The Tribune

By NEILL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government last night challenged whether the Trump administration had “fully considered” recently-passed legal reforms that ban the importation of goods made with forced labour before deciding to impose 12.5 percent tariffs on Bahamian exports to the US.

Senator Latrae Rahming, the Prime Minister’s communications director, in a statement responding to Tribune Business inquiries said the Government was assessing the new and increased tariff’s likely impact on Bahamian export industries, such as fisheries and Polymers International, as well as reaching out to “seek clarification” from Washington D.C.

“The Government is aware of the announced tariff adjustment and is reviewing its potential impact on Bahamian exporters. We are engaging our US counterparts to seek clarification, and to ensure that recent legislative measures taken by The Bahamas are fully considered,” he wrote.

“The Bahamas values its long-standing economic relationship with the US, and we will continue working constructively towards a fair resolution that protects Bahamian businesses and maintains the strong trade relationship between our countries.”

The “legislative measures” refers to recent changes to the Customs Management Act that were passed alongside the 2026-2027 Budget by the House of Assembly last month.

The Customs Management (Amendment) Bill 2026 introduced a new section 208A, which stipulated: “The Minister may, by Order, prohibit the importation of any goods, wholly or partially produced or manufactured, from any supplier, country or territory if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the goods are a result of forced labour.”

The Bill’s ‘objects and reasons’ section reaffirmed that the change is geared towards “prohibiting goods from suppliers, places or countries that produce forced (child) labour from entering The Bahamas”. This was clearly designed to ward-off yesterday’s imposition of 12.5 percent tariffs by the Trump administration, but has failed to achieve its objective.

The Davis administration had reacted rapidly after the Government’s director of legal affairs admitted at a hearing before US trade chiefs that The Bahamas has no laws, regulations or policies in place to prohibit the importation of goods made by forced labour.

Danya Wallace, who replaced former attorney general Ryan Pinder KC as The Bahamas’ panellist during a two-day hearing held in Washington D.C. by the US Trade Representative’s Office, conceded under questioning that this nation has nothing in the Customs Management Act or other legislation “that directly addresses” the importation of goods manufactured by forced labour.

She was speaking at a hearing called over the probe by the US Trade Representative’s Office into 60 countries, including The Bahamas, to determine if they have all implemented - and are enforcing - measures to ban the importation of products made with forced labour. 

The director of legal affairs’ confirmation of a potential gap in Bahamian laws and regulations came as she was questioned by Jennifer Atkin, of the US Trade Representative’s Office, over whether this nation has any statutory authorities to enforce a ban on, or prevent the entry of, goods made by forced labour at this country’s borders.

“The written testimony describes domestic and international commitments to enforce laws and policies oriented at combating forced labour,” Ms Atkin said, seemingly referring to Mr Pinder’s earlier submissions. “What are these commitments, and can you describe recent use of the authorities implementing these commitments? Also, does The Bahamas have legal authorities regarding the ability to enforce a prohibition on imported goods produced with forced labour?”

Ms Wallace, according to the hearing transcript released by the US Trade Representative’s Office, pointed to the Bahamian constitution as well as the likes of statute laws such as the Employment Act, Industrial Relations Acts and Trafficking in Persons Prevention and Suppression Act, as prohibiting slavery and forced labour within the domestic Bahamian economy.

“In relation to the present framework that we have, the first thing that I would wish to state is that under the constitution of The Bahamas itself, there is something enshrined within the constitution at Article 18 that prohibits slavery and forced labour, and in reading that Article 18, it reads in similar form to the Article 2 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) protocol of 1930, and so we have that as the highest form of legal enforcement,” Ms Wallace replied.

“We also have within our domestic law, both under the Employment Act as well as the Industrial Relations Act, protections and safeguards for employees, as well as the right to have a bargaining agent and representation. We also have before us the Trafficking in Persons Prevention and Suppression Act, and in the most recent TIPPS report of 2025, The Bahamas maintained its Tier 1 standard in that regard.” TIPPS is the annual US State Department report on human trafficking.

