Hill says US tariffs a wake-up call for Caribbean integration
Published:Friday | August 1, 2025 | 9:36 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Senator Aubyn Hill, Jamaica’s minister of industry, investment and commerce, has described the looming threat of United States (US) tariffs on Caribbean goods as a clear signal that the region must accelerate its efforts toward deeper integration under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Addressing delegates at the Caribbean Investment Forum in Montego Bay, St James, yesterday morning, Hill said the current global trade tensions, particularly with the US signalling increased protectionist measures, should motivate the Caribbean to strengthen internal economic ties and build a more resilient regional bloc.
“I’ve been watching what happens with the CSME, and it has not gone very far,” Hill admitted. “But, you know, just like divorced people in Europe are becoming great friends again, the tariffs is probably the injection we in CARICOM needed to say, ‘For God’s sake, let us let the CSME work’,” Hill told investors.
He noted that, while the US remains a key partner, the Caribbean must begin to future-proof its economies.
“If a member in CARICOM has to pay higher tariffs, it might be useful to say it’s time for me now to cross the border with a 10 per cent tariff bearer, set up companies, and let’s get the best use out of it,” Hill suggested, urging Caribbean entrepreneurs to capitalise on the regional market by investing across borders.
Drawing on his own business acumen, he added, “When I ran banks, I always said every obstacle breaks within about 20 opportunities. Let’s do the research for them.”
Hill also issued a challenge to fellow CARICOM states to move beyond rhetoric and take action to protect the region’s economic future.
“We in Jamaica, are almost there. Four countries have signed and are making it work now. We are looking to get it done,” he said in reference to Jamaica’s legislative progress toward implementing the CSME. “We have to get our health arrangements in place, education … if you have people going to travel, how do you take care of them, in terms of health and so on.”
MAJOR STEP FORWARD
Barbados, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica are the four members of the Caribbean community who have agreed to implement full free movement of nationals by October 1, this year (2025), making a major step forward in regional integration under the CSME.
“We can use that tariff regime that is on all of us to make sure we come together better,” he added.
The minister also used the moment to encourage a regional mindset when approaching investment and trade deals in this evolving global environment.
“Let us make sure that whoever has the strength, and I named Guyana, because Guyana has so much land and water and so on. We [in Jamaica] have institutions and people and so on. Let’s now make the CSME work for us, and don’t look at the opportunities as threats.”
Hill said the region can no longer afford to sit back while global players redefine trade relationships.
“We must position ourselves to benefit from our own market. If others are closing their doors slowly, then we must open ours to each other quickly,” he stressed.