Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Terrance Drew, has firmly rejected newly imposed tariffs by the Trump administration, describing them as unjustified and harmful to the Caribbean’s cost of living. Aligning with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr. Drew argued that the region runs a substantial trade deficit with the United States, not a surplus.
“When it comes to imports from the United States of America, in 2024 we imported—this is the number in easy dollars—USD $754,029,809. In terms of our exports, we only exported USD $23,901,046.15. That deficit, of course, is almost three-quarters of a billion dollars,” Dr. Drew explained during his RoundTable Initiative press briefing.
CARICOM data, shared by St. Kitts and Nevis’ Ambassador in Washington, places the regional trade deficit with the U.S. at USD $54 billion—reinforcing claims that Caribbean economies are being unfairly targeted.
Dr. Drew stressed that the new tariffs will drive up the cost of goods and services, particularly in essential sectors such as food and healthcare, adding further strain to already vulnerable economies.
“St. Kitts and Nevis has a strong case to make when it comes to tariffs. The evidence shows we don’t deserve these tariffs that can increase the cost of living. Look at the deficits that we are running,” he said.
Meanwhile, CARICOM Chairperson, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, issued a strong regional appeal, warning that the trade war could hike prices for everyday items throughout the Caribbean—from groceries to electronics.
“My brothers and sisters, our Caribbean economies are not very large. So, we are, and have always been, at the whims of global prices. If Europe, China, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are all putting tariffs on each other, that is going to disrupt supply chains and raise the cost of producing everything—from the food you eat, to the clothes on your back, to the phone in your pocket, to the car you drive, and even spare parts for critical infrastructure,” PM Mottley cautioned.
She called for a multifaceted response, including high-level dialogue with the U.S. to reaffirm the Caribbean’s trade position, greater regional unity, and investment in agriculture and light manufacturing—bolstered by Guyana’s “25 by 2025” food production initiative. She also urged stronger trade links with Africa, Latin America, and Europe to reduce reliance on U.S. markets, and proposed a regional tourism resilience plan to guard against fallout in travel and hospitality.
Both leaders encouraged Caribbean citizens to buy local and regional products as a practical way to soften the economic impact.
“To the United States, I say this simply: We are not your enemy. We are your friends. So many people in the Caribbean region have brothers and sisters, aunties, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, sons and daughters, godchildren living up in Miami, Queens, Brooklyn, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia—wherever. We welcome your people to our shores and give them the holidays—and for many of them, the experiences—of a lifetime. I say simply to President Trump: our economies are not doing your economy any harm in any way. They are too small to have any negative or distorted impact on your country. So, I ask you to consider your decades-long friendship between your country and ours,” PM Mottley affirmed.
With inflation, supply chain disruptions, and the climate crisis already straining the region, the new tariffs threaten to erode recent progress and deepen economic vulnerability.
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