2025-04-04 - Channel 5 Belize

Exporters to The U.S. Prepares for Economic Decline

News Five has been closely following the Trump administration’s ten percent reciprocal tariff on Belizean goods. The new policy is set to take effect on April 5th. Since the announcement, the Government of Belize has held a high-level meeting to discuss its impact on trade relations and economic growth. G.O.B. has assured Belizeans that it will use all available avenues to address the situation. However, concerns among private sector stakeholders are growing daily. Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods Limited, which has enjoyed duty-free exports to the U.S. for decades, now faces the end of these exemptions. It’s a tough spot for exporters with the U.S. as their largest market. Reporter Paul Lopez has more details.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

The Trump administration’s ten percent reciprocal tariff on Belize could have major impacts on exporting businesses. For instance, Marie Sharp Fine Foods Limited sends most of its products to the U.S. market. Adding a tax to products that have enjoyed duty-free export for decades is bad for business, says Jody Williams, the Chief Sales and Marketing Director.

Jody Williams, Chief Sales and Marketing Director, Marie Sharp

“Well you know, I like the wording that is being used in the media. Trump has slapped Belize with a ten percent reciprocal tariff, because it is a big slap to Belize, to our developing nation of Belize. In that regard, it affects all exporters. Here at Marie Sharp we export to the U.S. market and for all the years Mrs. Sharp and the company has been exporting to the U.S., since nineteen, eighty-nine, to before this decision was made there was zero percent tariffs imposed on our products.”

Marie Sharp, the founder of the company, talked about this problem in her 2018 biography. She mentioned that any changes to the CARICOM Free Trade Agreement could slow down the company’s shipping and distribution to the U.S. Now, six years later, the company must get ready to deal with those impacts.

Jody Williams

“We are worried about this, because let us say for example we never put into consideration these cost of tariff into our products, into our business in the United States, likewise our importers in the U.S., they never had that ten percent in their pricing. So let us say we have our products in Walmart, Kroger’s, Amazon, that ten percent is not included there. So more than likely, this will slow down sales, slow down momentum, and less foreign exchange coming into the country. We my have to halt certain expansions because we had full momentum when it comes to U.S. sales especially with Walmart.”

Economic consultant Dr. Leroy Almendarez shared his thoughts on how the Trump administration’s tariffs are impacting Belize’s exports. He explained that even though the CARICOM Free Trade Agreement is in jeopardy, it still offers some bargaining power for developing countries like Belize.

Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Economic Consultant

“In 1983 the United States established what is called the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which later morphed into what is called the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act. What is the purpose of that, to stimulate growth within the CARICOM economies. Products that qualify and comply to certain standards by the United States, that those products would then go into the U.S. duty free. That still exists. Then you have the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Agreement, which expanded that. There are even carve out for countries like Haiti with apparel. That still exist which means a number of our products can still take advantage. What the U.S. does is this, utilization rate. If the U.S. imports collectively as a block from CAIRCOM and it imports is about forty-nine percent of total imports and twenty-four percent of total exports, that simply means there is some level of significance there. And if it relies on us for certain exports from Belize that means we have to maintain those quotas.”

Dr. Almendarez mentioned that the U.S. trade representative in Belize needs to create a report with recommendations on whether to suspend these tariffs, in line with the trade agreement. Meanwhile, the Government of Belize isn’t wasting any time. Just one day after the tariff was imposed, they held a high-level meeting to discuss its potential impact. In a press release, the government promised to use all political and diplomatic channels to tackle the issue. However, who ends up paying the ten percent tariff—whether it’s the exporter in Belize or the importer in the U.S.—depends on the methods used to get the products there.

