Trump’s tariffs on J’can goods

THE EDITOR, Madam:

This is indeed a sad period for Jamaica.

It simply doesn’t sit well with me that late last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a visit to Jamaica to talk with Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness on a wide range of various topics, including the situation in Haiti, migration, security, crime control, travel advisories and trade, but never uttered a word that tariffs were on the horizon for Jamaica.

Fast-forward to this week, and the Trump administration has gone ahead and introduced measures to stifle growth in Jamaica, as well as the rest of the Caribbean, with a 10 per cent tariff tax. Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago will both be charged much higher tariff rates.

This is certainly not a level playing field. Even the United Kingdom has been given the same 10 per cent tariff rate as us, although the UK is already a developed country. We are a developing economy.

Other countries around the world are possibly considering retaliatory action against the United States with their own tariffs if an agreement isn’t reached within the coming days.

Where does Jamaica stand? We can’t retaliate because of our dependency on the United States, and the (possible) implications. Our negotiations may be somewhat limited, but we wait to see what our Government and business leaders will come up with.

WESLEY THOMAS