Caribbean Trade Law and Development

Author: caribbeantradelaw

  • Caribbean Trade and Development Digest – January 7-13, 2018

    Caribbean Trade and Development Digest – January 7-13, 2018

    Welcome to the Caribbean Trade and Development Digest for the week of January 7-13, 2018! We are pleased to share some of the major trade and development headlines and analysis across the Caribbean region and the World. We hope you enjoy this edition.

    REGIONAL

    Venezuela Extends Suspension of Air and Sea Travel, Trade with ABC Islands in Continued Fight Against Smuggling

    Telesur: Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami has announced that President Nicolas Maduro has extended the suspension of air and sea traffic as well as trade with the Caribbean countries of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. Read more

    CARICOM condemns Trump’s reported statements on Haiti

    Barbados Today: The 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) says it is deeply disturbed by reports about the use of “derogatory and repulsive language” by the president of the United States with respect to its member state, Haiti, and other developing countries. Read more

     

    Belize votes to indefinitely end all oil exploration in its waters

    Inhabitat: Belize has decided to indefinitely end all new oil exploration in its waters. Belize only produces 3,000 barrels of oil a day, in contrast to the 1.5 million barrels that the United States produces each day in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more

    Trade attorney warns of the need for compliance with new EU data rules

    Barbados Today: Local businesses are being told to prepare themselves for new data protection regulations that will affect trade with the European Union (EU). Read more

    EU to target UK ‘tax haven’ territories as trade negotiations begin

    The Independent: Demands to open up Britain’s shady network of overseas tax havens are set to be used by the EU as leverage to force concessions during Brexit trade talks, The Independent understands. Read more

    CAL makes triumphant first trip to Cuba

    LoopTT: Caribbean Airlines landed at the Jose Marti airport in Cuba ten minutes ahead of schedule on Saturday morning as it made its first flight to the Spanish island. Read more

    INTERNATIONAL

    Viet Nam files WTO complaint over US anti-dumping duties on fish

    WTO: Viet Nam has requested WTO consultations with the United States concerning certain US anti-dumping laws, regulations, administrative procedures, practices and methodologies, as well as certain anti-dumping determinations in administrative reviews on fish fillets from Viet Nam. The request was circulated to WTO members on 12 January. Read more

    Canada takes US to WTO in wide-ranging trade complaint

    CBC (Canada): Canada has launched a wide-ranging trade dispute against the United States, challenging Washington’s use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties, according to a World Trade Organization filing dated Dec. 20 and published Wednesday. Read more

    Trump’s ‘Shithole’ Countries Are Worth $46.6 Billion in Trade to America

    Newsweek: During a bipartisan meeting on immigration reform Thursday President Donald Trump fumed about the U.S. accepting immigrants from “shithole” countries. Yet the countries—and indeed continents—that angered him are worth billions in trade to America. Read more

    Canadian officials believe that Trump is going to yank the US out of NAFTA

    Business Insider: Canada is increasingly convinced that US President Donald Trump will soon announce that the United States intends to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), two government sources said on Wednesday. Read more

    Brexit shock: No deal will cost EU £500billion

    Sunday Express: Pressure was last night mounting on the EU to sign a free-trade agreement with Britain after a report revealed that a “no deal” scenario could cost the bloc more than £500billion. Read more

    Preparations, but no NAFTA plan B yet, says trade minister

    CTVNews: With the next round of NAFTA talks approaching, and uncertainty about where the U.S. stands from one day to the next, Canada’s International Trade Minister said there’s no clear “plan B” if the trilateral deal gets torn up. Read more

    US looking at free trade agreement with India

    Hindu Business Line: The US government is planning a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India in an effort to boost two-way trade that currently stands at $115 billion. Read more

    Philip Hammond: Brexit trade deal without services not ‘realistic’ for UK

    Politico: It is not a “realistic proposition” for the U.K. to accept a post-Brexit trade deal that does not include services and the EU would be “crazy” to cut itself off from London’s financial center, the British chancellor Philip Hammond said Saturday. Read more

    Commerce submits steel imports report to Trump

    Global Trade Mag: The United States Department of Commerce announced that it had submitted its report on the Section 232 investigation of steel imports to President Donald Trump. Read more

