With the implementation of the GST Relief on August 1st 2025, many persons were complaining that they were not seeing a significant drop in food prices and that, in fact, the price of food items had increased. There were those who surmised that supermarket merchants had attached to food prices their 9% non-refundable Goods Tax, paid at the port, thus passing on their losses to the consumer. But the Premier has stated that the primary reason for the increase in local food prices is due to President Trump’s tariffs.
The premier shared this observation during her update at the Government Press Conference on Monday, October 6th.
“We here are experiencing issues from the increases in tariffs that have impacted not just Anguilla, but all of the other countries that import items coming through the US,” Premier Richardson-Hodge said. “This is resulting in higher food prices. Obviously, if one has been watching the news, it would be seen that food prices in the US itself have generally increased as well.”
She noted that Anguilla, which imports about 95% of everything that we eat, would also be seeing that increase.
She further stated it was timely that her administration had implemented the GST Relief. “Yes, the GST Relief was a campaign promise, but the primary focus was to provide relief for the business people as well as the people of Anguilla at large, because we were paying 13% at the port for the goods to come in, and then those goods would sit on the shelves, so the merchants were paying that cost upfront, and then they would have to wait until that cost can be recouped through their sales.”
“But through the implementation of the GST Relief,” she said, “we were able to create a position where the merchants were able to bring in their goods, sell them and be able to hold on to some of that cash outflow that used to take place at the initial outset…
“But I want people to remember that the 13% GST was removed from food items since December of 2024,” the Premier said “and elections were in February of 2025. So even with the implementation of the GST Relief, prices in the grocery stores would not have seen a major decrease because food prices would have been already adjusted downwards when the 13% GST was removed last December.”
“However, as a result of Anguilla’s businesses importing products from the US, we, like other countries are now suffering from high commodity prices due to the recently imposed US tariffs.”
In an effort to mitigate the effects of high food prices, the Premier said that in addition to the GST Relief already implemented, her administration is looking at engaging with other countries in the region, and further afield, in order to increase the number of avenues with which Anguilla can trade.
She mentioned that soon government officials will be visiting such countries as the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Panama, and even the UK and European countries, in order to engage in discussions for more affordable trade arrangements.
By James R. Harrigan