What do you think about this? JBDC, TRADE BOARD URGES MSMEs TO EXPLORE NEW MARKETS AS A STRATEGY TO U.S TARIFFS
Kingston, Jamaica - With the United States accounting for over 65% of Jamaica’s exports, Jamaican micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are confronting significant disruption following the United States’ imposition of a baseline 10 per cent tariff on imports from all countries, including Jamaica, effective April 5, 2025. Speaking on Export, Tariffs and the Jamaican MSME at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation’s (JBDC’s) Virtual Biz Zone Webinar held on Tuesday May 20 Dr. Major Hugh Blake, CEO and Trade Administrator of the Trade Board Limited urged MSMEs to tap into new markets as a response to the tariffs.
“USA is Jamaica's primary export destination. In last year, in 2024, we exported US $361.4 million, which is no small amount. A Caribbean-based initiative, preferential trade arrangements, which gave duty-free access for a wide range of goods, facilitated a lot of this. There are not many places around the world where we had that sort of arrangement.”
This shift challenges the duty-free advantage Jamaican exports received under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), introducing new hurdles for MSMEs operating in one of Jamaica’s most critical markets, “As it stands, there is no definitive word as to whether the CBI will be something of the past. Or whether it will still be relevant, applicable.”
Jamaica’s manufacturing sector accounts for 8.5 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product with export earnings of US$961.3 M in 2022, according to Do Business Jamaica.  With a number of MSMEs operating on the manufacturing sector, Dr. Blake advises MSMEs to reconsider their export strategies, emphasising the need to “explore new markets” beyond the U.S. and invest in branding and quality.
He further contextualised the change noting, “the 10% has become what I like to call a new zero, because that's where we start from. It's zero plus the 10% in our case.” This means Jamaican products, previously entering the U.S. duty-free, now face an additional cost that may challenge their competitiveness.
Dr. Blake explained, “When Jamaican businesses send products to the United States, the importer now have to pay 10% more just to enter that market.” This extra cost “starts a chain reaction because nobody sits down and accepts a sort of situation where they feel that they are disadvantaged.”
The tariff increase also impacts Jamaican manufacturers who rely on imported raw materials. Dr. Blake highlighted, “This could make essential materials like packaging, machinery, and just the raw ingredients more expensive,” pushing up production costs and forcing businesses to either absorb expenses or raise prices.
The tariffs add on top of existing rates, creating a compounded effect that raises costs for key exports such as manufactured goods. “Again, from speaking with one of our clients, who basically said to me, well, it's just 10% tariff on the goods that are being imported into the United States. I said, well, it's not only 10% tariff, because it's a 10% increase. If you had a 3% or a 4% or a 5% before, you have to add that 10% to it, He explained.
“I think a lot of us are limited when we think about exporting overseas to the United States, Canada, U.K., and maybe one or two other areas and so on. But there's a whole wide world out there. And Jamaica has this fantastic brand that really creates a nice pathway, a bridge that you can exploit. So we need to look beyond the U.S. to other places.”
Dr. Blake emphasised the dynamic nature of the current trade environment, stating, “Things are very fluid... and so we have to remain very flexible in our thinking and in our assessment of everything.” MSMEs are urged to stay informed through government portals and to leverage tools like Export Jamaica to avoid unreliable partners and identify the best markets, as he advised, “Export Jamaica actually indicates to you what are the best countries to export to... It tells you the businesses to avoid the blacklisted companies.”