    South Korea, Vietnam seek redress from US through WTO

    CBC (Canada): South Korea has asked the World Trade Organization for authorisation to impose annual trade sanctions worth at least $711 million on the United States, a filing published by the World Trade Organization showed on Friday. Read more

    Booming Global Trade helped China Exports Surge Last Year

    Bloomberg: China’s exports rose in December, capping a year of stronger trade growth buoyed by a robust global economy. Read more

    China eyes new stage of cooperation with Africa

    Xinhua: With a key cooperation forum and the Belt and Road Initiative, China hopes to raise its cooperation with Africa to a new stage, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said. Read more

    US says Vietnam should have notified eight state firms to WTO

    Reuters: The United States has notified the World Trade Organization of eight Vietnamese firms it says should have been registered as state trading enterprises under the global trading rules, a U.S. filing published by the WTO showed on Thursday. Read more

    Liked this issue? To read past issues of our weekly Caribbean Trade & Development Digest, please visit here. To receive these mailings directly to your inbox, please follow our blog.

  • Caribbean Trade and Development Digest – January 1-6, 2018

    Caribbean Trade and Development Digest – January 1-6, 2018

    Happy New Year! Welcome to the Caribbean Trade and Development Digest for the week of January 1-6, 2018! We are pleased to share some of the major trade and development headlines and analysis across the Caribbean region and the World. We hope you enjoy this edition.

    REGIONAL

    Cuba’s Raul Castro Meets Top EU Diplomat to tighten relations

    TeleSur: Cuban President Raul Castro met with the European Union’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, at the end of her two-day visit to the country, seeking to construct and reinforce ties between EU member countries and Cuba. Read more

    Exxon Mobil reports Oil Discovery off Guyana

    Fox Business: Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) on Friday said it made another positive oil discovery off the coast of Guyana.  Read more

    2017 gold declarations below target

    Stabroek News: The Guyana Gold Board has recorded total gold declarations of 652,000 ounces for 2017, which is below the target of 720,000 ounces. Read more

    Hurricane-hit Caribbean countries slash cost of Citizenship by Investment programs, says report

    Nation News: Caribbean nations ravaged by recent hurricanes are selling citizenship at dramatically discounted prices in an effort to raise emergency funds, sparking concerns that the programmes may be vulnerable to abuse, according to reports here. Read more

    Arrivals of US tourists to Cuba tripled in 2017

    Caribbean News Digital: U.S. tourism to Cuba grew nearly threefold in 2017 over the previous year, mainly due to relaxation of travel ban, a Cuban official said Saturday. Read more

    CARICOM moving to create first climate-resilient region

    Jamaica Observer: Incoming chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse, says the regional grouping is moving towards creating the world’s first climate-resilient region this year. Read more

    INTERNATIONAL

    Will intra-African trade flourish in 2018?

    The Herald: Overcoming the barriers for intra-African trade to double in a decade can feel like a Sisyphean task – impossible to complete. But that is the objective of the Boosting Intra-African Trade (BIAT) action plan, which targets to double flows between January 2012 and January 2022. Read more

    Rwanda: AU Summit to discuss Continental Free Trade Area

    AllAfrica: The upcoming 30th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government is expected to receive a progress report on the status of negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), an official has told Sunday Times. Read more

    US Trade deficit hits $50.5 billion, biggest since 2012

    ABCNews: The U.S. trade deficit rose to $50.5 billion in November, the largest imbalance in nearly six years, as imports and exports both hit records. Read more

    Canada’s NAFTA charm offensive kicks into high gear

    CBCNews: The new year begins with Canada relying on an old strategy for saving the North American Free Trade Agreement. Read more

    UK seek free trade agreement covering goods and services in Phase Two

    RTE: British Prime Minister Theresa May has said the UK will be looking for a free trade agreement with the EU that will cover goods and services in Phase Two of the Brexit negotiations this year. Read more

    Tariffs to be slashed as China-Chile free trade agreement kicks in

    China.org.cn: Nearly 98 percent of products traded between China and Chile will have zero tariffs attached when the new China-Chile free trade agreement is implemented in 2018, according to the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, reports Chinanews.com. Read more

    Will 2018 be the year of protectionism? Trump alone will decide

    New York Times: The Trump administration will soon face several major trade decisions that will determine whether the White House adopts the type of protectionist barriers that President Trump campaigned on but that were largely absent during his first year in office. Read more

    Will global trade survive 2018?

