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DALE PARSON, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA), says if US President Donald Trump does impose berthing fees on Chinese-owned and Chinese-built ships, “the import fees to all cargo berthed at US ports will attract 10 to 15 per cent cost of goods berthed entering the US or transhipped from the US to other destinations, including Trinidad.”

He made the comment to Sunday Newsday via WhatsApp in response to a question about the effect the proposed increase in taxes on Chinese-made ships is likely to have on the cost of food and other imports.

But Parson referred Newsday to a Reuters article which reported sources as saying that the Trump administration had deferred its position owing to pushback from US manufacturers and importers.