Jody Williams

“It all depends on shipping Inco terms. For example, let us say we use the Inco term FOB Belize, our prices are to the Port of Belize. We get it from factory to there that is the prize. Once the ship sales, automatically the ownership of those good transfer to the importer. So our importer in the U.S. will pay that ten percent, because they are importing into the U.S. this is the situation. Our importer has never included this cost, it is a surprise. So they say let us have a meeting, we cant take on the ten percent, let us do fifty, fifty, you do five percent, we do five percent. So at the end of the day we are still end up paying something. Let us change the Inco terms saying we are delivering directly to Walmart, we are doing the importation, Marie Sharp, so we will pay that full ten percent.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez

Trump’s 10% Tariff Could Result in Job Loses

A drop in revenue for exporters shipping to the U.S. means they need to cut costs. This could mean pausing expansion projects, reducing production, or even laying off staff. According to Jody Williams, Chief Sales and Marketing Director at Marie Sharp, mass layoffs are the last resort. He explained that if revenue goes down, costs have to be cut somewhere.

Jody Williams, Chief Sales and Marketing Director, Maries Sharp

“Let say our importers in the U.S. they are doing two to three containers a month, they will say no Jody we will do one or we will do one every two months. Let us wait and see if these tariff decision will be reversed. So they will not order with the same momentum and speed. And at the end of the day, this increase will go to consumer prices in the U.S. let us say a product is four forty-nine for a bottle of our product, it will go up to five ninety-nine, it all depends. We always work with a more than thirty percent margin. So if you are working with a thirty, thirty-five percent and there is a ten percent tariff, then do the math, take that thirty and minus the ten. If our sales slow down then that means it is less products from Belize going into the U.S. due to these extra cost. Even if it does not slow down, the prices go up. So consumers will not buy as quickly as possible. Let us say we were buying this amount of peppers from farmers, these amount of carrots from farmers, we are brining in foreign exchange, all of that slows down and any expansion into growing our exports to the U.S. So if money is not coming into our business and we have bills to pay and it is too much then we have to cut cost somewhere or the other.”

Does 34% Tariff on China Spell Trouble for Shein and Temu?

Belizeans who love shopping online from Chinese businesses like Shein and Temu might need to rethink their purchases. The Trump administration’s new tariff regime adds a thirty-four percent tax on products from China, on top of the existing twenty percent. Since items from these online stores are shipped from China through the U.S., a fifty-four percent duty could be applied, significantly raising the price for consumers.

Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Economic Consultant

“If China is now at fifty-four percent, thirty-four plus twenty, because you could see the cascading effects with the tariffs when they were mentioned. These countries are there for doing business. An online platform means you don’t need physical space so that will reduce your cost. What they can also do, which I am not sure they will do, but what some entities or business will do, is an application of a thirty-four percent tax or let us say it become fifty-four percent, you might decide to share the cost, maybe at least for a period of time, which means you have reduced your revenue as well. Let us say for example that you had already placed an order for something from China a week ago, what happens after yesterday, is an application of that tax unto that product that you have purchased, or we say that was old stock and therefore. I don’t think they will do that. So, we will really have to see how the world will react. CARICOM should have been more proactive, there could have been some anticipation that this was possible.”

B.C.C.I. Stand Ready to Guide Members Through Tariff Woes

The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry has started meeting with its members to talk about how the Trump administration’s tariffs might affect the private sector. Jody Williams, Vice President of BCCI, says they’re ready to advise their members and work with the government to ensure stakeholders get some relief.

Jody Williams, Vice President, B.C.C.I.

“We are on the meeting table. WE are trying to collaborate and have as much information flow as possible and to be there to advise. In this time for this new ten percent information is crucial and essential for us to see what kind of decisions we are going to make, what plan to do. What little tweaks and changes in order for an exporter to not take that ten percent. So we as chamber will provide information, do the collaboration, bring persons to the table and we will bring heads together to see how we can work along with the government, with foreign trade, to see how we could lessen the impact on us exporters. Inflation is already going on and extra percentage of inflation does not help anyone including exporters and consumers.”