    Foreign Policy (Blog): The future of the global trade system faces more risk and uncertainty than at any time since it was created after World War II. Read more

    Macron pursues ambitious agenda on first official China visit

    RFI: French president, Emmanuel Macron’s heads to China Sunday hoping to forge closer ties with President Xi Jinping. During the three-day trip which begins Monday, Macron plans to seek a “strategic partnership” with Beijing, notably on terrorism and climate change, an official in the president’s office said. Read more

    Why Britain should be allowed to join the TPP

    The Strait Times: Analysis by James Crabtree Read more

    US-Korea trade talks pit pickup trucks against nuclear threat

    Reuters: The United States and South Korea on Friday completed the first round of review talks on a bilateral trade deal with Washington saying there was “much work to do” to reach a new pact.  Read more

    Will there be a Pacific trade war in 2018?

    Nikkei Asian Review: Analysis by Glen Fukushima Read more

    New Chinese consul general talks tough on trade

    Business in Vancouver: China is eager to conclude a free-trade agreement with Canada, but not at the expense of a set of “baseline” political principles seen as untouchable by Beijing, said the new top Chinese diplomat in the Western Canada region. Read more

    How Nepal’s trade costs could be minimised

    The Himalayan Times: A recent report jointly prepared by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP) titled ‘Trade and Transport Facilitation Monitoring Mechanism (TTFMM) in Nepal’ has suggested the government to set up the TTFMM institutional mechanism to monitor processes in certification, customs, transit and cargo transportation to bring down the cost of trade. Read more

    Brexit: UK Government considers joining TPP trade agreement to help bolster economy after leaving EU

    The Independent: Britain is exploring the possibility of joining a trans-Pacific trade bloc after Brexit in a bid to find alternative markets for exports that currently go to Europe, it has emerged. Read more

    Brexit: May urged to stay in the single market by 20 British MEPs

    The Guardian: Theresa May is being urged to change course and seek full membership of the European single market and customs union by 20 British MEPs, including three Tories and the majority of Labour politicians based in Brussels. Read more

    Pressure grows for UK to bring ban on ivory trade

    The Guardian: Consultation by the government shows huge public support for ending all sales. Read more

    More than 2,300 EU academics resign amid warning over UK university ‘Brexodus’

    The Independent: New figures show a 19 per cent increase in departures of European staff from universities last year compared to before the EU referendum, and a 10 per cent rise from some 2130 resignations in 2015-16. Read more

    Liked this issue? To read past issues of our weekly Caribbean Trade & Development Digest, please visit here. To receive these mailings directly to your inbox, please follow our blog.

  • Season’s Greetings from CTLD Blog!

    Dear Readers,

    Thank you sincerely for your support of the Caribbean Trade Law & Development Blog throughout 2017! Here’s wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2018!

    Alicia

    CTLD Blog

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  • How can Caribbean CIPs survive increased global and regional competition and scrutiny?

    How can Caribbean CIPs survive increased global and regional competition and scrutiny?

    Alicia Nicholls

    Citizenship by investment programmes (CIPs) operated by five Caribbean small island developing States have been receiving increased international competition and scrutiny, with some arguing that a veritable “race to the bottom” has begun. Indeed, these programmes face increased competition not just inter se, but globally as more countries worldwide are turning to citizenship or residency programmes for attracting much needed investment.

    The CIP-operating countries in the Caribbean are currently St. Kitts & Nevis (the world’s longest running), Dominica, Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda and most recently, St. Lucia. As all five of these countries are part of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), investors who obtain citizenship under one of these countries’ CIPs are also entitled to the freedom of movement privileges under the CSME, which has caused legitimate national security concern in some non-CIP operating CARICOM countries.

