03172025 BUSINESS by tribune242

‘Not panicking yet’ over fears of huge shipping cost hike

‘Look in own backyard’ on ﬁnancial crime, US urged

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor

BAHAMIAN businesses are “not panicking yet” over fears this nation and the wider Caribbean will be “devastated” by potential container shipping cost increases worth thousands of dollars due to US policy changes.

Grocery stores and construction materials suppliers told Tribune Business that the potential impact from proposals to levy fees of up to $1m per US port call on shipping companies with Chinese-manufactured vessels is akin to “manmade COVID” and the supply chain disruption and inﬂationary pressures that resulted from the pandemic.

They spoke out after Tropical Shipping, one of the major carriers serving The Bahamas, warned

customers in this nation and elsewhere that the plan put forward by the US Trade Representative’s ofﬁce would have “a farreaching ﬁnancial impact” on import-dependent Caribbean nations with ocean freight rates likely to increase by “thousands of dollars per TEU” or twenty-foot equivalent unit container.

The proposal, which is currently undergoing public consultation in the US, is already experiencing strong opposition and headwinds from American exporters, shipping companies and port operators due to the perceived harmful impact it will have on their costs, stafﬁng levels and business they do with The Bahamas and other regions.

The feedback period, along with a public hearing, ends on March 24, 2025 in

THE Government has united with local businessmen and financial services executives in urging the US to “look in your own backyard” before blasting The Bahamas over alleged anti-financial crime deficiencies.

Branville McCartney, the former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader, told Tribune Business that the US State Department was “quite frankly over-stepping into our jurisdiction” by alleging in its latest international narcotics control strategy (INCSR) report that The Bahamas “lacks... political will” to combat money laundering, fraud and other forms of ﬁnancial crime.

The report also asserted, without supplying evidence or examples, that The Bahamas is viewed by fraudsters and corrupt persons as a “low risk” safe haven, but Mr McCartney and others countered

that any illicit flows passing through this nation’s financial system are tiny in comparison to the multi-billion dollar sums that pass through the US, European and other major onshore financial centres.

equivalent of “the pot calling the kettle black”.

And, calling on the Government to “stand ﬁrm” and defend Bahamian laws and sovereignty from such attacks, Mr McCartney reiterated that the US needs to “take care of their own home before meddling in other countries” and look at “the man in the mirror” ﬁrst.

This was echoed by Paul Moss, principal of Bahamian ﬁnancial services provider, Dominion Management Services, who told Tribune Business that the US criticisms were the

Describing the US assertions as “a bunch of foolishness”, the Halsbury Chambers law ﬁrm chief pointed out that this nation has consistently reformed and overhauled its ﬁnancial services regulatory regime in response to 25 years of pressure from the US, other G-20 member countries and their forums such as the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

Translating this to scripture, he cited Matthew 7:5 from the Bible, which states: “You hypocrite. First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

The Davis administration, in its formal response, adopted a similar stance by pointing out that the US is itself guilty of what it criticises other nations. By failing to adopt the Common Reporting

Freeport can ‘ﬁll void’ on US China ship fee

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

CALLS have been made for the Freeport Container Port to “fill the void” and enable The Bahamas and wider Caribbean to escape the US threat to levy up to $1m per port call by Chinese-made ships. Myles Culmer, managing director of advisory services for BDO Bahamas, told Tribune Business via a brief e-mail that the container port’s strategic location allows it receive cargo from global suppliers that could then be shipped on to other Bahamian islands and the wider region. And this, in turn, would enable freight carriers with Chinese-made vessel fleets to avoid the proposed port fee by keeping them out of the US. Speaking after it emerged that the US Trade Representative’s Office is proposing fees that would massively increase shipping costs from US ports by “thousands of dollars” per container, given that

Bahamians ‘paying rent in own home’ over fee switch

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIANS are “now paying rent in their own home” as a result of the revised air services navigation fees being proposed by the Government-owned regulator, an aviation industry veteran is arguing.

Captain Randy Butler, principal of the former Sky Bahamas, told Tribune Business that the rebalanced fee structure proposed by the Bahamas Air Navigation Services Authority (BANSA) effectively “penalises Bahamians for using their own air space” as well as

foreign-owned carriers that provide the airlift to support this nation’s vital tourism industry and other sectors; Speaking out following publication of BANSA’s proposal to drastically shift the fee burden on to carriers that land and take-off in The Bahamas, and away from those that fly other this nation, he argued that the regime has moved far away from its original goal which was for Bahamians to benefit first from developing the necessary technical and resource capacity to take over management of this country’s air space.

Minister says ‘world turning upside down’

By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net

A CABINET minister says The Bahamas must further strengthen its public ﬁnances, reduce the leakage of tourism dollars and diversify supply chains to withstand the fall-out from US trade and tariff policies.

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, told the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Bahamas) conference that this nation will inevitably feel the effects from the eruption of a fully-ﬂedged trade war involving China, Canada, Mexico and the US given its status as a small, vulnerable and import-dependent economy. However, he was adamant the US will remain a signiﬁcant trading partner for The Bahamas.

“The US is our major trading partner by far, and they will continue to remain our major trade partner,” Mr Halkitis said. “And most of our visitors come from the US. Most of the goods we import comes from the US, for all the reasons of proximity, etc. In terms of trading relations, in the Caribbean, we are a member of CARIFORUM, the regional trading arrangement.

