CARICOM Warns US Tariffs Could Affect Vulnerable Regional Economies

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO) is warning that the decision by the United States to increase Trinidad and Tobago’s reciprocal tariff rate from 10 to 15, could result in the most severe, absolute impact upon any of the 15 member Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

“Trinidad and Tobago was already the most exposed CARICOM economy under the reciprocal tariff regime,” said CPSO chief executive officer and technical director, Dr. Patrick Antoine.

“This adjustment not only increases the scale of potential losses, but it does so in sectors that are vital to our industrial capacity and to US manufacturers who rely on our exports for input,”  Antoine said, linking also the development to a broader erosion of CARICOM’s historic trade position with the US.

“In our recent submission to the US review of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), we highlighted that these new tariffs erode the preferential access that has underpinned our economic partnership with the US for decades. That erosion is now accelerating,”  he said.

Antoine said that the America First policy and the April imposition of reciprocal tariffs were the wake-up call for the region and that this latest adjustment to 15 percent is the signal of the need for rapid, coordinated action to safeguard competitiveness.  He said such action must be built on proven models of collaboration:

“The joint regional and private sector position that secured exemptions for China-built ships and short- sea shipping for the

“Now is the time to apply that same resolve,  to protect current trade flows, engage the US on tariff differentials and position Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM for long-term strength in a more contested global market.”

The CPSO noted said that it is noteworthy that prior to the imposition of the April 9 tariff of 10 percent, CARICOM member states benefitted from duty free access to the US market under the CBI.

It said the increased tariff rate of 15 percent, which took effect from August 7, comes just months after Trinidad and Tobago had been assigned the 10 percent baseline rate which was introduced in April 2025 as part of the America First trade policy.

“CPSO modelling now projects US$291.9 million in potential annual export revenue losses for Trinidad and Tobago, up from US$194.6 million under the 10 percent baseline rate. This figure widens the gap between Trinidad and Tobago and other CARICOM member states in terms of the potential export losses to be incurred as a result of the US measure.”

CPSO said that over two-thirds of the estimated losses expected to be suffered by Trinidad and Tobago are concentrated in two sectors, namely base metals and articles (US$199.3 million) and chemicals (US$74.8 million).

The base metals category is largely comprised of various forms of iron and steel products which are widely used in the United States across construction, automotive and manufacturing industries.

The chemicals category includes products such as anhydrous ammonia, methanol and urea which are critical inputs for fertilizer production, plastics and other industrial processes. The CPSO said that together, these exports from Trinidad and Tobago anchor the country’s industrial capacity and also feed into US supply chains that rely on competitively priced raw materials.

“While the magnitude of the potential revenue loss for the agriculture and food products sector (estimated at just over nine million US dollars) is not as large as the two sectors named above, the implications for agriculture and food products are far from benign.

“This sector sustains small producers and rural livelihoods, ranging from fish products, which are an important export to US food markets, to prepared condiments, sauces and seasonings, which are supplied to both diaspora communities and the growing specialty food segments of the US market”

The CPSO said that for many of these micro and small exporters, the additional five percent  compounded onto the 10 percent announced in April, will present an even greater challenge to their export competitiveness and to the foreign exchange earning potential of the Trinidad and Tobago economy.