Elizabeth Morgan | Tariffs as an instrument of coercion

Since 2024, this column has been addressing the tariff proposals from the Trump administration, moving from a system of free trade to protectionism applying tariffs. From April 2025, a 10 per cent tariff was imposed on all imports from Jamaica into the USA. These tariffs apply to all countries in the CARICOM region with 15 per cent on non-petroleum products imported from Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Along with CARICOM, the Trump administration has imposed tariffs on all countries in the world. The tariff amounts in some countries, such as China, have changed from time to time depending on arising issues and negotiations. There are now, too, unorthodox applications of tariffs.

The past tariff folly and free trade

As stated in previous articles, tariffs are customarily a trade policy instrument aimed at generating revenue from imports and protecting specific industries. Many of us will know that in 1930, under the Presidency of Republican, Herbert Hoover, two other Republicans, Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis Hawley were sponsors of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act which raised tariffs by an average of 20 per cent on 20,000 goods imported into the USA to protect US producers from foreign competition. It was to increase US employment and manufacturing. The foreign trade partners retaliated and this made the Great Depression in the US worse. The Smoot-Hawley Act was considered an asinine law by many US economists of the period.

The 1940s saw the US turn to free trade. The 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was adopted and implemented, including by the USA. Tariffs around the world were gradually reduced in eight rounds of multilateral trade negotiations. The last one was the Uruguay Round (1986-1994), which ended with tariff reductions, other agreements, as well as the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations to further liberalize trade was launched in 2001 with the active support of the US Republican Bush Administration and others. It was not concluded as developing countries, among other things, thought that their interests were not being served.

Let us be clear that a major beneficiary of free trade has been the USA, which has also been a major beneficiary of the global governance system over the last 80 years.

COERCION BY TARIFFS

While countries are endeavouring to adjust to the new protectionist US trade policy, tariffs are moving from being trade measures to becoming instruments for political and economic coercion. Tariffs are now being increased on imports from various countries for all kinds of reasons that are not necessarily trade-related.

In January 2025, the Trump administration increased tariffs on imports from Colombia because its President expressed concerns about US deportation flights. There was the threat to increase tariffs on Mexican goods because the US administration thought that country was not doing enough to curtail operations of drug cartels.

Tariffs were increased on Brazilian goods by 40 per cent more because the former President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, was prosecuted for an attempted coup in Brazil in 2023. In November 2025, President Trump signed an executive order which reduced tariffs on Brazilian agricultural products, such as beef, coffee, cocoa and fruits, responding to domestic demand.

There were threats to further increase tariffs on India after that country did not agree that President Trump had played a mediating role in the India-Pakistan dispute in May 2025. India also had tariff treats because it is a member of the BRICS forum.

More recently, tariffs were threatened to be imposed on Denmark, the UK, and other European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because they did not agree that President Trump could acquire the semi- autonomous Danish territory, Greenland. The Greenland issue was defused at the recent Davos World Economic Forum.

Canada has just been threatened with 100 per cent tariffs because their Prime Minister led a delegation to China to discuss economic issues.

So, President Trump is attempting to use tariffs to influence political, economic and even social decisions in other countries.

As President Trump expands the use of tariffs to apply pressure to other countries to submit to his will, let us remember that tariffs are customs duties on imported goods. These are taxes paid by people in the USA.

WTO MC14

The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) is scheduled to be held in Cameroon in March. The members are preparing for this conference. Of the 166 members, it seems that most are still trading using WTO rules and their free trade agreements which it recognises. WTO/UNCTAD trade reports at the beginning of this year indicate that with all the trade uncertainty created by the USA and its unorthodox use of tariffs, global trade increased in 2025, especially south-south trade.

Recognising an uncertain and more dangerous world, WTO members are quite likely considering what they can do to improve trade among themselves, even though the US is an important market. We see Canada and the European Union taking this route. Countries are endeavouring to adapt to the new realities and examining their way forward in the interest of their countries. CARICOM members should be doing the same.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.