TCL and Arawak Cement seek redress over reduced import tariffs

Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) and its Barbados-based subsidiary Arawak Cement Ltd are reported to have filed legal action against the Government of Barbados, accusing it of breaking the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) single market and economy, according to Barbados Today.

Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader, Mia Mottley, explained that the lawsuit was lodged last Friday with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

"These people are going in the original jurisdiction against the Government of Barbados and they are saying that we breached rules under the Treaty of Chaguaramas by unilaterally reducing the import duties on cement, the Common External Tariff, from 60 per cent to five per cent," the BLP leader explained.

Since the entry of Rock Hard Cement into the market in November 2015 the price of cement in Barbados has dropped by 30 per cent.