business@tribunemedia.net
Thursday, June 4, 2026
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‘Where does it end?’ Trump’s new 12.5% tariff threat to The Bahamas BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SENIOR fisheries executive yesterday asked “where does it end” as the Trump administration threatened to hit Bahamian exports to the US with 12.5 percent tariffs after finding this nation is failing to combat imported goods made with forced labour. Adrian LaRoda, president of The Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance (BCFA), told Tribune Business that imposing such US border taxes on spiny lobster threatens to place a key fisheries product “at a serious competitive disadvantage” and undermine a major portion of the industry’s annual $90m global exports. Confirming that Bahamian fisheries would be “squeezed” if the Trump administration follows through with its planned action, he warned that prices are already at a point where the sector is
US deems nation guilty of failing to combat forced labour goods Fisheries chief fears further ‘squeeze’ as many ‘in survival mode’ Up to $985m worth of exports in ‘competitive disadvantage’ woe “breaking even” and “in survival mode” due to a combination of US market trends and ongoing uncertainty over Washington D.C.’s tariff policies and whether they can withstand judicial scrutiny. Mr LaRoda asserted that The Bahamas must now prioritise finding new markets for its fisheries products amid the Trump administration’s volatile trade policies. And he told this newspaper that - while any slowdown in US exports is unlikely to “have a catastrophic effect” on the industry’s employment
by itself - there may be a knock-on impact on jobs if processors and wholesalers slash purchases if the local market is unable to absorb this extra product domestically. The Alliance chief called for swift trade and foreign policy intervention after The Bahamas was named among 54 countries deemed by the US Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) to have neither enacted, nor enforced, a legal and regulatory regime that bans the entry of imported goods made
Freeport ‘doesn’t want another industrial going by the wayside’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FREEPORT-based manufacturer yesterday revealed it will speak to the US ambassador next week over the Trump administration’s threat to impose a 12.5 percent tariff on its and all Bahamian goods exports, its principal adding: “We don’t want another industrial company going by the wayside.” Craig Simms, Polymers International’s top Bahamas-based executive, told
Tribune Business that the US Trade Representative’s proposal to levy a new, higher tariff on its US-bound exports - due to this nation’s alleged failure to combat the importation of products made by forced labour - will further increase pricing and competitiveness pressures with customers already “complaining” that its costs are too high compared to domestic American sources. Explaining that “it just adds another nail in the proverbial coffin, so to speak” if the Trump administration follows
through with its threatened action, he added that Freeport can ill-afford to lose another of its major industrial companies following the early 2024 closure of PharmaChem Technologies as this will further erode the sector’s base. Speaking after The Bahamas was named among 54 countries deemed by the US Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) to have neither enacted, nor enforced, a legal and regulatory regime that bans the entry of imported goods made with forced
Fears marinas ‘crippled’ if face lease hike, dock fees BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president yesterday warned it will “cripple the industry” if operators have to pay both the Government’s new seabed lease fees as well as existing dock-related levies, asserting: “We cannot afford it.” Peter Maury told Tribune Business that many Bahamian marinas would be forced to increase prices, at a time when previous
reforms such as the 14 percent yacht charter fee and cruising permit adjustments, have resulted in this nation losing up to 40 percent of its boating business in some categories. “So far nobody knows much about it other than what they’ve read,” he said. “I don’t want to come to a conclusion if they don’t send us a bill but, at the same time, a lot of us are of the opinion we can’t have both - a dock licence and a seabed lease. We cannot
CHARGES - See Page B15
NIB unveils ‘modest’ pension and insurable wage changes BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE National Insurance Board (NIB) yesterday unveiled biennial adjustments that will raise pensions and grants by 1.5 percent and increase the weekly insurable wage ceiling from $810 to $830 with effect from July 1,2026. The changes, which are required every two years under a statutory review mechanism introduced in 2010, will also increase the maternity grant from $560 to $570 and the funeral benefit from $2,060 to $2,100. Dr Tami Francis, NIB's director, said the adjustments were based on changes in the Retail Price
DR TAMI FRANCIS Index over the two-year review period, and are intended to ensure benefits and contribution thresholds keep pace with changes in inflation, the cost of living and earnings. "As a result of that review, which considered changes in the RPI over the review period, pensions and
CONTRIBUTE - See Page B10
DONALD TRUMP with forced labour into this country. The USTR, which promotes and enforces the US federal government’s trade policies, outlined its findings in a June 2, 2026, report that was released following an extensive consultation process involving both written submissions and public hearings. “USTR found that The Bahamas has failed to impose, and effectively
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BAHAMAS POWER & LIGHT HQ
Household energy spend ‘five times greater’ than the region’s average IDB: ‘Structural inefficiences’ drive Bahamian electricity costs Cutting expense key to ‘durability’ of free first 200 KWh monthly Gov’t eyes up to $170m reform savings, ending Out Island subsidy BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
labour into this country, Mr Simms told this newspaper that - while the Trump administration’s tariffs are not alien to Polymers International - the planned increase will simply worsen the situation by further squeezing profits and margins. The Freeport manufacturer of expanded polystyrene (EPS) products exported some $55.7m worth of goods to the US in 2024, and Mr Simms said: “Currently we are under the 10 percent tariff regime so we continue to pay that 10 percent for our product coming into the US. Another 2.5 percentage points more is obviously not a good thing, but it’s not
ANNUAL Bahamian household spending on electricity bills is “five times’ higher” than the Latin American and Caribbean average, a just-released Inter-American Development Bank (IDN) report has revealed, due to “structural generation and system inefficiencies”. The multilateral lender, in its first quarterly Caribbean bulletin for 2026, said Bahamian energy costs cannot be blamed on oil price volatility alone and noted that the sustainability of Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) Equity Rate Adjustment tariff structure - which ensures the first 200 kilowatt hours (KWh) every month are free for residential consumers - depends on reducing generation costs and boosting efficiency. BPL is mandated by the Electricity Act to submit a tariff review application to its regulator, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), by 2027, and several energy sources - speaking on condition of anonymity - have suggested the state-owned utility will have to increase its base rate to ensure the Government’s energy reforms, as well as its financial health, remain commercially viable while potentially ending the free first 200 KWh. However, the IDB report also acknowledged projections by the former Ministry
MANUFACTURE - See Page B6
SUPPLY - See Page B7
BORDER - See Page B10