tariff. EO 14346 describes the Annex as covering imports that cannot be grown/mined/produced in sufficient quantity in the U.S., certain agricultural products, civil aircraft and aircraft parts, and non‑patented inputs for pharmaceutical use. The full Annex (the long HTS code list) was published with EO 14346; consult the Annex itself for the exact product codes.
The interconnector will physically link North Macedonias gas grid to Greeces network and thereby to Greek LNG import facilities and global LNG shipping routes; once the pipeline is complete, North Macedonia can receive regasified U.S. LNG delivered to Greek terminals (or FSRUs) and flow it into its domestic system. The White House statement says North Macedonia will begin U.S. LNG purchases “upon completion of the new gas interconnector,” but it does not give a construction timetable; no firm completion date is specified in the joint statement.
U.S. officials say they raised North Macedonias use of technical or regulatory measures that block imports as non‑tariff barriers (NTBs) — e.g., sanitary/phytosanitary rules, technical regulations/certification, licensing and administrative obstacles that limit market access for U.S. goods (particularly agricultural products). Under trade agreements such issues are typically resolved through dedicated chapters or committees (NTB or SPS/technical barriers committees), consultations, dispute‑settlement or fast‑track remediation commitments (harmonization of standards, mutual recognition, time‑bound corrective actions). The Joint Statement says the two sides will work to address NTBs and hold consultations on agricultural barriers.
The WTO Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation is a plurilateral effort (WTO members) to streamline, make transparent and make objective the domestic licensing, qualification and administrative requirements that affect trade in services. North Macedonias reaffirmation means it will support those reforms and signal a commitment to limit unnecessary or opaque domestic regulatory barriers for foreign service suppliers, which facilitates easier cross‑border and commercial presence trade in services.
The Agreement frames deeper U.S.–North Macedonia cooperation on investment reviews and export controls. In practice that means North Macedonia will align procedures (screening of foreign investments for national‑security risks, information‑sharing, and tightening export‑control enforcement) with U.S. standards and will cooperate on combating duty evasion and protecting supply chains. For U.S. investors this typically means clearer, more predictable screening rules, closer scrutiny of investments in sensitive sectors, and stronger compliance obligations; it also can increase access to procurement where shared commitments are met.