16 billion dollars is the value of Trinidad and Tobago’s exports to the United States of America in 2023 and the USA is the top trading partner for CARICOM.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Paula Gopee-Scoon, made the disclosure at a recent CARICOM Ministerial Meeting with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai .
This meeting was held in Georgetown, Guyana and also included participation by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana, Hugh Hilton Todd and representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat.
The U.S. market accounts for over 40 percent of all CARICOM exports and just over 35 percent of its imports.
In the five-year period 2018-2022, CARICOM’s exports to the U.S. grew by 93 percent.
The U.S. is also Trinidad and Tobago’s top trading partner and has been the top destination for Trinidad and Tobago’s exports.
Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM’s trade with the U.S. is governed by a non-reciprocal preferential arrangement known as the Caribbean Basin Initiative.
The CBI is a collection of trade programs between the United States and its neighbours in the Caribbean and Central America, and is designed to facilitate and increase the economic development of Caribbean economies.
It does this by providing beneficiary countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for most goods.