“And recently, as part of our efforts to impact the cost of living, in particular the cost of food, we’ve been engaging in an effort to ﬁnd different sources of some of the things that we consume; ﬁnd ways where we can get those things to us directly, instead of going through the US and that added element of cost. We have been working with some Bahamian companies and

Bahamian logistics compa-

nies to be able to impact that.” Mr Halkitis said that while The Bahamas beneﬁts from its membership of CARIFORUM, a grouping of Caribbean, African and Paciﬁc states, which seeks to foster trade and economic dialogue, it must be “very conscious of change in global policy as it relates to trade and the impact that would have on The Bahamas”.

“Even though we’re not directly the subject of some of these policies that are tweeted out in the middle of the night, eventually we are impacted,” Mr Halkitis said. “And so we’ve seen eggs have become sort of the proxy for inﬂation. These are some imported from the south, from the Dominican Republic.

“And there’s some opportunities for other products that we consume, a lot to be sourced directly, of course, respecting all phytosanitary [measures] in terms of food and as well [as] health and safety, product quality standards throughout.

“But the idea is, for example, in Guyana, they produce a lot of agricultural produce. The president of Guyana has indicated that he wants Guyana to provide all of the animal feed to support agriculture in the region. The idea is: How do you get it from there to The Bahamas, there to some of the other islands, without the added cost of going through the US?” he continued.

“So I think the recent sort of shifts and policy, and we’ve all seen a brewing trade war. It’s not a full-ﬂedged trade war. Even though we are not direct

targets of it, some of the tariffs and some of the policy, we will be impacted. I saw an article about some effort or some intention by the US to ﬁne or charge Chinese goods that’s coming to their ports.

“And, you know, how would that impact us, given the dominance of China in marine transport? And so, like I said, we are not direct targets of some of this action but we will feel the impact,” Mr Halkitis said. “My view is we’re small players, price takers, importers.

“What we have to do is increase our trade region, explore the logistics of being able to buy and sell to each other to reduce costs. I think what we have to do in The Bahamas is continue to strengthen our public ﬁnances, in my opinion, to ensure that we are in a position to withstand some of the, perhaps, economic fall-out in terms of possible recession, slowing in growth and, in the medium-term, in the longer-term, you have to look to things like that.

“All the stuff that we’ve been talking about for 60 years, linkages, you have 11m tourists come here but 90 percent of the money goes right back out to imports. So how do we have some import substitution, growing of agriculture, other industries, to make sure some of that money stays here?

“We have this conversation a lot. Had it after 9/11, we had it after the pandemic, about how do we begin to chip away at that reliance? And I think, again, what’s happening, the world is basically turning upside down and very unpredictable.”

Minister: ‘Four prong’ strategy is paying off

By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net

A CABINET minister says the Government’s “balanced four-prong” economic and ﬁscal strategy has enabled it to “minimise the tax burden” and avoid imposing new and/or increased levies on the Bahamian people.

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, told

the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Bahamas conference that this approach has allowed the Government to cut the overall VAT rate from 12 percent to 10 percent soon after being elected to ofﬁce and, now, slash the same tax further to just 5 percent for all uncooked foods only.

With the VAT food rate cut set to take effect from April 1, he added that the Government’s strategy of focusing on driving economic growth; enhanced tax enforcement, collection and administration; containing public spending to that it is largely ﬂat yearover-year; and seeking out new sources of tax revenue was beginning to pay off and “we are on a positive trajectory”.

“Here in The Bahamas, we adopted a strategywhat we call a four-point prong approach - where we would achieve economic stability by promoting economic growth, improving revenue administration; that’s doing a better job of collecting the taxes that are on the books, containing expenditure and seeking new sources of revenue,” Mr Halkitis said.

“So far, we have experienced some success. We’ve seen debt-to-GDP go from just over 100 percent to 78, 79 percent. Now our goal is 50 percent by 2030-2031. And we’ve seen a ﬁscal deficit shrink from 13 percent to about one-and-a-half percent [of GDP]. So it’s a very good recovery.

“But every time I comment on these things, I say that we are cautiously optimistic, because we think even though we experienced double digit growth in the two years immediately as we recovered from the pandemic, and our growth rate is now reverted towards the longer term trend, we think that as long as we are experiencing a positive growth we will have a stable environment,” the minister said.

“I say cautiously because, before, we’d always be worried about natural disasters, and then, of course, we have the health pandemic. But now we also have to be very, very conscious of, you know, changes in global policy as it relates to trade etc. And the impact that would have on The Bahamas, even though we’re not directly the subject of some of these policies that are tweeted out in the middle

of the night. Eventually we are impacted.

“And the second thing I wanted to say about the responsibility of government, in addition to promoting a stable, predictable economic environment that would support business, is our role... to ensure that we remain globally compliant with all of the initiatives that come out from various places, so that we are not on any adverse listing that would impact business for the ﬁnancial sector, giving rise to enhanced due diligence.

“So I think just at the high level, we view our job as promoting an environment that will enable businesses to succeed, and we think that we are on a positive trajectory,” Mr Halkitis added. “Our view is we want to minimise the tax burden. And so we do it in a balanced way. We took, you know, very early, we dropped the overall VAT rate from 12 percent to 10 percent.

“We took a little loan to do this as the recovery set in, and we began to see it in our ﬁnances. And so as time goes on, you know, we’re exploring other opportunities to do so without, you know, taking with one hand and, you know, giving with one hand and taking; taking on the other. So you might hear some more during the Budget debate.”

As for regulatory changes driven by global tax reform, Mr Halkitis said the Government had hired Deloitte & Touche to conduct a study on the implications for The Bahamas and its ability to “remain competitive”. Alongside implementation of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax, which gives effect to The Bahamas’ compliance with the minimum 15 percent global corporate income tax initiative driven by the G-20 and OECD, the Government is planning to introduce a package of tax and other ﬁscal incentives designed to enhance this nation’s competitiveness and attract new businesses and industries.