Police Officer Charged for Cyberbullying ComPol Williams

Earlier today, a police officer was arraigned in Belize City Magistrate’s Court for allegedly bullying Commissioner of Police Chester Williams. While ComPol Williams got a one-month extension before leaving the Belize Police Department, his colleagues charged one of their own for allegedly bullying him on Facebook. The officer, fifty-one-year-old Barrington Gilbert Mai, also known as Barry Flowers, lives in Carmelita Village, Orange Walk District. This morning, Mai was brought to court in a police van but was snuck in through the back to avoid the cameras. By 10 a.m., he appeared before a Senior Magistrate, unrepresented, and was charged with using a computer system to publish obscene and vulgar data. The allegations state that on April 2^nd, 2025, he posted obscene and vulgar content about the Commissioner of Police. Mai pleaded not guilty. While there was no objection to bail, the prosecutor requested conditions. The Senior Magistrate set bail at five thousand dollars, with one surety of the same amount or two sureties of two thousand, five hundred dollars each, which Mai met. His next court date is June 4^th, 2025. Conditions of his bail include not interfering with the virtual complainant or any of his family members or prosecution witnesses and maintaining a twenty-five-foot distance from ComPol Williams and his family. Failure to comply could result in his bail being revoked.

DOE Assures Strict Compliance for Cayo Rosario Project

Personnel from the Department of the Environment and other key regulatory agencies recently met to discuss the Cayo Rosario Project. This meeting addressed public concerns and the government’s assurance that the developer will meet all requirements. The Cayo Rosario Project, which has been controversial due to its location within the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, dates back several years. Marion Ali spoke with Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai about the next steps and filed this report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

After a recent protest against the Cayo Rosario Development Project, several government departments and agencies have come together to decide on a collective approach. This is to make sure the project’s leaders follow all environmental requirements. Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai told News Five that the team has agreed to create a schedule for a monitoring program to oversee the different stages of the project.

Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer

“In this case, if we do monitoring on the island, the Mining Unit would be represented to look at the mining related issues; Essential Building Authority will look at matters related to granting approval for the construction of buildings. The Lands Department was at the meeting, and in this case the Lands Department will look for any issue related to the construction of the pier and anything within the sixty-six-feet reserve. The Coastal Zone Management Authority was in the meeting and they will look at the coastal-related issues. The Fisheries Department was there, the Fisheries Department, and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, as you know, has a co-management agreement for that particular area. So each agency during the site visit would have a specific role to play in terms of ensuring that the development meets their kind of conditions and then the D.O.E. comes in and we ensure that the overall E.C.P. is being complied with. This is the sustainable way through which the Government of Belize wants this type of projects to develop.”

Even before now, the project has had to comply with some tough regulations.

Anthony Mai

“The project went through the E.I.A. process. The E.I.A. process is a very tedious process to some degree. The importance of it, however, is that the relevant technical and scientific information is provided to the National Environmental Appraisal Committee, which currently, is comprised of 15 to 16 senior people within government, people from NGOs, people from the private sector, and from academia. So the E.I.A. report provides all the relevant information that they would need to advise the D.O.E. on any project, and in this particular case, the NEAC went through three deliberations, so three meetings because of early issues related to this project.”

Among the main concerns raised years ago was the potential impact on the local fly-fishing community. Mai mentioned that this concern has been considered since 2018. The meeting also reviewed the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to ensure the project met all requirements. The Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP) is available online, and Mai encourages everyone to download it to help authorities monitor the project. The ECP lists all the conditions for the project’s construction and includes the conceptual design. Mai also noted that the Cayo Rosario project isn’t the only one in a protected area to get the green light.

Anthony Mai

“There are private properties within protected areas, and the owners of those private properties could apply to the Department of Environment for environmental clearance for any development that he or she wants to do within a protected area. The caveat, however, is that the Government of Belize has the E.I.A. process through which we evaluate these projects, and we ensure that these projects, at the end of the day, if they are approved, have minimum impacts on the environment.”

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a global standard for evaluating the environmental effects of proposed projects. To ensure the Cayo Rosario project meets these standards, the team will take several steps: improve communication about mining permits, mangrove alteration permits, and construction applications for piers and other structures. They will conduct an inter-agency site visit to check the project’s progress and ensure it complies with the Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP). Joint monitoring will happen during all key phases of the project, and they will frequently request status reports from the project owner. The Department of the Environment’s San Pedro office will also conduct regular compliance inspections. Marion Ali for News Five.

