KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith, says the Government has taken note of the new tariff regime announced on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump and is seeking to obtain precise information on the changes.
“We are obtaining the requisite technical documentation to ensure accuracy of details and appropriate analysis,” Johnson Smith stated on social media platform X on Thursday morning.
“Please be assured that we appreciate the public’s need for further information and clarity and will update the business community and the wider public accordingly,” she continued.
Meanwhile , the President of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) Sydney Thwaites, says challenges are anticipated with the new import taxes being imposed by the United States and as a result, Jamaican goods sold in the U.S. market will be more costly.
“There will be a potential change to the flow of goods regionally, and this could potentially affect the supply chain, a lot like what was saw in 2004. It will also make the products from outside the US, less competitive. ….it will certainly make our products in the US more expensive and that will have an impact, over time.”
Under the new regime, exports from Jamaica to the United States will attract a 10 per cent tariff.
The 10 per cent tariff also applies to most other countries in the Caribbean region, while in the case of Guyana, the tariff is as high, as 38 per cent.
According to US president Donald Trump, the tariffs were designed to boost domestic manufacturing, used aggressive rhetoric to describe a global trade system that the United States helped to build after World War II, saying “our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered” by other nations.
Trump said he was acting to bring in hundreds of billions in new revenue to the US government and restore fairness to global trade.
