“We Are Not Your Enemy”: CARICOM Chair Mottley Urges Trump to Spare Caribbean from Tariffs

CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley has issued a direct and emotional appeal to US President Donald Trump, urging him to spare the Caribbean from new trade tariffs that threaten to raise prices across the region and destabilise vulnerable economies.

Mottley made the plea as CARICOM nations brace for the fallout of sweeping US import tariffs, which take effect on Saturday—dubbed “Liberation Day” by Trump—and a proposed US$1 million to $1.5 million levy on Chinese-built ships entering US ports.

She emphasised that the Caribbean poses no threat to the United States and should not be made to suffer as collateral damage in a global trade war. Reminding Washington of the decades-long economic and familial ties between the region and the US, she said: “Mr President, 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, God children living up in Miami or Queens or Brooklyn or 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.”

She added: “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. And look to the Caribbean, recognising that the family ties, yes, are strong. Let us talk, I hope, and let us work together to keep prices down for all of our people.”

Mottley warned that the proposed tariffs and levy on Chinese-built cargo vessels would significantly raise the cost of living across the region. From food and electronics to restaurant bills and car parts, she cautioned, everyday expenses will increase for Caribbean citizens.

Rejecting the idea that Caribbean people are insulated from such global shifts, she noted that many might feel the issues are remote. “A lot of Caribbean people will think that these things that you are seeing on television news or reading about are far away and ‘They don’t impact on me.’” But, she stressed, “if you buy food, if you buy electronics, if you buy clothes, it will impact you. It will impact each of us.”

Trump’s recently announced 10 per cent tariff will affect goods previously exempt under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), a Reagan-era trade programme that granted Caribbean nations preferential access to US markets. Mottley warned that rolling back such benefits could have severe consequences for regional trade, stability, and development.

She also raised alarms about the proposed ship levy, noting that many vessels servicing Caribbean ports are Chinese-built, making the region particularly vulnerable to higher freight costs. “This trade war and the possibility of a US$1 million to $1.5 million levy on all Chinese made ships entering US harbours will mean higher prices for all of us at the corner shop, higher prices at the supermarket, higher prices at the electronic store, higher prices for us at the shop, higher prices for us at the restaurant, higher prices for us at the current dealership and beyond,” she said.

While CARICOM has been working to boost regional self-sufficiency through initiatives like “25 by 2025” — which aims to increase food production — Mottley admitted these efforts may fall short in the face of a major trade crisis. Even if CARICOM countries dropped all their own tariffs, the region’s small economies remain exposed to international price shocks.

“We could lower our tariffs to zero in CARICOM and it will not make a lick of difference, because our economies are small and vulnerable,” she stated bluntly.

To address the growing crisis, Mottley outlined a four-point plan:

1. Engage directly with the US.
   She called for urgent, high-level dialogue with Washington, reiterating that the Caribbean remains a reliable and peaceful neighbour. “We are not your enemy. We are your friends,” she emphasised.
2. Avoid political division within the region.
   Mottley urged Caribbean leaders to put aside partisanship in this moment of shared threat. “United we stand, divided we fall,” she said.
3. Accelerate regional production.
   She encouraged greater investment in agriculture and manufacturing, suggesting that the “25 by 2025” goal, led by Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, may now be too modest.
4. Broaden international partnerships.
   The CARICOM Chair advocated for deeper ties with Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Canada to reduce the region’s dependence on any single market.

Calling this “the most difficult period our world has faced since the end of World War II,” Mottley urged Caribbean citizens and governments alike to unite in the face of global instability.

She encouraged consumers to prioritise regional products, adding: “Buy local and buy regional…. The products are better, fresher and more competitive in many instances. If we work together and strengthen our own, we can ride through this crisis. We may have to confront issues of logistics and movement of goods, but we can do that too.”

Mottley closed her speech with a message of resilience, saying that despite the challenges ahead, unity and action would carry the region through: “Our forefathers faced tribulations far worse than we will ever do and yes, they came through it. My friends, my brothers and sisters, we can make it. We shall make it.”