Minister of Foreign Affairs Kerrie Symmonds would like the United States to give consideration to proportionality and balance in its system of imposing tariffs on goods from different countries.
Speaking at a reception in honour of the US 249th Independence anniversary at the US Ambassador’s official residence Wednesday night, Symmonds contended that “for a microstate like Barbados, the recently set up tariff wall of ten per cent, which Barbados shares with “super powers” such as the United Arab Emirates and Great Britain, was disproportionate.
He charged there was “a need for balance and proportionality”, though he conceded the US also needed to address its own trade imbalances.
Directing his remarks to the host of the event,US Chargé d’Affaires Karin Sullivan, Symmonds appealed to the Barbados-based US diplomat to “take the message back to DC”, that while Barbados understood the US’ need “to close a trillion-dollar or more domestic deficit and domestic financing [gap] – (which is) a serious, serious imposition for any government and any president – equally there’s a need for the balance and the proportionality”.
Symmonds said that in spite of the trade concerns, he was “profoundly grateful” that Barbados was able to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “to come to some compromise on the question of the US position with respect to Chinese-built ships transiting US ports”.
“The truth of the matter is that, through it all, we have been able to have the type of discussion, the type of partnership, the type of collaboration, the type of friendship that has endured through the ages,” Symmonds said.
The minister also pointed out other positives in the US/Barbados relationship, such as the security arrangement with the Caribbean.
Assistance
“If you look across this part of the Caribbean Sea, you will see that
Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia and virtually every one of our islands is enduring and trying to overcome the precise same challenge. We have in the US, a major partner which has given us tremendous assistance in the context of our ability to do drug interdiction; in our ability to do surveillance by radar, especially in strategic locations where we would not have access to that capacity.
“It has given us the type of intelligence that allows our police services and defence forces to be able to do the types of work that they must do in order to try to keep this island and these islands as safe as possible,” Symmonds said.
He also acknowledged US assistance to the region in the area of disaster management.
Symmonds said that despite differences, Barbados and the US still managed to “sit down and have candid discussions and see and exchange perspectives which impact both sides, come away with a mature understanding of where each side stood and reach compromise”.
In turn, Sullivan said Americans and the people of the Caribbean wanted “the same things – safer communities, greater opportunities for prosperity and a future built on resilience and freedom”.
The American diplomat said those shared aspirations “form the heart of our connections with Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean”. (GC)
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