28 November 2025

The US has removed key “reciprocal” tariffs on several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) exports, reversing measures that regional producers said were squeezing earnings and raising prices. 

An executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on 14 November 2025 ends tariffs imposed in April 2025 and modified in August, restoring duty-free access for a number of agricultural and chemical products.

The CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) welcomed the shift, saying it brings “important relief to regional industries that had been negatively affected by the reciprocal tariffs implemented in April 2025 and updated in August 2025”. The group had estimated that the tariff regime could cut CARICOM export revenue by about US$653.6mn per year.

According to the CPSO’s study, agriculture and food exporters faced potential annual losses of US$117.7mn, while chemicals producers risked about US$86.1mn, including fertilisers and other industrial inputs. 

CPSO Chief Executive Officer and Technical Director Patrick Antoine said the findings strengthened the case for collective lobbying by CARICOM Heads of Government, who engaged US counterparts on the urgency of addressing the measures affecting critical exports from the region. 

Lower duties should ease cash-flow pressures on exporters of fresh produce, processed foods and other agri-items, while helping to rebuild confidence among US buyers who had begun shifting orders.

The rollback is particularly significant for Trinidad and Tobago, CARICOM’s leading industrial exporter and the member state hardest hit in the chemicals sector. Under the earlier America First measures, exports of methanol and nitrogen fertilisers were subjected to a 15% duty. With the new order, the CPSO said goods now exempted include ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) as well as methanol and selected agri-food products.Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs reported that the country exported about TT$3bn ( US$442.2mn at current average exchange rates) in anhydrous ammonia, urea and UAN to the US in 2024. Officials expect the return to zero tariffs to restore price competitiveness in the US market and protect jobs across the fertiliser and energy value chain.

Trade and Investment Minister Kama Maharaj said the April tariffs had jeopardised the country’s largest trading relationship and posed a serious threat to the economy. He credited Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s sustained diplomacy for persuading Washington to reverse course, and praised her effort. “That is what world-class leadership looks like-when a leader puts country before comfort, and people before politics,” said Maharaj.

At the regional level, Antoine argued that the decision stabilises supply chains and delivers relief where it is most needed. “This decision is both timely and consequential,” he said, pointing to renewed competitiveness for Trinidad and Tobago’s chemicals exports and to the benefit for agricultural exporters across CARICOM. He noted that for Jamaica, the rollback comes as farmers rebuild after Hurricane Melissa, and stressed that “when the Community acts in a unified and coordinated manner toward a shared purpose, positive outcomes are achieved for the people of CARICOM.”

The CPSO expects the tariff removal to have knock-on effects inside the region. Several categories of imports from the US had risen in price after Caribbean firms absorbed higher costs for non-US inputs under the reciprocal regime. With those tariffs lifted, the organisation anticipates gradual reductions in input costs for agro-processing and manufacturing, providing some breathing room to firms that have faced months of uncertainty.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Sean Sobers welcomed the change, saying he was “encouraged and grateful for this outcome, which will bring meaningful relief to exporters.” He signalled that discussions with Washington will continue to seek elimination of remaining tariffs and wider market access for both energy and non-energy goods.

For CARICOM exporters heading into peak shipping months for fertilisers and agri-food products, the order removes a major cloud over sales to their largest market. While analysts have argued that the move by the US is aimed at seeking support for its current military operations in the region, the benefits to regional exporters cannot come at a better time.

Source: Caribbean Insight – Volume 47, Issue 23

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Christmas Reception Platinum Sponsor – JP Logistics