But, as to the second part of Ms Atkin’s question, Ms Wallace acknowledged a potential gap in The Bahamas’ legal and regulatory regime. “I believe your second question was whether we have anything relative to the enforcement of goods themselves, right?” the Government’s director of legal affairs said. “So, we do not presently have anything that directly addresses that issue.

“The Customs Management Act is the domestic law responsible for that, and that provides authority for the regulation and control of imported goods, and empowers the Customs Department to prohibit or restrict goods, but there is nothing presently in place to address goods that are as a result of forced labour.” 

Ms Wallace’s testimony backed Ralph Munroe, comptroller at Bahamas Customs, who had previously told Tribune Business that The Bahamas has no laws, policies or regulations in place to detect and prevent products manufactured by forced labour from accessing this nation.

He personally believes it is virtually “impossible” to determine whether any goods, or their components, are being manufactured using forced labour, and said: “There are no policies with respect to these types of matters. No, none at all. None that I am aware of, and certainly none that I have been asked” to enforce.

“As a matter of fact, all the world’s markets are open to The Bahamas for trade purposes. If there are any kind of prohibitions on imports or trade matters, those would be coming from another ministry, the Ministry of Economic Affairs,” Mr Munroe added.

Ms Wallace, during the remainder of her presentation, reiterated that the dominant share of total Bahamian imports enjoyed by US goods undermines the notion they are being squeezed out by cheaper products made with forced labour. She added that trade data shows “the opposite is occurring” with the volume, and value, of US goods entering The Bahamas increasing year-over-year.

“The Bahamas' trade relationship is dominated, both from an export and import perspective, by the United States. Based on data from the Bahamas' National Statistical Institute, in 2024, trade with the US represented approximately 83 percent of total imports, and imports from the next largest trading partner were merely 2.5 percent.

“Furthermore, The Bahamas maintains a trade surplus that expanded to $3.4bn in 2025 with The Bahamas…. As we stated in our brief, American goods reflect American values. The dominant US volume of imports impairs any allegations that goods imported into The Bahamas originate from sources that undermine US commerce, trade interests or labour rights.”

Ms Wallace added that “there have been no concrete allegations reflected or related to forced labour in Bahamian supply chains, and The Bahamas' import profile demonstrates a significantly low risk of forced labour given the dominance of US imports.

“The Bahamas and US' trading relationship is a boon to both countries, and US goods not only effectively compete in, but rather also dominate Bahamian markets. US commerce is aided by The Bahamas, as evidenced by the consistent US trade surplus,” she continued.

As for the argument that US goods are being discriminated against, and undermined competitively by products made cheaper by being manufactured with forced labour, Ms Wallace countered: “US goods dominate Bahamian markets, indicating that US goods are not discriminated against in The Bahamas. The economic data rather demonstrates that the opposite is occurring, with year-over-year increases in the volume and value of US goods entering the Bahamian market.

“If discrimination against US goods were occurring in The Bahamas, or if articles produced with forced labour were allowed to enter as contended, the trend lines of US exports to The Bahamas should be trending rather in the opposite direction.

“In other words, there is no evidence yet before us that US goods may face any form of discrimination in the Bahamian market or that US commerce has been negatively impacted in any way by virtue of The Bahamas and US trading relationship,” Ms Wallace added.

“In light thereof, the Government of The Bahamas respectfully requests that the US Trade Representative’s Office makes a negative determination that any of the Government's acts, policies or practices are actionable under Section 301 of the Trade Act 1974, or alternatively, suspend the investigation to allow time to see if a satisfactory solution may be reached between our two nations.”

Of The Bahamas’ $8.92bn worth of total imports in 2024, the US accounted for $5.59bn or 63 percent, with many originating from sectors identified by the Trump administration as “critical for securing the health of the US economy”.

Some $985m of The Bahamas' exports went to the US out of total exports worth $2.38bn. The major export by far was refined petroleum, valued at $610m, while other categories included documents of title ($95.2m), styrene polymers ($55.7m) and pearl products ($39m).