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Prime Min­is­ter Gas­ton Browne says his An­tigua and Bar­bu­da is con­cerned that moves by the Unit­ed States to im­pose a levy on Chi­nese-built ships that op­er­ate in US ports could have a sig­nif­i­cant im­pact on his coun­try’s econ­o­my.

The Unit­ed States Trade Rep­re­sen­ta­tive has pro­posed fines of up to US$1.5 mil­lion on Chi­na-made ships or ves­sels from fleets that in­clude ships made in Chi­na.

Browne, speak­ing on his week­ly ra­dio pro­gramme over the last week­end, said that the is­sue has been dis­cussed by cab­i­net over the past sev­er­al weeks amid con­cerns by min­is­ters that such a move will like­ly have a neg­a­tive im­pact on the econ­o­my.