Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley has issued a call to the United States of America (USA), reminding the global superpower that the Caribbean is its friend.
The call comes in the wake of “reciprocal” trade tariffs imposed on Caribbean states by U.S. President, Donald Trump several days ago.
“To the United States, I say this simply: We are not your enemy. We are your friends,” the PM said in a video posted to her Facebook page last night.
Mottley, who is also the Chairperson of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) added, ” so many people in the Caribbean region have brothers and sisters, aunties, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, sons and daughters and children living up in Miami or Queens or Brooklyn or New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, wherever. We welcome your people to our shores and give them the holidays, and for many of them, the experiences of a lifetime.”
PM Mottley warned that the trade war between the global superpowers will inflict hardship on Caribbean people, stressing that no-one, regardless of where they are from, will be immune.
“I want every Caribbean man and every Caribbean woman to hear me. This trade war and the possibility of a US $1 million to $1.5 million levy on all Chinese-made ships entering US harbours will mean higher prices for all of us at the corner shop, higher prices at the supermarket, higher prices at the electronic store, higher prices for us at the shop, higher prices for us at the restaurant, higher prices for us at the current dealership and beyond.”
Mottley also spoke about unity among Caribbean nations in carving a path to address this issue.
“We must not fight among each other for political gain. Because my dear brothers and sisters, as the old adage goes ‘United, we stand and divided, we fall’”
She noted that efforts must be redoubled to invest in Caribbean agricultural production and light manufacturing.