Mr Halkitis said this package is being ﬁnalised through a process of weekly meetings and discussions with attorneys. Further consultation will take place with the expectation that legislation to give these incentives legal effect will

$200M ROSEWOOD’S DEVELOPER: WE AND TURTLEGRASS CAN CO-EXIST

By FAY SIMMONS

THE DEVELOPER behind the $200m Rosewood project for Exuma says it believes itself and a neighbouring resort can “co-exist” despite accusing the latter of spreading “misinformation” about its development.

Felipe MacLean, founder of the Yntegra Group, reafﬁrmed his and Rosewood’s commitment to ensuring their Sampson Cay project maintains the highest environmental standards despite concerns raised by the neighbouring Turtlegrass Resort and its principal, Bob Coughlin.

The latter has been outspoken about his concerns over the Rosewood development, and has threatened to halt work on his $75m project and abandon his ambitions if he is ignored.

A formal petition started by Eric Carey, consultant for Turtlegrass, was submitted to the Government demanding that environmental approvals be denied until a more comprehensive study of the project’s impact is conducted.

The petition argues that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), released in July 2024, lacks a proper analysis of the seabed dredging required for the project. It states that Yntegra has failed to provide sufﬁcient detail

on how dredging — estimated at 240,000 cubic yards — will affect marine ecosystems despite the EIA acknowledging that the activity will have a severe negative impact on the marine environment.

Environmentalists say the dredging will destroy seagrass beds, wetlands and marine habitats, potentially altering the underwater landscape of East Sampson Cay.

Mr Coughlin said he has met with Prime Minister Philip Davis KC and Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, twice, as well as with Mr MacLean but asserted that the conversations failed to produce meaningful action. Mr MacLean conﬁrmed he has met with Mr Cooper and Mr Coughlin, and is still open to meeting with Turtlegrass Resort to work out any issues.

He argued that both projects can co-exist on Sampson Cay, and maintained that both the Government and Rosewood will ensure all environmental concerns are mitigated.

“I’ve always said ‘yes’ to a meeting with Bob Coughlin. We’ve answered every single message that we have received. We believe that both projects can co-exist. They’re very different projects, but both can co-exist, and we should be able to coexist,” said Mr MacLean.

“When you work with these top brands, you have the highest standards. The highest standards for back

Doctors Hospital unveils stock split

DOCTORS Hospital says it is today unveiling a two-for-one (2:1) stock split to boost liquidity in its stock and make the price more accessible and affordable for retail investors.

The BISX-listed healthcare provider, in a statement, said the stock split follows shareholder approval at its latest annual general meeting (AGM), held on December 31, 2024. Shareholders of record as at Thursday, March 2025, will be eligible to receive an extra share for each share they hold at that date.

Doctors Hospital’s ordinary shares will begin trading on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) on a split-adjusted basis on April 1, 2025. At the end of that trading day, on April 3, 2025, the share register will be updated and thereafter corresponding notices will be mailed to shareholders.

“We are pleased to announce this stock split,

which reﬂects the continued growth and ﬁnancial strength of Doctors Hospital,” said Felix Stubbs, Doctors Hospital’s chairman. “This initiative enhances market accessibility and ensures that more investors, including retail shareholders, can participate in the long-term success of our company.”

of the house, the highest standards for protecting environment and being sustainable. That’s the reason that these brands get famous and grow, and they win awards.

“People look into that, so you can be sure that, of course, we’re going to have the highest standards, and we’re going to do everything that we can to mitigate any environmental issues. And it’s not only because we have to by the Government, but also by the standards of the brand.”

Mr MacLean said Rosewood Sampson Cay is a “transformational” project for Exuma that is expected generate over $336m in salaries for island residents. He added that the project is low density and will have a “high impact” on the lives of residents who are eager for construction to begin on the $200m development.

“This is a transformational project in the Exumas; a transformational project that is going to have a huge impact on the community. It’s a lowdensity project, but with high impact. It’s high impact because it’s going to generate 400 jobs. It’s going to generate $336m of salaries straight to the pockets of Exumians,” said Mr MacLean.

“We’re going to have 100, maybe 150 people, working with us in a small town, beautiful, with the right infrastructure for our staff. We want to attract the best staff that we can. We’re

“Our stock split aligns with our strategy to increase liquidity, attract more investors and make our shares more affordable,” said Dr Charles W. Diggiss, president and chief executive of Doctors Hospital. “As we continue to expand our services and strengthen our position as the leading healthcare provider in the private sector in The Bahamas, we remain committed to driving longterm shareholder value.”

bringing a brand like Rosewood that commands the highest standards in the world, highest standards for our back of the house, highest standards for our environmental commitment, highest standards for our clients, for our staff. That’s our vision, for Exuma. We want quality over quantity” Staff that live in Exuma will be ferried to Sampson Cay, while employees residing in other islands will be housed in the units on site. The project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is currently under review by the Department of Environmental Planning

and Protection (DEPP), and a public consultation was held last week by the Town Planning Committee on site plans.

Mr MacLean said Exuma residents are yearning for “progress”, evidenced by the support shown at the recent public consultation. He added that the developer has been working on the project for four years, and trusts that its local environmental consultants and the DEPP will ensure plans meet the highest environmental standards.

“The Exumas is for the people from Exuma, and Exuma is looking for progress. We are all for progress and responsible progress. We trust in the local people, the local companies, the local consultants, the local environmental consultants,” said Mr MacLean.

