NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Although CARIBCAN has supported trade between Canada, The Bahamas, and CARICOM, with only half of the Bahamas’ exports to Canada benefiting from CARIBCAN’s tariff preferences in 2023, a prominent Caribbean-Canada trade expert notes that the program has become less useful in addressing current global trade realities, particularly in emerging sectors.
Robert Ready, former Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica and The Bahamas; former Canadian Chief Negotiator for Canada-CARICOM Trade Negotiations; and current Executive Director, Canada-Caribbean Institute, while addressing the Bahamas-Canada Innovation Trade Mission, stated: “I would say that, just as for Canada, The Bahamas needs to work to improve the efficiency of markets, in this case, the CARICOM single market. Much of the promise of the single market remains elusive, as much like in Canada, CARICOM countries still maintain a variety of barriers for trade and investment in the region. So, here in the Bahamas and in the rest of CARICOM, I think it’s important to focus on fulfilling the promise of the single market. The results will be positive.”
Ready noted: “I’ve not seen recent economic reports, but I know the gains have been estimated as quite significant. However, there is also serious work that The Bahamas and CARICOM need to do on the international trade side.”
Ready observed that trade between The Bahamas and Canada is still not small.” “We’ve been trading for a long time, but the business we do together is frankly quite small,” he noted.
“Most of the Bahamian exports to Canada take advantage of tariff preference programs, including CARIBCAN. But there is, of course, Canada’s general preferential tariff. When I looked into the numbers, it was quite interesting. In 2023, of that $10 or $11 million exported to Canada from The Bahamas, only half of it entered Canada duty-free under the CARIBCAN program,” said Ready.
He added: “I think the most important thing to note about these facts is that CARIBCAN, which dates back to the 1980s, was designed to trade those goods within trade agreements. However, it does not address the new realities of international diversified trading and investment, and services in all their forms—the various components of the blue economy, the creative industries, high-tech and digital sectors like FinTech, and so on. As we reflect on CARIBCAN and its importance, I think it was undoubtedly a useful program in the past, but going forward, perhaps, it’s less useful.”
Ready also went on to note that the Caribbean will not go unscathed by the Trump administration’s tariff policies.
“U.S. tariff policy is no longer seen as something of mutual benefit to raise all boats. It is intended to drive benefits solely to the United States. Most observers seem to agree that the objectives here are to generate revenue based on tax cuts promised during the recent election, to shift production from abroad to the U.S. in order to re-industrialize, and to leverage other nations to change certain behaviors that he does not like. Canada, of course, has been in the sights from the outset, and every day seems to bring new threats of tariffs or increased tariff percentages,” said Ready.
Specifically referencing the Caribbean, Ready noted that even if tariffs are not imposed directly on Caribbean nations, Caribbean businesses, which depend on U.S. influence, will face higher prices and business costs—everything from food to cars to electronics and more.
“Given the preeminent position the U.S. market holds in all of our economies, we need to work on mitigating some of those negative impacts.”
