CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, has issued a stern warning about the potential economic fallout from new U.S. levies on Chinese-built ships. Speaking at the opening of the Court Superstore in Welch’s, St. Thomas, Mottley emphasized that the policy could have dire consequences for commerce in Barbados, the wider Caribbean, and even Florida.
The levies impose heavy port fees of up to US$1.5 million per call on Chinese-built vessels and US$500,000 per call on ships owned by companies that have vessels constructed in China. Mottley, who had just returned from high-level talks in Jamaica with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, stressed that the Caribbean’s supply chain relies heavily on shipments from Florida, making the region particularly vulnerable to increased costs.
“What we potentially face with the announced levy on ships made in China will have serious and deleterious consequences for the commerce, not just for the Caribbean, but also for Florida.
Florida, in a very real sense, is the engine of commerce of the Caribbean region. Caribbean depends on much seven-day supply of food, of critical supplies, of pieces of equipment, all kinds of things. And that to have this disrupted purely because of the intervention of a statutory or an executive order that will lead to an increased cost of supply will hurt not just us on the receiving end, but will hurt those as well who are making money from the logistics in Florida to be able to make the transition.” PM Mottley said.
Mottley confirmed that she has written to U.S. President Donald Trump, urging him to exempt the Caribbean from these increased fees. She warned that if the policy remains unchanged, businesses may be forced to explore alternative trade routes to mitigate prohibitive shipping costs.
The estimated additional cost per container ranges from US$1,500 to US$2,000 for a 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) and up to US$4,000 for a 40-foot container, a burden that could significantly impact regional economies.