Belizean Nurses Await Benefits from Government

The Government of Belize has ambitious plans for the health sector over the next few years. At a recent meeting, the cabinet endorsed the Belize Health Sector Strategic Plan 2025 to 2034, which lays out a detailed roadmap for tackling key health system challenges. The cabinet also approved a retention package of allowances for public health nurses to help keep highly skilled nurses in Belize. We spoke with Andrew Baird, President of the K.H.M.H. Workers Union, to get his reaction to the news.

Andrew Baird, President, K.H.M.H. Workers Union

“I’m working as a nurse for the past twenty-five years and for the past twenty-five years, uniform allowance for nurses have been at three hundred annually. And if you look at the cost and living to today, three hundred can only buy us our scrubs. And but our uniform includes shoes. So the allotted amongst should be enough to buy shoes. What I know from it maybe raised from three hundred to five hundred also there is what we call a night. Allowance that is given to nurses. Then at this time it is fifty for every twenty night that you work, but you only get to work seven nights per month. So to reach twenty nights, you have to work at least three months or so before you could get that allowance. I believe that they want to raise that allowance to a hundred dollars or something like that, contrary to what the government might offer in our CBA, I believe we are asking for that a lot that night allowance to be monthly rather than based on the amount of nights that one work. So those are a couple of the allowances that I know that the government may have in their package. May so be that they may have a raise of salary for nurses, I don’t know, or a salary adjustment. But our last adjustment for nurses was in 2012 when we had that adjustment along with the nomenclature name changes throughout the nursing system. But I wait to see a document that the government is pledging to give as a package to nurses, to retain us. The retention of Belizean nurses is long overdue, but not only Belizean nurses, but nurses that works on Belizean a whole. What we have seen over the years is that because of the global demand for nurses, our Belizean nurses and nurses who work in Belize are being offered packages in the US, Canada, and the UK mainly. And those packages have signed bonuses, they find places for them to stay, and then the salary is very attractive. So the government has the match that if we’re going to retain our nurses to stay in Belize.”

Labor Shortage Amidst 2.1% Unemployment Rate

Employers nationwide, especially in the agro-sector, are facing a growing labor shortage. Despite the Briceño administration’s claim of a two-point-one percent unemployment rate, there are many unfilled vacancies. Some blame the Business Process Outsourcing sector for this issue. Today, we asked B.C.C.I. Vice President Jody Williams about it, and he mentioned there’s a significant shift happening in Belize’s labor market.

Jody Williams, Vice-President, B.C.C.I.

“There is a big paradigm shift when it comes to labor in Belize. There is that switch. Young, able persons are going to call centers. The thing is that call centers have become the norm in Belize. We have seen many openings up in many districts, even down south as well. It is becoming prevalent, but sometimes we are looking for farmers. We are looking for persons to go out in the field. There are so many different jobs but we cant find persons and we cant bring in persons form outside as well like before. So in our industry when it comes to agriculture, agro-processing, it is hard to find those persons who will go out to farm, to make crops we need and the able persons, with those skills they prefer to go to Ready Call. We see that trend happening.”

Government Commits to Completing Redistricting in One Year

The Government of Belize has reaffirmed its commitment to carrying out the redistricting of the country’s electoral divisions. In the latest cabinet meeting, it was decided that the 2023 proposal from the Elections and Boundaries Commission was unworkable and didn’t meet constitutional standards. Although the commission must now come up with a completely new plan, the government has promised to complete the redistricting by the end of 2025. News Five’s Britney Gordon has more details on this situation.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Another general election has come and gone without redistricting Belize’s electoral divisions. In 2023, the Elections and Boundaries Commission put forward a redistricting plan, but it faced immediate backlash from politicians and redistricting advocates. Earlier this week, the Cabinet reviewed the proposal again and decided it was unworkable and didn’t meet constitutional standards. Paul Morgan from the Belize Peace Movement believes the proposal should have been rejected well before the general elections.