    1. Eliminate price as a factor

    Although Caribbean CIPs are already the most affordable in the world, there are irrefutable signs of increased price competition among Caribbean CIPs.  In January of this year, St. Lucia amended its regulations to, inter alia, reduce the minimum qualifying investment to US$ 100,000 to the National Economic Fund. In the wake of the passage of Hurricane Irma, St. Kitts & Nevis added a lower cost option (US$150,000 plus applicable fees) in the form of the temporary hurricane relief investment option (until March 2018), whereby the invested funds would be earmarked for assisting hurricane-affected areas. This latter change was sharply criticised. Even more recently, Antigua & Barbuda cut the investment threshold for the National Development Fund by 50%.

    Any semblance of price competition among Caribbean CIPs is problematic for several reasons.  Although the majority of persons seeking alternative citizenship do so for the ease of business and travel a good quality passport brings, lowering the minimum investment threshold makes Caribbean CIPs more accessible to those persons who may seek alternative citizenship for nefarious purposes. Even if the due diligence processes remain unchanged, a perceived price war could cause third States to either reimpose visa restrictions or apply more scrutiny to passport holders of those States  (or of other Caribbean States!), which diminishes the value and attractiveness of those CIP-countries’ passports. It lessens the perceived value of the citizenship offered by those countries which may actually be a turn-off to some High Net Worth Individuals who may be more attracted to exclusivity.

    What this speaks to is the need for CIP-operating Caribbean countries to eliminate price as a factor of competition by harmonising their minimum investment threshold, a point I made in a paper I delivered on this topic earlier this year.

    2. Increase due diligence cooperation

    Cooperation among CIP-operating Caribbean countries should also extend to cooperation on issues of due diligence to ensure that an applicant who fails one country’s due diligence requirements is not accepted under another’s. Based on my research, it appears that there is some due diligence cooperation already occurring, but more can be done. Additional options could be to harmonise due diligence requirements and to formulate a harmonised list of excluded countries instead of national lists as currently obtains in some CIP-operating Caribbean countries.  This would also address some of the national security concerns of non-CIP operating Caribbean countries, and third States.

    3. Improve transparency

    Lack of transparency remains a major problem plaguing the perception of Caribbean CIPs. Antigua & Barbuda’s legislation makes it mandatory for a 6-month report to be published and this information is found online. However, generally speaking, there is little information made available about Caribbean CIPs’ operation, except for the economic data found in the IMF’s Article IV consultation reports. With few exceptions, officials are often very reluctant to share data on these programmes’ operation, whether out of fear of competition or negative publicity.

    Failure to share information only adds to the shroud of secrecy plaguing the programmes and it also makes it difficult to analyse the socio-economic impacts of these programmes.

    It would be useful if CIP-operating Member States would use the framework for information sharing as mentioned in the Strategic Plan for the Caribbean Community Plan 2015-2019 to share data on the operation of their programmes for transparency purposes, including their approval and disapproval rates.

    4. Compete on quality

    Competition among Caribbean CIPs should be on quality of service and product without compromising standards. Caribbean countries already have inherent natural advantages which are pull factors for HWNIs, such as their natural beauty, pleasant climates, stable democratic societies and quality of life. But these alone are not enough. What the latest World Bank Doing Business Report 2018 shows is that there are several indicators on which Caribbean countries, including CIP-operating countries, can improve their attractiveness as investment destinations by improving the ease of doing business. Jamaica, which does not offer a CIP, is a good example of a Caribbean country which has been making sound reforms in the quest for  ‘best in class’ status as an investment destination.

    5. Good governance

    Good governance is key to the long-term sustainability of Caribbean CIPs. This includes ensuring that due diligence standards are robust, as well as that transparency and efficiency remain paramount to the programmes’ administration. It also entails keeping the programmes free of political interference.

    6. Residency Criterion?

    Currently, all five Caribbean CIPs are direct citizenship programmes which means that there is no requirement on the investor to reside in the jurisdiction for a fixed period of time before citizenship is granted. The lack of a residence requirement is one of the unique selling points of Caribbean programmes, but it is also one of the reasons why some third States are increasingly critical of these programmes.

    The addition of  a short residency requirement, similar to Malta’s 12-month requirement, could be a possible option for Caribbean CIPs as it would remove some of the transactional nature to the process.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B., is a trade and development consultant with a keen interest in sustainable development, international law and trade. You can also read more of her commentaries and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.