“We trust in the Government agencies, and we’ve been following to the teeth every single aspect of the guidelines of the rules of the process. We’ve been here four years already working on this project. This is a project that is very unique and transformational for this community, and that matters a lot, and matters a lot to the people.”

DEVELOPMENT BANK EXPANDS FINANCING FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

THE Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) has expanded its eco-friendly transportation drive by teaming with ICON Bahamas to offer businesses 100 percent ﬁnancing for their electric car purchases.

The BDB, fresh from unveiling electric vehicle ﬁnancing partnerships with Easy Car Sales and EV Motors, said in a statement that its latest tie-up aims to provide cost-efﬁcient, eco-friendly transportation solutions for a wide range of industries ranging from hospitality and retail to logistics and tourism.

Nicholas Higgs, the BDB’s managing director, said: “By partnering with ICON Bahamas, we are offering businesses the opportunity to upgrade their operations with electric carts that are efﬁcient, sustainable and versatile. With up to 100 percent ﬁnancing available,

‘Look

Standard (CRS) embraced by many other countries for tax information exchange, while also failing to fully collect beneficial ownership information, the US has created major gaps and weaknesses in global financial regulation. Adopting more diplomatic language, the Attorney General’s Office added that the annual US INCSR report has failed to acknowledge or give The Bahamas credit for financial regulatory reforms and achievements - including this nation being rated fully compliant with all 40 recommendations set out by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setter on anti-money laundering and financial crime defences.

businesses can reduce operational costs and move towards more environmentally-friendly practices.”

ICON Bahamas’ electric carts can be used to transport passengers, goods, equipment and materials, offering businesses a

smart alternative to traditional vehicles. These low-maintenance, zero emissions vehicles can serve businesses where there

strength of our regulatory framework and the Government’s proactive approach in maintaining a well-regulated ﬁnancial services sector,” the Attorney General’s Ofﬁce said.

is frequent movement of staff and guests across large properties, such as resorts, commercial centres and industrial sites.

“We believe that these carts will bring signiﬁcant value to businesses throughout The Bahamas,” said Dave Munroe, the BDB’s deputy managing director. “They provide businesses with a reliable and sustainable option, allowing them to cut costs while enhancing their operational efﬁciency.”

Sumayyah Cargill, the BDB’s strategic development and initiatives manager, added: “Whether it’s for small businesses or large-scale enterprises, electric carts offer a way for companies to streamline operations and reduce costs while aligning with sustainability goals. This initiative reﬂects our commitment to supporting businesses in driving growth and

provisions dating back to 2000 and, over the years, they keep on moving the goal posts as to how we should operate.

embracing innovative solutions.”

“ICON Bahamas offers a variety of electric golf carts for recreational and commercial use. We provide end-to-end support, inclusive of assembly, customisation, sales, service, maintenance and warranty,” added Jason Higgs, ICON Bahamas general manager. “As a Bahamian owned and operated company, we are thrilled to be a part of this initiative alongside the BDB team and make these alternatives more accessible to our local community.”

The BDB added that the 100 percent ﬁnancing for electric carts initiative will enable local businesses to invest in an eco-conscious transportation solution that drives operational success and sustainability.

Ryan Pinder KC, the attorney general himself, in an earlier response to Tribune Business questions, said the US report “can almost be a copy and paste each year” by trotting out the same assertions and themes with no recognition of any improvement by The Bahamas.

“The Bahamas is one of very few countries in the world that are 40 for 40 on the FATF recommendations,” he added. “The US has not accomplished this. This objective determination on our ﬁght against money laundering continues to go without recognition from the US authorities.”

Mr Pinder, echoing the release later issued by his ministry, said that by not collecting beneﬁcial ownership information on all American-domiciled corporate entities, and adopting

its own, “lesser” standard for information exchange, the US is effectively undermining global standards and the battle against money laundering and other ﬁnancial crimes.

This, he warned, could result in “regulatory arbitrage” where dubious actors seek to exploit the US financial system based on perceived regulatory loopholes. His ministry, in its later statement, called for international financial regulation to be applied “fairly and consistently” across all countries to achieve a “level playing field” for all.

“The Bahamas remains fully committed to upholding the highest international standards in ﬁnancial regulation, anti-money laundering and tax transparency. Our compliance with all 40 recommendations of the FATF is a testament to the

“Despite our demonstrated commitment, we note with concern that the US State Department’s most recent report continues to rely on language repeated nearly verbatim year after year, with little or no acknowledgement of our country’s demonstrable progress. A review of these reports over the past decade suggests a lack of substantive engagement with the signiﬁcant reforms we have undertaken.

“It is also important to recognise that international ﬁnancial regulation must be applied fairly and consistently. The Bahamas has fully implemented global standards, including tax information exchange mechanisms widely adopted by the international community,” it added.

“However, there remain areas where some jurisdictions, including the US, have yet to align with these global best practices - such as the full collection of beneﬁcial ownership information and adherence to the CRS.. We encourage continued constructive dialogue to ensure that regulatory assessments accurately reﬂect the efforts made by jurisdictions like ours that have consistently prioritised compliance and transparency.”

Mr McCartney, meanwhile, was blunter in his reply by pointing out that a significant portion of global proceeds of crime flows through the US financial system. Suggesting that the US State Department had issued a “blanket statement” on The Bahamas, he said: “We’ve got all sorts of things in place, legal

“Our laws should really speak for themselves and be sufﬁcient evidence. I think they’re over-stepping into our jurisdiction, quite frankly, and all around. We’re a sovereign, independent country. We have our laws in place, but to come out and say we’ve not done anything and so on and so forth, that’s false.

