Jamaica Foreign minister warns that US trade dispute could hurt alumina exports

(Jamaica Observer) Jamaica’s alumina exports could become a casualty of the ongoing trade dispute between the United States of America and other countries, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith admitted on Tuesday.

Johnson Smith, who was speaking at a press briefing yesterday at the foreign ministry in New Kingston, explained that the USA’s move to restrict its steel and aluminium imports from other countries could have a long-term impact on Jamaica in terms of possible trade diversion and disruptions in the supply chain, as trading partners of Jamaica are impacted.

Jamaica supplies countries such as China with alumina, which is in turn used to make aluminium that is then exported to the US.

US President Donald Trump, in a March tweet, noted that the USA’s steel and aluminium industries have been decimated by decades of “unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world”. He also said that the US must not let its companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer, while demanding “free, fair and smart trade”.

On June 1, the US Administration moved ahead with the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, a follow-up to Trump’s tweet.

On Tuesday Johnson Smith told members of the media that the countries Jamaica has, over the years, exported alumina to were no longer exempted from these tariffs.

“I want to recall that while Jamaica does not produce or export either of these products, we do produce the primary inputs, bauxite alumina. More than 75 per cent of our bauxite goes to the US where they are expanding their manufacturing capacity, and our bauxite is tariff -exempt under the Caribbean Basin Initiative.