By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas’ annual $60m lobster exports to the US can only withstand a further 2-3 percentage point Trump tariff increase before they become “too expensive to consume”, it was revealed yesterday.

Adrian LaRoda, the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance’s president, told Tribune Business it was “disturbing” to learn that the tariff rate on this nation’s lobster and other seafood exports to the US may be raised to “a little over” the existing 10 percent come early August.

Responding to this disclosure by the US president and his senior officials, during an interview with US television networks and other media, he added that Bahamian fisheries exporters are “not feeling the effects yet” of the 10 percent tariff imposed earlier this year by the Trump administration.

However, Mr LaRoda warned US consumers may reach a tipping point if Bahamian lobster exports are hit with anything other than a “negligible” tax increase at the border because this seafood is already treated as a high-priced “luxury” products.

And, while Bahamian seafood exports have not been placed at a competitive disadvantage because foreign rivals, such as Belize and Mexico, have been hit with the same or even higher US tariffs, he told this newspaper that this country’s fisheries industry needs to “be a little more creative” to make sure it stays “ahead of the game”.

The Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance’s president added that, given fisheries processors and wholesalers “generate most of our revenue from exports” as opposed to the domestic market, the sector must protect this earnings source by targeting alternative markets such as Europe and Asia, improving access to such jurisdictions and diversifying its products so there is less reliance on lobster.

Mr Trump, indicating that he may release a single letter setting out his administration’s trade and tariff policies towards small Caribbean and African nations as a bloc, told US media on Tuesday: “We’ll probably set one tariff for all of them - probably a little over 10 percent.” No further details were provided, and it is unclear whether The Bahamas will be included in this large grouping.

Mr LaRoda, though, confirmed to Tribune Business that Bahamian lobster and other seafood exports are incurring the 10 percent US tariff that Mr Trump unveiled during his first trade policy reset at the beginning of April.

“When I read that this morning it was disturbing,” he added of the US president’s latest disclosures. “Our seafood exports to the US, we are just now trying to deal with the first tranche of tariff increases with our export partners. This came as a surprise where we now have to do more.

“Realistically, in the long-term it is going to hurt us. It will put our lobsters - we’re talking about a luxury product, and the more expensive it is for consumers the less likely they are to purchase the product. We’re hoping that, if there is going to be an increase, it will be a negligible increase of one to two percentage points.

“I think the US market can absorb an additional two to three percentage points, but anything more than that it’s going to put our exports at the brink of being too expensive to consume. That’s a worry.” Mr LaRoda said between $50m-$60m worth of spiny lobster exports per annum stand to be impacted by any changes in US tariff rates or policy.

Bahamian lobster was being sold in some US supermarkets at between $45 and $48 a pound last year, and Mr LaRoda and the fisheries industry fear is any further significant increase in US tariffs - which are a tax that has to be paid on imported goods at the border - will make this nation’s product uncompetitive on price versus domestic US catches.

“The further north you go, the more expensive our lobster becomes,” the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance chief said. “What we’re concerned about is, with the product more expensive, people in the US tend not to purchase Caribbean spiny lobster and go for US cold water lobster.

“Other countries in the Caribbean want to get into this market, but we believe that our product is always superior and we have proximity. But, again, when talking about North Americans and Canadians, they tend to not purchase Caribbean spiny lobster and go for the Maine cold lobster because of cost.”

Mr LaRoda said the Bahamian fisheries industry is already pivoting to strategies that can mitigate any Trump tariff fall-out. He told Tribune Business: “We’re now trying to export more lobster into Asia and Europe to make up for and replace what we lose in the US, but that’s a work in progress. 

“Exporting is a major component for us, and where we generate most of our revenue. We have to become, I wouldn’t say more innovative, but we have to be creative in accessing markets and entering the markets we do have. Maybe we need to diversify the seafood products we do export rather than strictly relying on lobster to be the export.

“We have to be a little more creative and put effort into staying ahead of the game rather than being reactive. So far he’s been doing what he [Mr Trump] said. Whatever he’s said, he’s doing it, so we have t brace ourselves for what he does, and be creative and stay ahead of the game.”

Mr LaRoda said Bahamian fisheries exporters have yet to feel any negative fall-out from the 10 percent US tariff’s imposition, while Mr Trump has effectively created a ‘level playing field’ with rival countries by levying the same or higher rates on their competing exports.

“A lot of our products from the 2024 season were already exported prior to the tariff imposition and tax increase,” the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance chief added. “We’re still going to have to wait and see what happens during the 2025-2026 season when it starts up in a couple of weeks. 

“So far we’re optimistic that there will not be a catastrophic effect but there sure could be one” depending on how Mr Trump revises tariff policy and rates. “The information I have is that we’ve not been feeling the effects of it yet,” Mr LaRoda said of the current 10 percent levy.

“Other countries that export to the US, Belize and Mexico, are subject to the same tariff. Belize, our major competitor, is at 10 percent and Mexico is even higher. It’s still a bit too early to say what the long-term effects of these tariffs are going to be compared to us and our competitors.”

Footnote

Lobster page XX

Headline

Fisheries diversification

still a ‘work in progress’