The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) has rejected a proposal floated to apply a 40 per cent Common External Tariff (CET) to refined sugar entering the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), while warning that refined sugar-dependent companies could be forced to close and jobs lost.
“To apply CET on a product that is not manufactured in the region will increase cost and make regional manufacturers unable to compete with extra-regional products coming into the region,” the GMSA said in a press release yesterday. It added that such a move will mitigate against local manufacturers’ competitiveness in extra-regional markets.
“Most regional manufacturers operate under small margins and loss of markets and increased cost will jeopardise the viability of these manufacturers. Many of these manufacturers that made many sacrifices and fought hard and long to survive will be forced to close their manufacturing lines. This will cause loss of hundreds of jobs directly and thousands indirectly through downstream trade,” the GMSA declared.
