PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TT Chamber) is calling on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders to meet with the United States government to find a resolution in the best interest of the region following the decision by Washington to impose new tariffs on the Caribbean.
The TT Chamber in a statement expressed “deep concern over the Executive Order issued by the White House on July 31, 2025, which outlines an increase in the reciprocal tariff rates from 10 per cent to 15 per cent on a range of imports, including goods from Trinidad and Tobago”.
The private sector group said that the new measures are scheduled to take effect on August 7.
“This latest action represents a significant departure from the long-standing principles of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), which is a US policy framework designed to promote economic development and export-led growth in the Caribbean through preferential market access,” the TT Chamber said in the statement.
It said that Trinidad and Tobago, as a key beneficiary under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), “has long relied on stable, preferential trade with the United States to bolster its manufacturing and export capacity.
“The TT Chamber urges the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, along with CARICOM counterparts, to urgently engage US counterparts to seek clarity and advocate for a review of the decision. This moment highlights the need to revisit and modernize the Caribbean Basin Initiative, ensuring that it remains fit for purpose in a changing geopolitical and trade environment,” it added.
Following their summit in Jamaica last month, CARICOM leaders said they had discussed developments in United States trade policy, “which have introduced a marked shift in the bilateral trade relations which have been underpinned by the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) trade preferential programmes for more than four decades.
“They agreed to continue the Community’s advocacy with the US Administration at the highest political level, to safeguard the region’s trade interests with its most important trading partner,” according to the communique issued following the summit.
They said they also welcomed the tabling of a request by the US for a five-year World Trade Organization waiver for the CBI until 30 September 2030 and agreed that the region would continue to engage constructively with the US Trade Representative to address the future bilateral trade relationship.
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