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WASH­ING­TON (AP) — Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump yes­ter­day de­clared a 10% base­line tax on im­ports from all coun­tries and high­er tar­iff rates on dozens of na­tions that run trade sur­plus­es with the Unit­ed States, threat­en­ing to up­end much of the ar­chi­tec­ture of the glob­al econ­o­my and trig­ger broad­er trade wars.

Trinidad and To­ba­go was among the Cari­com mem­bers slapped with a 10% base­line tax. How­ev­er, Guyana was hit with the high­est tar­iff in the re­gion at 38%. T&T’s neigh­bours Venezuela, mean­while, are fac­ing a 15% tar­iff.

“It’s our de­c­la­ra­tion of in­de­pen­dence. We will es­tab­lish a min­i­mum base­line tar­iff of 10%,” Trump said at an event in the White House Rose Gar­den.