r/Jamaica • u/Sensitive-Pie-6595 • 4d ago

Economy Tariffs shouldn't really Hurt us

Those who live in Yard know that for so long we have been creating our own products, and buying from anywhere but the US. This goes back to the 1980s when America would give us 'string loans'... that is... they loan us $X but it can only be used to buy American products.

There was a time when in a supermarket big loooong aisles full of US stuff.

Over the years we started to quietly replace them with local products so that we didn't those loans.

We also started buying from other islands so that we had stuff from T'dad and of course, China.

Just before Trump did his tariff thing I looked at where my stuff came from.

Okay, everything that plugs in comes from China. Almost all my clothes come from China.

Now, my groceries.

I buy local stuff and stuff that comes from T'dad and every where else. Like this yogurt I use on my cereal comes from France, the other from Spain and the cereal is Jamaican. The coffee is Jamaican and I use Lasco instead of coffee mate.

The kind of flat breads/wraps i use are made in Jamaica as are the vegetables, soup, porridge, chocolate... in fact... I read labels before purchase.

if you look on the roads we have Toyota, Sukuzi... I haven't seen a US car since some years ago this Dodge.

I think Jamaica is not going to suffer very much because we wisely moved to standing on our own.

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u/Sensitive-Pie-6595 4d ago

not if we don't buy stuff from the US. I just had cereal that is made here, coffee that is grown here.

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u/xraxraxra 4d ago

Separate and apart from what others have said, you are also focusing on your individual situation and ability to buy locally. Putting aside that it is impossible to buy everything we use locally or in a way that doesn't consist of economies that are intertwined with the US in some way (we don't make phones or computers in Jamaica so what you're communicating with didn't originate from here) you're just focusing on your peculiar situation. This extends to the greater economic reality of the entire country.

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u/Sensitive-Pie-6595 4d ago

when you go to a supermarket here look at where the stuff comes from. Notice how few American products are on the shelves.

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u/frazbox 3d ago

Similarly, you can go to America and see Grace products and they were not made in Jamaica 🤷🏾‍♂️

I don’t see the point you’re trying to make