“They need to look in their own backyard before they come to our country and talk a bunch of foolishness. Deal with your own home ﬁrst before you come here and criticise,” Mr McCartney added. “I would urge the Government to stand ﬁrm as an independent nation. Our laws are safe, our laws are strong.

“This really a bit of foolishness. They need to take care of their own house first before meddling in other countries. Stand firm, this government, this administration. Stand firm on our independence, sovereignty and laws, period. They [the US] need to take care of their own home first; the man in the mirror. Handle your own situation there.”

Mr Moss, meanwhile, described the US State Department report as akin to “political gamesmanship” and agreed that “this could be a case of ‘the pot calling the kettle black’”. He added that “the billions” in fraudulent and corruption proceeds that ﬂow through the US ﬁnancial system dwarf any that make their way to The Bahamas.

The US State Department report also asserted that Bahamian law enforcement agencies and prosecutors are too timid to use all the tools available to them in pursuing complex

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financial crimes and seizing assets that are the proceeds of criminal activities. Mr Moss, though, pointed out that “there’s no barometer to measure” how well a nation is prosecuting financial crimes, and said many cases lack sufficient evidence to prosecute.

“While The Bahamas makes efforts to improve its money laundering/terrorist ﬁnancing enforcement capabilities, its investigations often do not result in prosecutions or convictions. Improved inter-institutional co-ordination and strong political will are necessary to defend its ﬁnancial institutions from criminal intrusions,” the US report said.

Acknowledging that The Bahamas’ 700-island geography leaves it “vulnerable to firearms trafficking, drug trafficking and migrant smuggling,” the State Department signalled its belief that the authorities are not doing sufficient to prosecute financial crimes and seize assets, such as real estate and cash, that may have been derived from such illicit activities.

“The Bahamas suffers from domestic fraud schemes and transnational criminal activities. A limited number of asset seizures and ﬁnancial prosecutions have resulted in a vulnerable banking system, gaming industry, virtual currencies and luxury real estate market,” the US report argued.

“The lack of convictions and asset forfeiture make The Bahamas a low-risk base of operations for many sophisticated fraudsters, including corrupt actors. Despite extensive training and improved investigative and prosecutorial abilities, Bahamian law enforcement and prosecutors are hesitant to investigate and prosecute complex ﬁnancial crimes and seize real property and assets derived from illicit activities.

“When authorities pursue cases, an accepted ‘culture of adjournments’ delays adjudications for years. The Bahamas lacks strong interinstitutional co-ordination and political will to successfully adjudicate complex ﬁnancial crimes.”

Bahamas must tell ‘own story’ on ﬁnance rebrand

BY ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business

THE Bahamas must start telling its “own story” to wealthy clients, investors and their advisors as it seeks to rebrand and shed the “tax haven” or ‘low/no tax’ image.

Aliya Allen, partner and co-chair of Graham, Thompson & Company’s ﬁnancial services, private client, trusts and estates groups, told the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Bahamas conference that the jurisdiction’s rebranding has already begun through “a base of tax compliance” even though its last encounter with a ‘blacklist’ was as recent as 2024.

“I think that rebranding has already occurred to a great extent. We’re starting from a base of tax compliance,” Ms Allen said. “And I think that, going forward, there are a lot of opportunities that are coming up from starting from that base…

“I understand that jurisdictions no longer lead with ‘tax neutral’. However, tax is not divorced from virtually any consideration when it comes to whether you’re moving a client, restructuring. It is all part of it. It’s just that there’s so much more than that. And I think that’s what The Bahamas provides - so much more.

“And so, when we’re looking at and talking to clients, other than tax changes at home, which still

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are key drivers, whether it’s setting up a new structure or transitioning an old structure, it’s just managing instability. Whether that’s political instability or instability within families because, as we know, death, divorce, all of those things create instability. And what The Bahamas does well is it is more than just a place for products.”

Niekia Horton, the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) chief executive and executive director, added that The Bahamas must begin telling its “own story”. She said: “When you talk about rebranding, I think what we have to do better is tell our own story,” she said. “A lot of the branding that we have as a jurisdiction has been one that we’ve been labelled.

“We’ve been told ‘you’re a tax haven’, or ‘you’re not a good place to do business’, and so on and so forth. But we have to get better at representing ourselves in the key places, in the journals, in the news brieﬁngs, or what have you, in terms of who we are and what we are bringing to the table.

“And The Bahamas is bringing a very, very strong offering to the table today, particularly when we think about the geopolitical environment that we ﬁnd ourselves in today,” Ms Horton said.

“This is a time when jurisdictions like ours thrive, essentially, and so we need to go out there, and we need to tell our story. And our story is not one just of

preferential tax treatment, but it’s one of a comprehensive ﬁnancial ecosystem.

The Bahamas is a safe harbour for doing business. It’s a great place to live. It’s a great place to do business.”

Ms Horton explained that “cutting edge regulations”, and the time and effort taken in servicing clients, have been “some key ingredients to the industry”.

“I think the strength of our industry rests on our ability to collaborate across government, private sector regulators,” she said.

“And we saw this back in, I think, 1998 when we were ﬁrst blacklisted. And the Government at the time, or the administration at the time, recognised the urgency of the matter, the criticality of the situation and the importance of the industry, and they partnered with the industry. They created something called the Bahamas Financial Services Advisory Committee.

