US Tariffs

Caribbean Daily Brief — Monday, April 6, 2026

Regional news for the Caribbean diaspora — without the spin, with the context.

THE CARIBBEAN IS STILL PAYING TO SELL TO AMERICA

As of April 2026, most Caribbean goods still face a 10 per cent baseline import duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That number sounds modest until you remember that Caribbean producers of rum, processed foods, specialty goods and building products operate on margins where 10 percent is not a rounding error, it is the difference between competitive and not. Sir Ronald Sanders, writing in Kaieteur News this week, makes the point plainly: the Caribbean has not chosen to diversify away from the US market — it is being driven to do so. CARICOM states are now intensifying intra-regional sourcing and widening relationships with other international partners. This is what “diversification” looks like when it is not a strategy but a survival response.