KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Spokesman on Trade, Industry, Investment & Global Logistics, Anthony Hylton has warned that Jamaica is “caught in the turbulence of changing US foreign and trade policies [and left] unprepared and exposed”.

According to Hylton, this is happening at a time when the Holness Administration has, “minimised Jamaica’s role in Caricom, failed to exercise its leadership of external trade negotiation within Caricom to conclude any new trade agreement, and squandered valuable opportunities”.

“The administration’s refusal to engage with potential partners such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and the African Export-Import Bank is not only short-sighted but detrimental to our economic sovereignty and national well-being,” Hylton stated.

He was speaking Tuesday in the House of Representatives during his contribution to the 2025/26 Sectoral Debate.

“The across the board 10 per cent tariff on global and domestic exports to the United States, as well as the threatened further increase of tariff on specific sectors, will shortly see prices rising on raw materials, intermediate and finished goods to Jamaica and the Caricom region. The prospects for import-driven price inflation loom large, as a result of tariff-driven policies”, said Hylton.

He added that, “Jamaica has abandoned Caricom and is focused exclusively on its own interest over the strategic and collaborative benefit that is possible through regional cooperation.

Pursuing, it seems, not simply a Jamaica-first strategy, but a Jamaica alone strategy”.

Hylton pointed to the European Union as a prime example of regional cooperation in action, and noted that the African Union is finding common ground.

“This Government is into Jamaican exceptionalism,” he remarked.

“While the Holness Administration fiddles, there is a fire burning in the distance which cannot be seen by a government that lacks vision,” said Hylton.

He questioned why was nothing done to safeguard Jamaica’s economic interests.

“Not a single mitigation strategy shared with the Jamaican people. Instead, the Minister of Industry, Investment & Commerce [Senator Aubyn Hill] boasts of his many foreign jaunts, with businesspersons in tow, was destined to fail to generate the investments he said he went in search of.”

“This was predictable, as the necessary groundwork to prepare for these visits were never done. No new bilateral investment treaty; no new double taxation agreement; nor any new trade agreement were entered into with those countries whose markets he was targeting, either before or after those visits. No new route to market or market opening agreement was achieved by the minister and his touring party, or the government,” said Hylton.

According to the Opposition spokesman, the minister has responded with excuses.

“Excuses do not protect jobs. Excuses do not build resilience. And the Opposition is again, demanding an accounting for the trips taken and the cost-benefit to the Jamaican taxpayers,” Hylton said.

“As Jamaica faces pressing economic and social challenges, the JLP government has been prioritising its own interests over the welfare of the nation, reminiscent of the ancient Roman Empire’s internal decay while the city of Rome burned,” he concluded.