As President Donald Trump launches a global trade war by imposing sweeping double-digit tariffs on major trading partners, Caribbean governments are trying to understand what it means for their already vulnerable economies, while bracing themselves for the ripple effects.

“We need to work these things out,” Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Stuart Young said Thursday during a media briefing in Port of Spain.

Young, in the midst of elections campaigning, said it was premature to make any declarations about how the 10% tariffs on all exports into the United States will affect his oil-producing nation, a major supplier of liquefied natural gas to the U.S. He noted that other countries in the world are also dealing with the effects of the reciprocal tariffs and the U.S. is not the only market for his country’s energy products.

“We in Trinidad will continue to be responsible,” said Young, who was among five Caribbean leaders who met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week during his visit to the region. “Analyze how it is, have the conversations that we need to have — and I can assure you as prime minister I will continue to protect and fight for Trinidad and Tobago.”

Jamaica Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said her country is also looking into the effects of its 10% tariff, which will go into effect on Saturday while higher tariffs take effect the following Wednesday.

The government of Jamaica has taken note of the new tariff regime, she said on her X account Thursday. “Please be assured that we appreciate the public’s need for further information and clarity and will update the business community and the wider public accordingly.”

Jamaica, Trinidad and 11 other independent countries in the Caribbean Community regional trade bloc known as CARICOM face a baseline tariff of at least 10% on all imports into the U.S. But one country, oil-producing Guyana, has been slapped with 38%.

In a statement, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the Washington-based lender to nations said the tariffs “clearly represent a significant risk to the global outlook at a time of sluggish growth.

“It is important to avoid steps that could further harm the world economy,” she added. “We appeal to the United States and its trading partners to work constructively to resolve trade tensions and reduce uncertainty.”

Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States, said the tariffs will hurt Caribbean economies, which are highly dependent on imports from the U.S.

Sanders, who writes a regular op-ed column that’s published in the region, is asking the Trump administration to revisit the decision. With the exception of Guyana and Trinidad, Caribbean countries have run decades-long trade deficits with the U.S., Sanders said.

The independent nations of the Caribbean Community “have helped sustain American prosperity by collectively importing far more from the United States than they export, creating an enduring trade surplus in Washington’s favor,” he wrote.

Yet the nations have not escaped the Trump tariffs.

“Because CARICOM nations consistently favor U.S. goods, American industries, farmers and manufacturers have long found profitable markets in our small economies,” Sanders said. ”Meanwhile, our own exports remain modest and pose no threat to U.S. producers, as confirmed by the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual reports to Congress.”

Trump’s announcement comes after Rubio visited Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname, where he sought to ease Caribbean leaders’ trepidation about the new administration and its foreign policy. Even before Wednesday’s announcements, companies and business associations were worried.

The Miami-based Guyanese American Chamber of Commerce said Thursday that it is gravely concerned over the imposition of a 38% tariff on imports from Guyana.

The decision marks a dramatic shift from the previous trade relations under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, which has long provided Guyana and other CARICOM members with duty-free access to the U.S. market for a range of products, many of which are not produced in America, the group said.

“While it is understandable that trade imbalances and surpluses are factors in any nation’s economic policy, the disproportionate impact of these tariffs on a small, vulnerable economy like Guyana’s cannot be overlooked,” the chamber added.

“This policy threatens to undermine the gains being made by many agribusinesses and manufacturing entities, including those who rely on access to the U.S. market to sustain their businesses, employ thousands of individuals and contribute to stable and secure Third Border countries.”

The chamber is urging the Trump administration to reconsider the tariffs and engage in dialogue with CARICOM countries. “These nations are not only key partners in trade but also vital allies in the global fight against climate change. Special consideration must be given to their unique economic challenges and the need for sustainable growth,” the statement said.

Experts estimate that the tariffs will greatly affect quality of life in Guyana, where the country’s recent oil boom not only stands to make it one of the wealthier countries in the region but is creating tensions with Venezuela, which has laid claim to crude. The imposition of the tariffs is also detrimental to the wider Caribbean Community, the Guyanese Chamber argues, and exacerbate the vulnerability of countries with already fragil economies.

Guyana Finance Minister Ashni Singhi told local media INews in Georgetown that the government “is closely engaged with our U.S. partners to better understand the issue and have it addressed.”

On the other end of the spectrum is Haiti, which has relied on an expiring duty-free access to the U.S. market for certain apparels under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement, or HOPE, Act, and its supplementary Haiti Economic Lift Program, HELP, Act to assist its struggling economy to stay afloat. The 10% tariff on Haiti, Sanders said, will hurt.

The tariffs risk “inhibiting the very progress the country so urgently needs,” he wrote. “Deterioration in Haiti’s economic circumstances will only increase the Haitian impetus to seek refuge in the U.S.”

U.S support for Caribbean nations’ development dates back to 1983, under President Ronald Reagan, through measures like the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Acr. The programs opened new opportunities for Caribbean countries in international trade while benefiting American exporters seeking markets for their products.

The new tariffs “threaten to undo those gains by treating CARICOM countries as though they impose high barriers on U.S. goods or run large surpluses at America’s expense,” Sanders said.

CARICOM countries, which import as much as 70% of consumer products from the U.S., are in no position to retaliate with equally high barriers.

“Our economies cannot afford to engage in a tit-for-tat scenario that might escalate into a larger trade conflict, undermining stability in both our region and the broader hemisphere,” said Sanders. “The last thing our region wants is to exacerbate a global trade war. When powerful nations escalate tariff battles, the consequences ripple out to vulnerable communities worldwide — including our own.”

The Caribbean region, he noted, has “faithfully supported U.S. economic interests by purchasing American goods and welcoming American investors, and stand ready to continue doing so.”

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