St. Kitts and Nevis Foreign Minister Denzil Douglas discusses impact of US trade tariffs

St. Kitts and Nevis’s Minister for International Trade Denzil Douglas has expressed concerns about the potential impact of the United States of America’s tariff war with some major economies on his country. 

Speaking at a press conference involving Prime Minister Terrance Drew and other ministers of the cabinet in Basseterre on March 6, 2025, the veteran leader said most of St. Kitts and Nevis’s goods come through American ports such as Miami, St. Thomas and New York and the impact of the tariff war would affect the Caribbean island-nation.

Stressing that the effects of the trade war between the US and other countries from which St. Kitts and Nevis buys goods would impact the Caribbean state in terms of increased prices. 

“For example, most of our goods come through ports like Miami, St. Thomas, and of course New York, etc. What it means therefore is that it is expected for us to pay higher prices for the goods that have been imported through any port, or from ports of origin where increased tariffs would have been placed by the announcements made by President Trump within 100 days of taking office,” Douglas said.

The tariff war erupted between the US and major economies such as Canada, Mexico and China after Trump returned to the White House for the second time in January 2025. The US decided to impose 25 per cent tariff on imports from its neighbours Canada and Mexico and an additional 10 per cent on those from China, a country with which it has both economic and geopolitical rivalry. 

The government of St. Kitts and Nevis has expressed concerns over the tariff war time and again since the Federation is already battling challenges related to rising prices and shipping since the COVID-19 pandemic days. 

Minister Douglas, who is also the country’s minister of foreign affairs, commerce and consumer affairs, economic development and investment, said disruptions in the supply chain caused by the pandemic have resulted in longer transit times and higher costs. 

“There has been disruption in the supply trade routes as a result of shortages from COVID, and now we are going to experience, I would think, maybe longer periods for goods to arrive, the cost of these goods would go up, and then of course it will impact negatively on the cost of living for our people here in St. Kitts. The good thing about it is that the entire world is responding to what has been announced by the President of the United States in terms of increased tariffs,” he said.

He said the global community is reacting to the US tariff hikes with nations such as Canada pushing back. 

“In fact, as a result, I believe of Canada’s reaction, we’ve heard only a few nights ago that he (Trump) has suspended the application of the increased tariff against Canadian goods by a month, and maybe that could be extended further because the Canadian government has indicated that its citizens will not be the ones to suffer, but the Americans themselves will suffer, and so that’s the way it is,” Douglas, also a former prime minister, added. 

It was on the same day that Trump paused tariffs on many imports from Mexico and Canada. He announced the decision after holding a telephone conversation with his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum. Later, he extended the reprieve to the US’s northern neighbour Canada. 

Things have changed dramatically over the years: Dr Denzil Douglas

Douglas, who as the prime minister had earned accolades from former US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush for his leadership role in the fight against HIV/AIDS, said St. Kitts and Nevis benefited from good trading relations between the US and the Caribbean in the past. 

He mentioned the Caribbean Basin Initiative, a programme in the mid-1980s that was backed by the US and sought to provide tariff and trade benefits to several countries in Central America and the Caribbean region. Reagan was the president of the US then.

St. Kitts and Nevis received favourable trading conditions with the US and its manufacturing sector particularly benefited. Douglas said companies that were set up in St. Kitts and Nevis which might have originated out of Puerto Rico were tariff-free when the goods entered the US. “That has changed dramatically over the years,” he said. 

The St. Kitts and Nevis minister said that his country’s contribution to trade in terms of its goods going to the US is not as significant as it was before. However, some industries such as electronic assembly, which still export goods to the US. Douglas said the government was waiting to see how the tariff will impact that trade.