Jamaica and Barbados Lead CARICOM Team to Review Regional Trade Barriers

Prime Minister and Chair of CARICOM, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has announced a CARICOM-level committee to review and propose measures to reduce barriers to regional trade.

The team will be led by Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Barbados, Kerrie Symmonds.

Dr. Holness said the members will be charged with “examining how we can reduce, if not totally remove, these non-tariff barriers and to standardise procedures across the board to facilitate greater trade intra-regionally”.

He was addressing a Business Forum Breakfast held at Sandals Montego Bay in St. James on Tuesday (July 8).

The move is in response to recent changes in the United States (US) trade policy, specifically the implementation of a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all imports from CARICOM countries.

Dr. Holness said the change represents a significant shift away from decades of preferential access through the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), which he noted, has been a key pillar for regional competitiveness.

“For Jamaica and many others, the CBI has been vital to competitiveness of our agricultural, light manufacturing, and food and beverage exports,” he noted.

He informed that high-level diplomatic engagement is ongoing with United States officials.

“We are meeting and lobbying with the United States on a regular basis and we have engaged US trade representatives and we are working on your behalf to get the best results,” he said.

Dr. Holness argued that the region must now focus on bolstering its own trading systems and reducing its vulnerability to external shocks.

He urged regional leaders and private-sector stakeholders to strengthen internal trade mechanisms and explore new markets in response to the changing global tariff landscape.

“Our response must include accelerating intra-regional trade under the CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy) to reduce overdependence on any single market,” he underscored.

The business forum breakfast formed part of the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the CARICOM, which was held from July 6 to 8 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in the parish, under the theme ‘People, Partnerships, Prosperity: Promoting a Secure and Sustainable Future’.