Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 4 months ago
There's no need to panic.

That's the message from Chairman of the Regional Business Chambers, Vivek Charren, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 15 percent tariff on all imports originating from Trinidad and Tobago.

Sharla Kistow has the details.
Transcript
00:00A 15% tariff on TNT export to the U.S. will take effect from August 7th, up from the 10%
00:07hike imposed in April. Speaking with TV6 via telephone, Vivek Charan says while a measure
00:13presents challenges, it's not unexpected and not a reason to retaliate.
00:18I don't think that the answer to the 15% tariff that we don't consider has to be
00:24correct, but if America should call that, you know, to retaliate in any form of fashion.
00:31I see that some people are causing a retaliatory sort of, you know, measure.
00:40I don't believe that we should be hoteling about it, simply because we still have some areas
00:47of competitiveness given the fact that the tariffs that have been levied by the
00:54new American administration has been done so widely and publicly. So it doesn't put us
01:01really in a better or worse position than any other country.
01:05Charan notes that the U.S. government has revised several trade policies under the Trump administration,
01:11imposing even steeper tariffs on other nations.
01:15The American government has changed the trade policies of the previous government and that
01:20includes levying tariffs on many countries. 15% is considerably less than what has been levied
01:27on some of the major manufacturing countries such as China, Mexico, India, for example, and Brazil.
01:36He also points out that TNT's primary exports such as food and beverages remain competitive
01:42despite the tariff increase.
01:44There are, however, some countries in South America that they have 10% tariff that they have to deal with.
01:57But I still think given the major trust of our exports, which is food and beverage and many other things,
02:05I think we will still remain competitive enough given the totality of the global inflation that all the other tariffs that are levied
02:16and all the other major manufacturing countries, you know, just don't know what they have to say.
02:22Charan says the focus now should be on improving local productivity and exploring diverse export markets
02:29rather than viewing the tariff as a setback. Charlotte Kisto, TV6 News.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment