US Embassy Official Urges Bahamas To Reduce Import Tariffs

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

08 June 2004

An US Embassy official has urged the Bahamas to reduce the level of tariffs levied on goods imported from the United States, arguing that they damage the local economy and act as a barrier to trade, the Nassau Guardian has reported.

The Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Officer, Tomekah Burl told a recent Rotary Club meeting that the US was the jurisdiction’s largest trading partner, explaining that 88% of Bahamian imports (which totalled more than $1 billion in 2003) were sourced from America.

Given the reliance of the Bahamas on imported goods, Burl noted that the removal of restrictions on the flow of goods between the two nations would actually benefit the jurisdiction in terms of reducing prices for the consumer, which in turn would help fuel economic growth.

However, the embassy official observed that the problem of restrictive tariffs was one faced by the United States in all global markets, and contrasted this with the low levels of duties imposed by the US authorities on foreign imports.

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