“We responded by coming together as a community and working together to implement the necessary measures to protect the industry. And, at the time, that looked like a revamping of the legislation. And so you had senior persons coming together with the Government who were willing to implement these changes for the betterment of the industry at the time.

“And so, when we are faced with challenges, and we’ve been faced with them, I think it’s been an ongoing battle, if I could say so, for

the last two decades; on the blacklist, off the blacklist, move the goalpost. We pivot again, and we change,” Ms Horton said “And we’ve been doing it as an industry and as a country, because we’ve been working together - government, regulator and the private sector to do so. And so our response to challenges has always been that we work together to ﬁnd the solution, and we do.”

Paul Winder, of the Winterbotham Trust Company, said: “The Government has said: ‘You tell us what you need. We will work with you. And it hasn’t just been on the product side of things. It’s also been in the world we’re living of, you know, compliance and regulation. They work with us. We’ve been bringing together compliant product legislation for, I know 26 years that I’ve been here, but for many, many decades before.

Ms Horton said the “end game” for both the Government and BFSB is the protection of the industry. She added that the BFSB will “play a more critical role in bringing everybody to the table so that we can compare notes to advance the industry”, adding that both parties must come to the table to “reconcile what that looks like”.

be in place before the 20252026 Budget is unveiled at end-May. “What happened is when this initiative ﬁrst surfaced some years ago, the ﬁrst thing we did is we conducted a study,” the minister said of the 15 percent global corporate income tax. “And we looked at our entire taxation system; not only the impact on what they call in-scope companies with turnover of 750m euros or more.

“So we did a study. The information that we have is anywhere from 20 to 30 institutions would be inscope. Then we published the green paper, seeking consultation from the public on how we should respond. We got those responses, we collated them, and then we moved ahead with legislation, again publishing it for consultation. So by the time the legislation got to Parliament we’ve had literally several years of consultation as well as direct interaction with

some of those entities that would be in-scope.

“Our view was that, ﬁrstly, if our competitors and other jurisdictions are implementing this global tax, we don’t want to be ﬁrst but we don’t want to be last either. And then anything we craft has to ensure that we remain competitive. So, very shortly, we’ll be bringing some incentive legislation to go along with the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax legislation.

“So throughout the whole process, direct communication with some of the companies that are inscope. And so we think that the legislation we have is good, and we’re ﬁnalising the incentives to make sure that we remain competitive with some of these other jurisdictions.”

Mr Halkitis said 15 percent corporate income tax payments by Bahamasdomiciled entities that meet the 750m euros turnover threshold should start to be received by the Government during the 2025-2026 ﬁscal year that begins on July 1.

Freeport can ‘ﬁll void’ on US China ship fee

most of the carriers serving The Bahamas and Caribbean have fleets dominated by Chinese-made vessels, he added that if implemented this could help Freeport finally fulfill its potential as the “gateway to the Americas’.

Mr Culmer, who once served as a receiver for the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), told this newspaper: “Freeport should step up and ﬁll the void with the Container Port and really become the gateway to the Americas. All ships can call on Freeport from Europe etc and escape the tariffs on US-bound cargo... This can be an opportunity for the resurgence of Freeport.”

His comments came as Bahamian businesses and consumers braced for further supply chain disruption and inflation/cost of living pressures as a result of the US proposal, although it is encountering strong headwinds and resistance from US exporters, shipping companies and port operators due to the major financial damage it also threatens to inflict on their financial well-being.

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, noting that Tropical Shipping, one of the major carriers supplying The Bahamas’ freight needs,

is among the entities that will be impacted, signalled that this nation will have to make the power brokers in the Trump administration aware of the potentially devastating consequences for their Caribbean neighbours.

“It’s very concerning to us, because Tropical is a big importer for us and most of our stuff comes in from the US,” he said. “I understand it’s not ﬁnal. I understand it was a draft somewhere. And so what we have to do is just make sure that the powers that be understand what a severe impact this can have, you know, on a country like ours that imports so much.

“Now, from reading the draft and some of the commentary, it’s an effort for the US to improve their shipping and reduce some of the Chinese dominance.

That’s a ﬁght between those two giants and, in our view, we shouldn’t be collateral damage in that ﬁght. So we’re watching it.

“We understand it has not come into effect as yet, and we will be making our voices heard through our appropriate channels with foreign affairs, etc, to let the powers that be know that this can have a tremendous impact on us here in The Bahamas and the rest of the region. And, at the same time, we have to begin to explore alternatives. If

we see this thing, we have to be ready with possible alternatives should it go ahead.”

Barry Grifﬁn, The Bahamas Trade Commission’s chairman, said the proposed Chinese-made vessel port fee further underscores both The Bahamas’ vulnerability as a small, import-dependent economy exposed to external shocks and the urgency with which this nation needs to diversify its product sources and supply chain routes.

“The proposed US port call fee on Chinese-built cargo vessels is a new and signiﬁcant development that could have far-reaching consequences for global trade, especially for small island economies like The Bahamas that rely heavily on imports and have limited shipping alternatives,” he told Tribune Business

“Given that Tropical Shipping and other key shipping lines servicing The Bahamas may utilise vessels affected by this proposed fee, we are now actively assessing both the shortterm cost implications and the long-term structural effects on our trade and logistics sector.

“If implemented, this policy could lead to higher transportation costs, which shipping lines may decide to pass on to Bahamian consumers and businesses in the form of increased

freight charges. This unfortunate development underscores the importance of the Government’s trade diversiﬁcation strategy. Now, more than ever, we must diversify our supply chain to better protect our economy from these types of unpredictable disruptions.

