PRIME Minister Stuart Young dismissed claims from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar that interactions he and his predecessor Dr Rowley had with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the last nine years were the reason why the US imposed a ten per cent reciprocal tariff on Trinidad and Tobago.

Persad-Bissessar made this allegation on April 4, about Young and Rowley's interactions with Maduro concerning cross-border energy agreements with Venezuela such as the Dragon and the Manakin-Cocuina projects.

Young responded to her after a tour of a new fishing centre at King's Wharf, San Fernando on April 5.