00:00The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago is raising new concerns about the 10% baseline tariff most countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, are facing from the Donald Trump administration.
00:11In an article posted on his website on Tuesday, the Energy Chamber said the U.S. export market is very important to Trinidad and Tobago, accounting for about 30% of TNT's exports.
00:23The Energy Chamber further said that over 95% of TNT's exports to the USA comprise of just a handful of energy-related commodities, crude oil, LNG, methanol, ammonia, fertilizers such as urea and UAN, and iron and steel.
00:42The Energy Chamber then noted, quote, crude oil and LNG and some fertilizer imports are exempt from the tariffs, but the other commodities are subject to the 10% tariff and, in some cases, higher commodity-specific tariffs.
00:57While the 10% tariff is applied across the board and paid by the importer, there may still be some implications for TNT exporters, end quote.
01:07The Energy Chamber said there may also be imports from certain countries that are also exempt from the new U.S. tariffs, including potentially Russia, where no tariffs have been listed.
01:19The Energy Chamber said this may be significant for Trinidad because Russia is a major exporter of ammonia.
01:25The Energy Chamber said when Point Lisas was originally established and expanded, Trinidad was considered a low-cost producer based primarily on affordable natural gas, but this is no longer the case due to both higher domestic gas prices and the fact that plants are running below capacity.
01:44The Energy Chamber expressed a particular concern that this means there is a danger that Trinidad exporters could be squeezed out of the U.S. market once additional tariffs are levied if there are other sources without tariffs.
01:59Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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