Turning now to news on an international perspective, the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development is looking to the future of international trade relations with cautious optimism. And for good reason, while the economic powerhouses of the world continue to wage war on the economic front, it is left to be seen how Belize will be affected. The EU, the UK, and the US, Belize's major trading partners, are three actors entangled in an ongoing trade war. But according to the Director General of Foreign Trade for the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Economic Development, while the international context is concerning, there is no real reason to worry for the time being.
Andy Sutherland, Director General of Foreign Trade
"What we haven't seen at this point is any real impact on the Belize. Belize is a member of CARICOM and as such this region is afforded duty free access to the US market for 90% plus of the goods we produced. And as such that is pretty much secured at this point. We haven't heard any negative remarks in relation to how the US will trade with the Caribbean. Hopefully it remains that way. However, the US isn't our only market. The majority of our 2017 exports went to the EU. And as such Belize is a member of CARIFORUM as well and a signatory to the EU/CARIFORUM economic partnership agreement has substantial duty free access to the markets of the EU and as such our products could access those markets competitively."
One thing that has been affected by changes in the EU is sugar, which is Belize's primary export. This is because world sugar prices have fallen sharply, which is affecting the competitiveness of Belizean sugar in the EU market. It has caused a huge blow to the cane industry which is now looking to the Caribbean market. The Director General for Foreign Trade told us more about their negotiating strategy as it relates to this initiative.
Andy Sutherland, Director General of Foreign Trade
"The problem simply is that within Caricom, there is a common external tariff applied to third country. For sugar that common external tariff is 40%. So any sugar coming into Caricom should be 40%. However, when the CET was devise, the regional market wasn't a focus of regional producers as was the EU. Therefore, for manufacturers within the region to accommodate them their sugar was placed under a derogation on a list A of the CET which it affirms the 40%, but it allows countries to apply a lower rate on refine sugar and as such you have sugar producing states within the Caribbean including Belize applying 40% and you have who don't produce sugar applying a lower rate. Some apply 10, 15, 20% on sugar making our sugar within the region less competitive if exported to the region. So what we are trying to do within the context of Caricom is trying to normalize sugar, putting it back to 40% or an agreed rate between manufacturers and users."
Another ongoing initiative of the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Economic Development is the negotiation of a partial scope agreement with Mexico, which has been put on pause as the result of the change of government in Mexico.
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