Anthony Hylton | Lost years of Jamaica’s foreign economic and trade policy

Keen observers of CARICOM and Jamaica’s foreign economic and trade policy are stunned not only by the singular lack of leadership demonstrated by Jamaica on matters of both regional and foreign economic and trade policy for the past eight years of the Holness administration, but also by the complete abdication of responsibility for the critical role Jamaica has always played in crafting and executing the region’s vision for external trade relations. Two examples should suffice.

First is the lack of a coordinated response by Jamaica/CARICOM to the threat posed to the Caribbean Basin Initiative, providing preferential access to the US market for Jamaica- and CARICOM-produced goods by an initiative in the US Congress that would extend CBI membership to Ecuador (a non-Caribbean state), thus undermining the benefits to Jamaican/CARICOM beneficiaries of the programme.

Second is the so far unexplained non-response from Jamaica to the recent historic initiative by the African Export-Import Bank to establish trade and investment links between countries on the African continent and CARICOM member states.

As a direct consequence, Jamaica has ceded leadership of an area within CARICOM/CARIFORUM and the global South more generally that, given the significant headwinds facing global trade, requires urgent and visionary leadership. This lack of leadership and the absence of a clearly articulated vision in this area of national economic development is the more remarkable when viewed across both previous People’s National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administrations.

We can recall the leadership provided by successive PNP and JLP administrations, beginning in the early ‘60s and ‘70s, in the negotiation of the original Lome Convention and its successor agreements between the ACP Group (now OACPS) and the European Union, as well as the transition to the Cotonou Agreement in the year 2000, which led to the negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreement in 2008. This is not to be confused with the recent controversial agreement signed by CARICOM/CARIFORUM in the Pacific Island of Samoa, marking the conclusion of negotiations for a political and economic cooperation agreement to replace the Cotonou Transitional Agreement.

LEADERSHIP VACUUM

It starts with the absence of a vision of new paradigms for trade and economic arrangements for Jamaica and CARICOM/CARIFORUM in which either Jamaica or the region could benefit economically and sustainably. This is a role traditionally played by Jamaica within the quasi-Cabinet structure of the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference, which assigns Jamaica the portfolio of External Trade Negotiation with foreign partners.

Very early in the first term of the Holness administration, we recall the establishment of a committee chaired by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding to conduct a review of CARICOM institutions, their operations, and benefits to Jamaica. The main conclusions of that study, tabled and debated in Jamaica’s Parliament, essentially placed CARICOM on probation with the not so subtle threat of withdrawing from CARICOM unless certain benchmarks were met. This was a clear first signal of the abdication of leadership of the external trade agenda in the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy by the Holness administration even as it pivots towards strengthening trade and economic cooperation with Jamaica’s/CARICOM’s competitor the Dominican Republic (CARIFORUM).

To be clear, there has been no articulated vision for Jamaica on foreign economic and trade policy that could be translated within CARICOM/CARIFORUM, and other regional and bilateral economic arrangements, to provide the impetus and leadership in any of these organisations on these matters. To this extent, therefore, Jamaica’s continued role as head of External Negotiations within CARICOM has been significantly diminished and is now more titular rather than substantive.

STRATEGIC VISION

The PNPs strategic vision and plan for CARICOM in foreign and regional economic and trade policy aligns with Jamaica’s own trade agenda. That vision and plan are to modernise CARICOM’s existing trade agreements to include provisions that cover critical new areas in international trade such as e-commerce, investment facilitation, climate change, and carbon border adjustment measures, alongside expansion in services, digital trade, supply-chain resilience, and improved market access.

As was proven recently by Michael Lee-Chin V. Dominican Republic Arbitral Award, foreign and regional economic and trade policy is a critical tool in the arsenal of any enlightened government that seeks to advance and protect the commercial and investment interests of its entrepreneurs. It was the CARICOM/Dominican Republic Bilateral Investment Treaty that provided the effective protection for Mr Lee-Chin’s investment by providing him the forum/jurisdiction to successfully pursue his claims against the Dominican Republic government for unlawfully nationalising his investment in a sanitary landfill in Santo Domingo. Having participated in the arbitration proceedings by giving expert evidence in support of Mr Lee-Chin’s claim, I am clear that the CARICOM/Dominican Republic Treaty on Trade and Investment proved an effective tool and demonstrated its true value to current and prospective Jamaican and CARICOM investors.

SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS

For Jamaica and the wider CARICOM region to fully realise its development potential through trade and to provide the quality job growth required, it has long been recognised that improved aviation and maritime transport logistics must be a priority. Therefore, the leadership being shown by the trio of CARICOM member state governments, namely Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago, in the recent announcement of a plan to improve cargo and passenger transportation among themselves and in support of intra-regional trade in goods and services is to be applauded. Again, Jamaica’s absence from the conversation on regional transportation logistics confirms its studied indifference!

This is the more so as this development aligns fully with Jamaica’s announced Global Logistics Hub Initiative (GLHI) during the last PNP administration and adopted by the current administration. The next PNP administration will energise the build-out of the GLHI by moving swiftly to update the existing Master Plan & Market Analysis done by the World Bank and to implement the several recommendations from the study yet to be undertaken. Chief among these is the network of trade agreements necessary to support and actualise this strategic plan in the short to medium term, a development, which when accomplished, will complement the subregional plan announced by the three CARICOM member states.

Indeed, for CARICOM to function optimally in intra-regional trade, Jamaica is required to implement the GLHI to complete the intra-regional transportation network and to provide the global connectivity CARICOM needs. This is critical if CARICOM is to expand its source markets not only for the self-evident tourism sector, but more importantly, to take advantage of the near-shoring and reshoring trends and to access the wider markets in goods and services trade within the hemisphere and beyond. More of this vision and plan will be articulated in the near future!

G. Anthony Hylton is former minister in the ministries of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, and Industry, Investment & Commerce. He is shadow spokesman on industry, investment and global logistics and is member of parliament for St Andrew Western. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.