Paul Morgan, Belize P.E.A.C.E. Movement

“I wouldn’t accept those proposals either. They’re total nonsense, right? When you hear, when you see a constituency that include Caye Caulker and Belize City. And when you see Belmopan stretching all the way out to the Guatemala and border, they cannot be serious. That was intended to, those proposals were intended to be rejected, right? Those weren’t serious proposals at all. And honourable men rarely should be challenged by the media. Take a look at the proposals and tell me if they make sense. They’re betting that we, the population of Belize, will not be reading those things and will not be analyzing them thinking that they’re total magic, but they’re total nonsense.”

The Cabinet has asked the minister in charge of elections and the Attorney General to work with the Elections and Boundaries Commission on any needed constitutional changes to finish the redistricting. They’ve also promised to complete the process within a year. Before his re-election, we asked Prime Minister John Briceño if the redistricting could have been done sooner.

Prime Minister John Briceño (File: January 13^th, 2025 )

“I believe that the Elections and Boundaries Commission could have worked faster or more diligently and probably have more consultations with the public and to see how best it can work. And so, at the end of the day, we are the government and I, as the head, have to take the responsibility. So, I will take responsibility for that and I can assure that we want, as soon as we get in, to make sure that we start working on it. I’m hoping that one or two years at the most, we should be able to already have that settled.”

Jeremy Enriquez, a strong supporter of redistricting, believes the proposal was flawed from the start. He argues that it didn’t tackle the problem of ensuring fair and balanced electoral divisions across the country.

Jeremy Enriquez, Concerned Belizean

“There was another flaw in the proposal is that it did not meet the required international standard of ten to fifteen percent of deviation from the average number of voters across electoral divisions. the proposed twenty-five to thirty-five, which is totally unacceptable. So. first, they did not address the issue across the country. Then they picked areas of Belize City. The methodology did not look at the number of persons eligible to vote. All of those things made it wrong.”

Enriquez also took aim at the Election and Boundaries Commission, saying it was too politicized to come up with an unbiased proposal. He suggests that other organizations should be involved in drafting the new plan.

Jeremy Enriquez

“I would recommend that an analysis of our electoral revising could be done through the policy section of the University of Belize. They have enough experts who could really objectively do that and then present the proposal to the Elections and Boundaries Commission, who would then present that to the government of their redivision. Secondly, there’s also the Statistical Institute of Belize, which has a lot of data. They have mapping equipment and all of that who could professionally do or undertake a study for a fair divisioning of our electoral divisions.”

Recently, the government has faced pressure from concerned citizens demanding a faster redistricting process. Last month, the Caribbean Court of Justice dismissed Jeremy Enriquez’s appeal against the Government of Belize. Enriquez had tried to delay the election due to the government’s failure to finish redistricting, but he was told that such a claim must be made outside the election period. Britney Gordon for News Five.

BPM Takes Government to Court for Lack of Redistricting

Next week, the Belize Peace Movement (BPM) is taking the Election and Boundaries Commission to court to argue that the overall voter’s list, known as schedule one, doesn’t meet constitutional requirements. It’s been several years since the Government of Belize promised to redistrict the country’s thirty-one constituencies to ensure each has a nearly equal number of voters, as outlined in the constitution. The BPM has been vocal in pushing for a faster redistricting process. We spoke with BPM member Paul Morgan for more details on the case.

Paul Morgan, Belize Peace Movement

“The court’s supposed to be the guardian of that constitution. They should guard that thing zealously and jealously, and that the court shouldn’t hesitate to accept our case and expedited as if it was their own. Although our system is adversarial, we as citizens came to the court to say, listen, check this out. And it wasn’t the first one we filed in 2019, similar, but not the same. Before in 2019, we were just trying to force proposals, which they did, in this what I call a nonsensical proposal. They put together. They did that knowing that they wanted to stall. The judge in that first case. When we went to the judge to enforce the requirements that it was not constitutional, the proposals were not constitutional, the judge said that your case, you’re asking for reliefs that does not fit under this one this case. So please, you should go ahead and file another case, a fresh case. This is what we did. The government has delayed that case from November 21st, 2024 to this date, talking about that we as citizens would have forfeited our rights by signing a consent order with the government that they must produce these proposals. Totally ridiculous. How can citizens forfeit their fundamental rights?”