The Cabinet of St. Vincent and the Grenadines had formed a task force in response to the 10% tariffs on goods from the country entering the United States.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on goods from most countries.
In addition to the baseline tariff, Trump announced individualised “reciprocal” tariffs on various countries, including 34% on imports from China, 20% on the European Union, 32% on Taiwan, and 38% on Guyana.
SVG’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labour, Saboto Caesar responded to the tariffs in a statement broadcast live on state media on Friday.
“Yesterday, at the level of the cabinet of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we established a task force to address the impacts of this tariff regime on the price of food in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” Caesar said.
He said the country can ensure that it is not negatively impacted by the changes taking place globally by producing more food.
“Over the upcoming days and weeks, we are going to see an increase in the activities by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labour as it pertains to our quest to improve, to increase the production of food in our country.”
Caesar said the new tariff regime will impact the trade of commodities and it is important that SVG, as a producer of food with existing relationships globally, address the important implications on food and nutrition security.
“It is the basic principle that food must always be available, affordable and accessible, and any change in tariffs globally will definitely impact on the price for food, not only in the United States of America, but globally,” he said.
Caesar said SVG produces significant quantities of food which are exported to the region and internationally, adding, “… we are a major exporter of dasheen and other root crops to the United States of America.
“With the new tariff system, what we are going to notice is that food entering the United States of America for re-export, attracting significant tariff increases. This will be passed on to consumers in receiving countries. Therefore, we have to manage the issue of imported inflation,” the minister said.
He said the minister had been extremely active in the 24 hours preceding the announcement, “ensuring that we started the work at the different buying depots.
“Contractors have been assigned to the depots in Lauders, in Langley Park, in La Croix, and we are going to work with a contract on the leeward side for repair works to be done to the Belmont facility.
“This is to ensure that our farmers have an opportunity and an avenue to be able to bring produce. The produce will be collected and sorted. Farmers will be paid, and we will be able to distribute this food to stakeholders in the supply chain.”
The nation’s agricultural produce purchasing depots have not been functioning for some time, with some falling into disrepair.
On Sunday, as the Unity Labour Party celebrated its 24th anniversary in government, Caesar announced that the government would be working on reopening the depots.
On Friday, he said the statement he was making on the tariffs came “against the backdrop that we are still grappling with the many vagaries of climate change, that we are addressing different challenges as it pertains to the high price of fertiliser globally, and we have done an excellent job as a government post the hurricane of last year to ensure that we continue to support our farmers”.
Hurricane Beryl caused significant damage to agriculture in some parts of SVG when it swept across the country, leaving EC$800 million in damage and loss in all sectors, according to government estimates.
“We are going to face a very important period, and I want to speak to the citizens of St. Vincent and Grenadines and to ask you for your full cooperation,” Caesar said.
He said his ministry launched six months ago, a national programme to enhance the production of food in backyards.
“We have reached now over 1,000 homes, and we would have to redouble efforts to reach possibly 3,000 homes in the coming weeks.”
Caesar said this is to try to ensure that the nation produces enough food so that it spends less on imports, adding that SVG is “considered the breadbasket of the Southern Caribbean”, adding that since Trump’s announcement, “many islands” were started to look to SVG to export food to them.
“It is going to be important if we are to meet the demands from the export angle that the families, the community-based organisations, the churches, youth groups, the NGOs, that we all come together and create a platform to increase the production of food.”
He said the state-owned Farmers’ Support Company would work to re-establish a land bank to connect landowners and farmers.
“Very soon, we will be distributing more items under the UBEC (Unleashing the Blue Economy of the Caribbean) programme. I am really happy with the work that we are doing with the fisherfolk across the country, and very soon we are going to see an increase in the harvesting of fish in St Vincent and the Grenadines.”
He said schools are “shining bright” in SVG and across the region, adding that students are being urged to participate in this National Response Framework to help increase food production and counter inflation.
“This may sound like something that is very difficult to achieve, but with the efforts of all, once, there is solidarity, we will be able to turn around the production at our agriculture stations to ensure that we have the necessary seedlings available on time, so that the backyard farmers, the producers who are ensuring that we have food on our tables in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and for export, the persons who are working in the supply chain to provide food for the expanding hospitality industry that we are all proud of the work that we will be doing,” Caesar said.
He said there will always be challenges in life, “but I am comforted that in this ministry, we have the necessary technical skills, we have the international partnerships, and we will be able to work with every single member of our society to ensure that when we experience this whole situation and scenario of the pending imported inflation, that we will not be impacted in St. Vincent and Grenadines in a negative way. “
The agriculture minister also spoke of the importance of import substitution.
“There are many persons who, over the years, have created an appetite for imported food, and sometimes we do this at the expense of not harvesting and harnessing the resources around us from the standpoint of the food items that we have,” he said.
“We have to take another look at the food produced here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and to ensure that the youth in our country, the young people that they are introduced to a lot of this food.”