PSO – CPSO-USBC supports further suspension of section 301 maritime fees, calls for the Caribbean exemptions to be made permanent

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO) and the CPSO-US Business Council (CPSO-USBC) have filed joint comments with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) supporting the proposed further suspension of the Section 301 maritime fees (Docket USTR-2026-0694).

The fees, which took effect on 14 October 2025, were suspended for one year from 10 November 2025. The suspension for Caribbean short-sea shipping expires on 9 November 2026. The USTR has proposed to extend it for a further two months, from 10 November 2026 to 9 January 2027. The submission, made on behalf of the Caribbean private sector, also requests that the USTR confirm the Caribbean exemptions set out in Annex II of the Notice of Action in any resumption of the action, and that those exemptions be made permanent.

Under Annex II, the service fees on Chinese-built vessels do not apply to vessels entering a US port in the continental United States from a voyage of less than 2,000 nautical miles from a foreign port or point; to fully cellular container vessels with a capacity of 4,000 TEU or less; to any other vessel with a capacity of 55,000 deadweight tons or less; to bulk carriers of 80,000 deadweight tons or less; or too vessels arriving empty or in ballast. Taken together, these provisions cover the short-sea liner services on which the Caribbean’s trade with the United States depends. The CPSO advocated for each of these in the 2025 proceedings.

CARICOM comprises 15 member states, most of them islands or low-lying coastal states. Over 90 percent of the region’s goods trade moves by sea, with no road, rail or pipeline alternative. For the more than 6,250 firms across CARICOM that the CPSO represents, these shipping routes are not optional: they are the only way goods reach the region, and several member states are served by only two or three liner companies. Under the original fee proposal, freight costs on Caribbean routes could have risen by 50 to 60 percent, resulting in higher prices for consumers and market losses for US and CARICOM producers alike.

Since the exemptions were adopted in April 2025, no liner service to a CARICOM port has been withdrawn, and no surcharge has been levied on Caribbean trades. In 2025, two-way goods trade between the United States and CARICOM reached USD 30.1 billion. US exports reached USD 18.6 billion, up 6.6 per cent on 2024, against US imports of USD 11.6 billion, giving the United States a trade surplus of USD 7.0 billion. The exemptions also safeguard disaster relief. Following the devastation caused by hurricane Melissa, Jamaica received food, relief supplies and building materials from Florida on the same short-sea vessels that the Caribbean exemptions protect.

Making the exemptions permanent is crucial for CARICOM member states, whose seaborne goods trade, thin liner coverage, and food, input, energy and tourism sectors would all be directly affected by any lapse. A two-month extension of the suspension gives welcome continuity; it does not give carriers, importers and exporters the certainty they need to plan beyond 9 January 2027.

“The exemptions have kept Caribbean shelves stocked, kept US goods competitive in their nearest export market, and spared hurricane-struck islands an added cost in their hour of need. We are requesting that the USTR preserve the exemptions, which have been mutually beneficial to CARICOM and the US, and in due course make them permanent, so that the Caribbean’s trade no longer depends on the renewal of a suspension or on negotiations to which it is not a party,” said Dr Patrick Antoine, CEO and technical director of the CPSO.

The submission builds on the CPSO’s leadership of the regional private sector in the 2025 proceedings, undertaken with the support of the CARICOM heads of government and in coordination with the CARICOM Secretariat, the CARICOM ambassadors in Washington, the Carriers serving the region, port and tourism bodies, and regional shipping.

The CPSO thanks the USTR, the Section 301 Committee and the administration for the opportunity afforded to the Caribbean’s trading community to comment on this matter.