Caricom Chair urges region to connect with other trade partners on US tariffs issue

– Warns of impact on businesses

Prime Minister of Barbados and Chair of the Caricom, Mia Mottley has issued a stark warning to the region: the world is on the brink of a global trade war, and the Caribbean will not be spared.
In a sweeping and impassioned statement issued on Friday, Mottley urged Caricom Member States to brace for the economic impact of rising US tariffs—particularly those on Chinese-made goods—and to urgently diversify trade relationships, increase local production, and protect vulnerable sectors like tourism.
“This trade war… will mean higher prices for all of us at the corner shop, higher prices at the supermarket, higher prices at the restaurant,” Mottley said.
“My brothers and sisters, our Caribbean economies are not very large. So, we are, and have always been, at the whims of global prices. If Europe and China, and the US (United States) and Canada, and Mexico are all putting tariffs on each other, that is going to disrupt supply chains, that is going to raise the cost of producing everything, from the food you eat, to the clothes on your back, to the phone in your pocket, to the car you drive down the road, to the spare parts that you need for critical infrastructure. That means higher prices for all of us to pay, and sadly, yes, this will impact all of us, regardless of what any of our Caribbean Governments will do. We could lower our tariffs to zero in Caricom, and it will not make a lick of difference, because our economies are small and vulnerable”.

The warning comes in response to a recent US policy announced by US President Donald Trump to impose Global Reciprocal Tariffs against a number of countries, on all goods that the US imports.
Additionally, the decision to impose tariffs ranging from $1 million to $1.5 million on Chinese-built ships entering American ports, is one of many measures seen as escalating tensions in global trade. Mottley emphasised that the fallout will be felt across supply chains: from food and clothing to electronics and automotive parts, most of which the region imports, often through or directly from the US.
Calling for regional solidarity, Mottley appealed to both public and private sectors to “put any divisions aside” and work in unison to bolster domestic and regional production. She referenced the Caricom “25 by 2025” food security initiative, led by Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, as a vital starting point, but suggested the region may now need to go even further.
“Buy local and buy regional,” she urged Caribbean consumers and businesses. “The products are better, fresher and more competitive in many instances… Together with colleague Heads of State and Heads of Government, we have been working to diversify ourselves away from this dependence. We’ve already started to reap some successes, especially in the field of agriculture, for example, but we still have a long way to go. As we do this work, we have to be mindful that those recent announcements that have been made in the last few days will impact us very directly as a Region and as a Caribbean people”.

While reaffirming the historic and familial ties between the Caribbean and the US, Mottley called on Washington to remember that Caricom economies are too small to distort global trade.
“To President Trump, I say simply: our economies are not doing your economy any harm in any way. We are your friends. Let us talk, and let us work together to keep prices down for all of our people.”

Regional Assessment
Caribbean countries are assessing the potential economic fallout from new US tariffs announced by President Donald Trump this week, with several Governments indicating plans to open talks with Washington in hopes of easing the impact.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Stuart Young vowed to negotiate responsibly, and Foreign Minister, Dr Amery Browne, warned of potential negative effects on smaller nations.
In Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne highlighted an existing reciprocal 10 per cent tariff agreement with the US Meanwhile, Barbados’ Finance Minister Ryan Straughn urged regional producers to adapt through innovation, investment, and increased intra-Caricom trade, emphasising the role of the Common External Tariff in safeguarding regional interests.
Guyana’s Government is in discussions with US officials, calling the tariff “reciprocal” and expressing hope for resolution.
In fact, amidst unease over the US’s recent imposition of a 38 per cent reciprocal tariff on products from Guyana, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has assured of Government’s commitment to engaging the US Administration on this issue, urging local exporters not to panic.
Based on an Annex to the Executive Order signed by President Trump, instituting various percentages of tariffs for countries around the world, petroleum crude, aluminium ore and gold are exempted.
According to the Vice President, these are the highest exports to the US, with figures from 2024 showing that crude export totalled US$3.1 billion, aluminium US$36.9 million and gold US$16.6 million.
Other major exports to the North American country are fish at US$19 million, molasses, sugar and honey at US$8.7 million, alcoholic beverages at US$6.5 million, measuring/checking instruments at US$5 million, and fish at US$3.1 million.

Room for discussion
Against this backdrop, the Vice President believes that there is room to work with the US Government on the reciprocal tariff that is slated to be instituted on Guyanese products from April 9, 2025.
“From what we looked at and all we have read, it seems as though all of the countries that have higher reciprocal tariffs, are countries exporting more to the US than they are importing,” he explained.
However, Jagdeo pointed out that the UN Comtrade reports, which are submitted by each country, show there are discrepancies between the US figures versus the Guyana figures.
“Clearly, there is room for us to work with the US partners to clarify this information… We want to point out to the United States of America, because we have good import data, that we are importing much more from the [US] than what is reported by the US to the UN Comtrade system,” Jagdeo said.
The Vice President noted that a revision of these figures could lead to a “significant reduction” in the trade surplus. This could potentially see a reduction on the 38 per cent tariff instituted on Guyana’s exports to the US.
Moreover, another negotiating factor to be used is the fact that Guyana’s largest export, crude, is being produced by two US oil majors, ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation, which are operating in the oil-rich Stabroek Block, offshore.
“Our trade surplus is largely because of our export of oil in the last four years… So, we can clearly make that case… I think there is still room to discuss a lot of these issues with the United States,” the VP had stated.