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Business
U.S Tariffs impacts cayman
The impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs hits close to home for Cayman’s businesses.
Local businesses have started preparing for the potential fallout from the most recent wave of trade tariffs issued by US President Donald Trump.
| 00:02:16
Cayman Compass
US tariffs could be a ‘rum deal’ for Cayman’s niche export market
US president Donald Trump can hardly have had the Cayman Islands in mind when he implemented sweeping global tariffs on America’s trading partners last week.
But the islands’ niche export market may be collateral damage in a coming global trade war.
A new 10% tax on anything exported from Cayman to the US was announced on 2 April, alongside tariffs on goods imported to the US from more than 180 other countries and territories. Details of when and how those tariffs might be imposed remain unclear but it is another worrying sign for businesses on the islands.
The far bigger impact of the tariffs will be on imports to Cayman. Products from cellphones and running shoes to steel and fresh produce have complex global supply chains and will attract tariffs that make them more expensive in the US and, therefore, in Cayman.
