Are Jamaicans wizing up to the Tyranny of the Roti-Eaters??

[Don1]

J’cans boycotting T&T products

[Baddaz]

please... jamaicans have an inherent right to buy what they want... jamaicans need to make jamaican made products the priority... buy jamaica mi seh... jamaica has the biggest market in the english speaking caribbean and our buying power must be recognized...

[Islandman]

Nothing wrong with that.....within reason.

[Assasin]

the fact is if we fail to produce we will always have to import from somebody, whether is the Chinese, US, Trinidad and soon Cuba and Haiti.

I am not really for the reactionary boycott of Trini product but for planned development and more support for development and using of Jamaican brand products in general.

[Hortical]

Local manufacturing is the key, but we nuh support we own anyway and we just love fi chat.

[Islandman]

Same here

[Peter R]

Local (Jamaica) manufacturing does not have the advantages that T&T has.
Our manufacturers would have to cut margins and be content with driving a corolla and not a benz, if they want to compete in the short to mid term... a buy local campaign would help...I have seen JA products try to enter this market and trini don touch dem.

[Islandman]

Well that is exactly why I say....within reason.

If a JA company cannot compete because of a playing field which is not level, well that is one thing. Or if a company is just breaking into a market and is looking promising, I will support them even if they don't have the economies of scale to compete on price.

But if an established JA company has products which are higher priced and/or inferior because of the greed and/or incompetence of management, well I see no reason why they should expect support just because they are Jamaican.

[Don1]

the fact is if we fail to produce we will always have to import from somebody, whether is the Chinese, US, Trinidad and soon Cuba and Haiti.

I am not really for the reactionary boycott of Trini product but for planned development and more support for development and using of Jamaican brand products in general.

Pretty sounding words but you are clearly unaware of some of the important issues in the JA-TT trading relationship.... issues which amount to unfair trade

Caricom involves a trade treaty where its members are supposed to be accorded "national treatment" i.e. Jamaica's businesses are supposed to be treated the same as TT businesses in Trinidad... and vice versa...Jamaica scrupulously adheres to this principle...unlike Trinidad which:

(1) routinely imposes non-tariff barriers to Jamaican exports to TT to protect their industries

(2) Routinely imposes barriers to Jamaican firms seeking to set up operations or buy property in that country

(3) Subsidizes energy pricing to their manufacturers and refuses these subsidies to Jamaican firms...which gives their firms a huge price advantage... this is a clear violation of so called "national treatment".


Jamaica should threaten withdrawal from this unfair trade to force better terms of trade...or take our business elsewhere...there is no shortage of suppliers for the goods Trinidad supplies...local & international.

That's how smart countries play the trade game...maneuvering to get the best terms

Jamaica is not smart

[Assasin]

you don't have to educate me on the relationship between Trinidad and Jamaica, I know about it. It is for us to be smart and do what we have to do to cut the imports or people will always take advantage.

The broader problem is Jamaica can't continue to import at the rate it is right now if we can't produce and sell. Just take a look at our trade balance with all the countries in the region or as a matter of fact with 90% of our trading partners. We are simply importing too much especially things we can produce if we just put our minds and heart together.

[Assasin]

government also have a role to play. Trini government block everything they can using what resources they can.

Meanwhile somehow the illegal cigarettes, stale goods, fake goods, unsafe goods and everything make their way into Jamaica to compete with our products.

I am sorry but I don't rule out tarriffs and government subsides on some goods to keep our local producers afloat.

[TDowl]

I want all the posters to answer.

T&T export bottle water to Jamaica.

T&T export coconut oil to Jamaica.

T&T send product to NYC markets with the map of Jamaica as their logo.

[Assasin]

While they make most of the tonic wine in Ja which attrack little or no duties while Red Stripe and all other liquour made in Ja attracted bigger duties.

Red stripe had to bawl out and the finance minister see the misdeed and put the same tarrifs on the tonic wines. These tonic wines are mostly made in Trinidad.

A time fi we smart up. If Fiji can sell botte water with an international brand I don't see why we have to import it.

[Don1]

It seems I do have to educate you if you insist on making shallow statements on the matter. We are all familiar with the generalizations ...so we need to drill deeper...

Any discussion about Jamaica - TT trade must include the issue of "national treatment" as we are supposed to occupy a "common economic space". This is an issue you ignore... what I am saying is that Jamaica needs to use this as a club to force concessions out of TT... especially on energy pricing...

..if that rebalancing is achieved our competitiveness and ability to be more cost-effective would be enhanced... if it is not achieved with TT we can offer that Jamaican business TT now enjoys to another trade partner...in exchange for whatever benefits we can negotiate.

Jamaica should not have "friends" only "interests"

[Assasin]

you know that Trinidad will not make concession on their energy policy. If they didn't do it when Petro Caribe came about why are they going to do it now? They didn't do it when they turn around on Portia with the LNG, why are they going to do it now?

It is up to us to make the next move not Trinidad, they are sticking to their guns. Again the broader picture is we stop importing form Trinidad it will be somebody else, what are we going to do about that???

I guess you never hear they are not going to be ATM statement which tells they have nothing to give so how you force their concession?