KINGSTON — The CARICOM tariff harmonization meeting at the Hilton entered its third day Monday with no joint communiqué and no scheduled close. Six member states — Guyana, Belize, Suriname, St. Vincent, Dominica, and Grenada — are pressing for the framework that has been on the table since the November summit. Three states — Antigua, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia — are listed in the Secretariat’s working notes as “undecided.”
One state is openly resisting: Trinidad and Tobago. Port of Spain’s delegation, led by the Minister of Trade, has tabled three counter-amendments since Saturday, each of which would soften the harmonization timeline from twenty-four months to forty-eight. Jamaican negotiators have not publicly aligned with either bloc.
Prime Minister Holness was scheduled to address Sunday’s press scrum at the Hilton. He did not. The PM’s communications office cited “a private engagement” and rescheduled to “later in the week.” Three reporters waited in the lobby for ninety minutes before being told.
What is at stake: the Common External Tariff framework that would harmonize import duties across CARICOM on roughly forty consumer-goods categories, from poultry to construction materials. Trinidad’s manufacturing sector has lobbied against the timeline. Jamaican manufacturers are split — the JMA has issued one statement supporting harmonization in principle, no statement on the timeline.
The Secretariat has not confirmed whether the meeting will close Tuesday or extend into Wednesday. Two delegations told Yard Report on background that “extension is likely.”
The framework was meant to be signed at the July summit. It is now April, and there is no draft both sides will sign.
Trinidad has been blocking since November. Jamaica has been quiet for three days. The math is not improving.