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THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025
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$60m lobster exports need ‘negligible’ Trump tariff rise By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
• Can only withstand 2-3% pt hit before priced out THE Bahamas’ annual $60m lobster exports to the • Possible increase to US can only withstand a furexisting 10% is ‘disturbing’ ther 2-3 percentage point Trump tariff increase before they become “too expensive • Bahamas targeting Asia, to consume”, it was revealed yesterday. Europe ‘to stay ahead’ Adrian LaRoda, the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance’s president, told Tribune Business it was “disturbing” to learn that the tariff rate on this nation’s lobster and other seafood exports to the US may be raised to “a little over” the existing 10 percent come early August. Responding to this disclosure by the US president and his senior officials, during an interview with US television networks and other media,
he added that Bahamian fisheries exporters are “not feeling the effects yet” of the 10 percent tariff imposed earlier this year by the Trump administration. However, Mr LaRoda warned US consumers may reach a tipping point if Bahamian lobster exports are hit with anything other than a “negligible” tax increase at the border because this
seafood is already treated as a high-priced “luxury” products. And, while Bahamian seafood exports have not been placed at a competitive disadvantage because foreign rivals, such as Belize and Mexico, have been hit with the same or even higher US tariffs, he told this newspaper that this country’s fisheries industry needs to “be a little
DONALD TRUMP more creative” to make sure it stays “ahead of the game”. The Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance’s president added that, given fisheries processors and wholesalers “generate most of our revenue from exports” as opposed
LOBSTER - See Page B4
MP: ‘50-year wait’ until land reform’s full effect By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN Opposition MP yesterday charged that existing land law will “be the predominant system for the next 50 years” despite reforms billed by the Government as key to ending “economic stagnation”. Adrian White, the St Anne’s MP and a real estate conveyancing attorney by profession, told Tribune Business that while he supported the two Bills debated in the House of Assembly it will “take decades” to adjudicate
ADRIAN WHITE
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title ownership for every land parcel in The Bahamas and accurately record this in the planned Land Registry. As a result, he argued that Bahamian companies and
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citizens will have to contend with “duplicate land systems working in tandem” for many years until the transition to a system of registered land is completed.
This, Mr White added, will require attorneys to continue with paper-based title searches under the present deeds-based system for the foreseeable future while, at the same time, the Land Adjudication Tribunals set up under the new regime are also determining who owns real estate parcels in a specific area. As a result, costs and the amount of work performed by attorneys will increase rather than reduce.
ADJUDICATION - See Page B6
Polymers chief: ‘We’ll work way around’ Trump’s tariffs By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
POLYMERS International’s top executive yesterday voiced optimism that “we’ll work our way around” whatever tariff increase Donald Trump decides to impose on Bahamian exports to the US. Greg Ebelhar, the Freeport-based manufacturer’s chief operating officer, told Tribune Business the US is already levying a 10 percent tariff on its expanded polystyrene (EPS) products following the first round of the US president’s trade reset and pledged the company will adapt to any further changes. Speaking after Mr Trump signalled that he plans to
impose tariffs “a little over” 10 percent on imports from small Caribbean and African nations with effect from August 1, he added that Polymers - which has been present in Freeport for more than 30 years - will “figure out a way to make solutions” for whatever the US imposes. “At this point it’s not going to give us any problems that I see,” Mr Ebelhar told this newspaper. “We’re owned by Dart. We’re a composite industry. They use our product... We’re also working on other products, different products we can put our material in and
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$25m Doctors Hospital in GB to bring 90 jobs BY ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net SIGNIFICANT construction of Doctors Hospital’s Grand Bahama location is expected to be concluded by the end of year, with a boost of 90 jobs and at a cost of more than $25m. During the announcement of the successful completion of Doctors Hospital’s sixth Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCI) yesterday, chief financial officer Dennis Deveaux revealed that operations of the new Grand Bahama location is expected to have
an opening as of the first quarter of 2026. He said staffing will be deployed from New Providence “but we expect certainly to have significant representation from physicians on the ground”. “So the Grand Bahama hospital, we expect to conclude substantial construction toward the end of the year and to have an opening in the early part of next year, within the first quarter,” Mr Deveaux said. “Clearly this significant investment, north of $25m from Doctors Hospital will have meaningful impacts on
CONSTRUCTION - See Page B4
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Customs apologises for incorrect private aviation fee mix-up • Aviation organiser says show attendees wrongly informed • Told $300 total for all when ‘recreational’ only charged $150 • Feared ‘huge blow back’ for Bahamas at world’s top event By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS Customs’ top official has apologised for “any mistake” after a private aviation organiser revealed attendees at one of the world’s top air shows were given incorrect fee information by an officer. Jim Parker, of Caribbean Flying Adventures, told Tribune Business in an e-mail that the Customs officer stationed at The Bahamas’ booth during the Sun N’ Fun aviation show, held this past April in Lakeland, Florida, had informed private pilots and their passengers that the agency was charging a combined $300 for inbound and outbound processing fees. This, according to Mr Parker, was inaccurate because Customs’ own flyer unveiling the adjusted fees brought in by the Customs Management (Amendment) Regulations 2024 showed that private aircraft visiting The Bahamas for “recreational purposes only” were to be charged $150 upon entering this nation only. No fee was supposed to be imposed upon their exit, meaning private planes and their pilots deemed to have visited The Bahamas “solely for pleasure”, and “not flying for reward, remuneration or business purposes”, pay a total of $150 in Customs processing fees - not the $300 that Mr Parker asserted was suggested by the Customs officer. Mr Parker approached Tribune Business in a bid to obtain clarity on the correct processing fees to be levied on private “recreational” pilots and their aircraft. He explained that this was urgently required because the world’s
FEE - See Page B5