Govt plans to urge CARICOM to decrease duties on cement

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Government plans to lobby CARICOM for a decrease in the duties on cement, Trade Minister Vasant Bharath said yesterday. He spoke about the 9.5 per cent increase announced by Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) during yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference.
Bharath said Cabinet approved two options for dealing with the cement price hike. The first was to approach CARICOM and the second was to look at the ways in which Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) could be more efficient.
“I intend to go back to the CARICOM through COTED to look at the possibility of some form of relief of the 15 per cent duties on cement that comes in ex-CARICOM,” he said.