Mr Grifﬁn added: “We call on the private sector to embrace change, and to work with the Government in our push to diversify our trading relationships and our supply chain, especially businesses in critical sectors such as food and construction. We believe this strategy will not only make Bahamian businesses more competitive, and goods more affordable for consumers, but it will ultimately make our economy stronger and more resilient.

“This is a developing situation. The Trade Commission will reach out to shipping companies that will likely be affected. We also continue to engage with our other partners in government, industry stakeholders and our regional counterparts as we assess the potential implications of this new policy. Our goal is to protect the economic interests of Bahamian businesses and the Bahamian people.”

Dion Bethell, president and chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer for Arawak Port

Wall Street rallies to its best day in months, but that’s not enough to salvage its losing week

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

U.S. stocks rallied to their best day in months on Friday as Wall Street's roller coaster suddenly shot back upward. That still wasn't enough to keep the U.S. market from a fourth straight losing week, its longest such streak since August. The S&P 500 jumped 2.1% a day after

closing more than 10% below its record for its ﬁrst " correction " since 2023. The last time the index shot up that much was the day after President Donald Trump's election, when Wall Street was focusing on the upsides of Trump's return to the White House. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 674 points, or 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6%.

A multi-day "relief rally could be coming" after so much negativity built among investors, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment ofﬁcer at BMO Wealth Management. Swings in sentiment don't go full-tilt in just one direction forever, and the U.S. stock market has been tumbling quickly since setting a record less than a month ago.

One piece of uncertainty hanging over Wall Street may be clearing after the Senate made moves to prevent a possible partial shutdown of the U.S. government. Past shutdowns have not been a huge deal for ﬁnancial markets. But any reduction of uncertainty can be helpful when so much of it has been sending the U.S. stock market on big, scary

Development Company (APD), Nassau’s commercial shipping port operator, told this newspaper: “At this time, we are closely monitoring the situation and assessing its potential implications. While it is clear that this proposal could have signiﬁcant effects on the broader shipping industry, the speciﬁc impact on The Bahamas’ economy remains uncertain.

“We recognise that increased costs in the supply chain can inﬂuence shipping rates and, by extension, import costs. However, it is too early to determine the extent to which this proposed fee might affect local businesses and consumers. We will continue to engage with industry stakeholders to better understand the potential consequences and will provide updates as more information becomes available.”

The US National Law Review, in its analysis of the measures being suggested by the US Trade Representative, suggested that existing Chinese-made vessels already in use with US carriers such as Tropical Shipping may not attract the proposed fee. Instead, it said the proposed fee structure is a sliding scale based on how many “proposed” new-build vessels or orders a carrier has with China.

swings not just day to day but also hour to hour.

To be sure, the heaviest uncertainty remains with Trump's escalating trade war. There, the question is how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants. The president has said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States, along with a smaller U.S. government workforce and other fundamental changes. While stock prices may be close to ﬁnishing their

But, while existing Chinese-made vessels serving The Bahamas and wider Caribbean may not attract the US Trade Representative fee, the US National Law Review also warned that a draft ‘executive order’ - needing only Donald Trump’s signature to take effect - is separately proposing to levy tonnage-based fees on Chinese-made vessels entering US ports although no details or mechanism for how this will work are known.

The US National Law Review added the US Trade Representative’s planned Chinese-made vessel fee structure only applies to “prospective” ships that non-Chinese carriers have ordered - or planned to order - from that nation. That raises the prospect that existing Chinese-made vessels which already serve The Bahamas and Caribbean, and are owned by non-Chinese carriers, will be spared the fee hike.

The $1m per US port call fee will only be applied to carriers where 50 percent or more of their “prospective” Chinese ships will be delivered within the following 24 months. This fee drops to either $750,000 or $500,000 per call if the percentage is less. There is, though, a requirement that US-made goods be exported on USmade vessels.

reset to account for tariffs set to hit in April, Ma said concerns about how big an impact cutbacks in federal spending will have on the economy are "likely to remain for some time."

U.S. households and businesses have already reported drops in conﬁdence because of all the uncertainties created by Trump's barrage of on -again, off -again tariff announcements and other policies. That's raised fears about a pullback in spending that could sap energy from the economy.

‘Not panicking yet’ over fears of huge shipping cost hike

just one week’s time. The US National Law Review, while acknowledging that the wide-ranging push back means the US Trade Representative Ofﬁce’s will have challenges developing something workable, and could drop the scheme altogether, warned against writing-off the Trump administration given how fast it moves.

The process requires that any proposed rule involving the imposition of port call fees on Chinese-made ships be ﬁnalised by April 17, 2025, with implementation potentially following as swiftly as 30 days later in mid-May. Tropical Shipping is sounding the alarm because most of the vessels serving the Caribbean region are Chinese-made and would thus be subject to the new fees.

Debra Symonette, Super Value’s president, told Tribune Business that the 13-store supermarket chain “isn’t panicking yet” and she urged Bahamian consumers to adopt the same approach. Pointing out that the proposed fee increase may never happen, she added that Super Value and other Bahamian businesses have the ability to switch carriers, and source product from other nations, to mitigate the potential cost impact.

Still, acknowledging that further pricing and inﬂationary pressures are the last thing Bahamians want following the post-COVID cost of living crisis, Ms Symonette said: “We know that once freight goes up

that must affect the pricing eventually. We’re going to absorb the freight for as long as we can, and eventually may have to pass some of it on.

“Then there’s the option of using alternative carriers. It’s not strictly Tropical. We do have the option of weighing the cost and beneﬁts of various carriers. We don’t want our customers to panic yet; we don’t know what’s going to happen.

