PM Browne: Trump’s proposed tariffs are ‘largest threat’ to the region

LOOP TT:Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister has said US President Donld Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on goods imported from several countries is “the largest threat to the Caribbean region.”

Prime Minister Gaston Browne gave the comment to Loop News on the sidelines of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean’s (CAF) first international economic forum in Panama City, Panama on January 30, 2025.

Trump has proposed implementing 25 per cent tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada and a tax as high as 60 per cent on goods from China.

With the Caribbean’s heavy reliance on US suppliers for food and essential goods, the impact will be significant when tariffs are combined with high shipping costs and other fees in the region.

Browne said he hopes Trump’s proposal is just an exaggeration and not his actual policy for trade relations.

“I hope that the proposed tariffications, that they are hyperboles, because if indeed the United States were to introduce tariffs in any significant way on a broad variety of goods, clearly it will impact significantly on growth and development within the Caribbean region,” he said.

“And perhaps this is one of the issues that we ought to address at CARICOM at our next meeting and for us to issue a joint statement or to write jointly to President Trump and his administration to ask them to consider the impact of any such tariffication on these small vulnerable countries in the Caribbean.”

Browne noted that rising prices will drive up costs and undermine the living standards many Caribbean islands have spent decades building.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]