Read full articleCaricom has reiterated its concern over the threat posed to the competitiveness of Caribbean rum in the United States market by subsidies granted to rum producers by the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) and Puerto Rico (PR). United States has been running a Rum Cover-Over Programme since 1917. This consists of a tax levied on sales of the spirit in the US market, most revenue from which is transferred to USVI and PR to aid these territories’ economic development.
However, according to the Finance Committee of Puerto Rico’s Chamber of Representatives, USVI has, since 2007, used much of the reimbursement to encourage the local rum industry.
One quote that I found interesting:
Barbados and Jamaica are responsible for most of the deliveries (two thirds), followed by Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. In 2011, PR recorded US sales of US$148 billion, four times more than Caricom.