Antigua 'concern' over Mexico-US wall funding

The CARICOM nations will join Latin Amierca with one strong voice in opposing US President Donald Trump's plans to build a wall along America's border with Mexico, according to a government minister.

The proposals for the wall – a key campaign pledge for Donald Trump when he was elected in November 2016 – could be funded by a tax affecting Caribbean nationals.

US lawmakers are hoping to raise money by taking 2% on all remittances sent from those living in the States back to Caribbean countries.

Latest estimates are that the wall could cost as much as US$21.6 billion.

Which countries would be affected?

• Belize
• The Cayman Islands
• Haiti
• The Bahamas
• The Turks and Caicos Islands
• Jamaica
• The British Virgin Islands
• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• St Kitts and Nevis
• Montserrat
• Guadeloupe
• Dominica
• Martinique
• St Lucia
• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Barbados
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Suriname

Charles Fernandez, foreign affairs minister, told  state-owned ABS Television that the new measures being advocated could result in the remittances system going underground.

“Whatever tax you put on it even though it sounds like a little bit, 2%, it could cause a number of people to want to drive this outside of the regulatory banking system and that could be of concern. You could get into all kinds of monies moving around in actual hard currencies," he said.

“The other thing about it is that the president had said Mexico was going to pay for the wall. Clearly now it is anybody who is doing transfers will pay for it.

“As regards to the Caribbean, I think Jamaica probably will be the biggest one affected. In 2015, Jamaica had something like US$1.5 billion sent from America alone to Jamaica in remittances."

The Border Wall Funding Act Introduced to the House of Representatives on 30 March, seeks to amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to impose a fee for remittance transfers to certain foreign countries, and for other purposes.

Fernandez said that while the Gaston Browne administration has not yet officially discussed the new US measure, it is aware of the situation.

“We haven’t discussed it in any detail, but I think CARICOM and the other countries in Latin America will want obviously to speak with one voice on this and say we have some concerns and raise a number of issues,” he told television viewers.

Last month, the proposed bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, and the House’s Committees on Financial Services, Foreign Affairs and Judiciary.