“There’s always the concern there’ll be an issue in something along the supply chain that trickles down to us and trickles down to the customer. For as long as we can we will avoid passing it on to our customers. We’re always ﬁghting these challenges. Everybody is trying to do their best to cope with rising prices. We really wouldn’t want to have another one thrown on top of them [consumers].”

signature to take effect - is separately proposing to levy tonnage-based fees on Chinese-made vessels entering US ports although no details or mechanism for how this will work are known.

“We’re hoping for the best,” Ms Symonette said. “It’s something we’re trying to watch. We really have to wait and see how they go about doing this and if it will affect us. We’re not panicking yet. It all depends on the decision that they make, and how much it will affect us.

“If it’s fees that are going to be directly implemented on the carriers we use, then obviously it will have a big impact and we will have to do something to kind of mitigate the affect of it. Everything is up in the air. It’s just a waiting game and we have to just see what conclusions they come to and hope they won’t take measures that adversely affect us.’

Chris Lleida, chief executive of Premier Importers, a building materials supplier, told Tribune Business it was inevitable that shipping companies such as Tropical will pass cost increases of that magnitude on to their -end-user customers - Bahamian importers and the latter’s clients.

“That would actually devastate this region,” he said, if Tropical’s fears came true. “Besides shipping to us they ship throughout the whole Caribbean. There are other carriers that come here besides MSC. Betty K has launched a new service, partnering up with King Ocean so they have larger

vessels than they used to have. Crowley might be back.

“But, whatever it costs the shipping company, that cost will be directly passed to their customers and that will be passed along to our customers. It it becomes exorbitant or excessive, then obviously business will be retarded, it will slow down the economy, slow down taxes and, if it continues long enough and gets excessive enough, you can’t keep everybody employed and companies in business will be devastated.”

Mr Lleida likened many of the Trump administration’s economic and trade policies since it took ofﬁce in mid-January to “using a sledgehammer to smash a mosquito. You’ll get the mosquito eventually but damage everything in the room”. Meaning that The Bahamas and other nations are collateral damage, caught up in the administration’s aggressive ‘America First’ and ‘Make America Great Again’ policy agenda.

“It’s a little frightening but that seems to be the order of the day,” the Premier Importers chief said. “I take the mindset there’s very little of this which I can control in any way. I’m focused on my work. I know this will have cost implications somewhere along the line. If anyone recalls the supply chain disruption during COVID, and after COVID, well this is a man-made COVID.

“You disrupt and impede the ﬂow of goods around the world, it doesn’t sound like anything good is going to come out of it from a

Vance hopeful 'high-level' TikTok deal will be completed by early April

By HALELUYA HADERO

The Associated Press

VICE President JD Vance said Friday that he was hopeful a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. will be wrapped up by the early April deadline.

"There will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisﬁes our national security concerns, allows there to be a distinct American TikTok enterprise," Vance said in an interview with NBC News abroad Air Force Two. Questions about the future of the popular video sharing app have continued to linger since a law

requiring its China-based parent company to divest or face a ban took effect on Jan. 19. After taking ofﬁce, President Donald Trump gave TikTok a 75-day reprieve by signing an executive order that delayed enforcement of the statute until April 5. Vance, along with National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, were tapped by Trump to ﬁnd an approved buyer. On Sunday, Trump told reporters aboad Air Force One the administration was in talks with "four different groups" about TikTok and that a deal could come soon.

TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have not publicly commented on the talks. It's also unclear if ByteDance has changed its position on selling TikTok, which it said early last year it does not plan to do. After it made those comments, ByteDance and TikTok launched a legal challenge against the federal law, which was passed with bipartisan support in Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden. In January, the two companies lost their case at the U.S. Supreme Court.

NBC News reported that Vance did not offer details on who the potential buyers could be but noted that

some issues could push a ﬁnal agreement past the April 5 deadline. "We'd like to get it done without the extension," Vance told the news

cost point of view.” Mr Lleida said that, with a 40-foot container costing $5,000, increases of the sort Tropical Shipping fears will “just explode the cost of containers”.

The US National Law Review, though, said the US Trade Representative’s planned Chinese-made vessel fee structure only applies to “prospective” ships that non-Chinese carriers have ordered - or planned to order - from that nation. That raises the prospect that existing Chinese-made vessels which already serve The Bahamas and Caribbean, and are owned by non-Chinese carriers, will be spared the fee hike. The $1m per US port call fee will only be applied to carriers where 50 percent or more of their “prospective” Chinese ships will be delivered within the following 24 months. This fee drops to either $750,000 or $500,000 per call if the percentage is less. There is, though, a requirement that US-made goods be exported on USmade vessels.

Tropical Shipping, in its message to Bahamian customers, said: “We want to bring to your attention a proposed trade action from the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) Section 301 set for adoption by the US government under executive order in the next month.

“At Tropical, we have been aggressive in our advocacy with the US Trade Representative’s proposal and continue to raise our voice on behalf of our customers and businesses like ours.” Citing its feedback to the public consultation, Tropical Shipping said:

“Based on Tropical Shipping’s years of experience and deep understanding of relevant market dynamics, the proposed action will:

“Adversely impact American shipping companies and American exporters; reduce competition for American-owned ocean cargo transportation and shift US port business to other parts of the world; adversely impact American workers in US port operations, warehousing, trucking and all other aspects of logistics; raise the cost of good exported from the US to the Caribbean.”

The latter, Tropical Shipping added, would cause a shift in the $92.3bn export business away from the US to other countries” and “increase shipping costs for US exporters, and decrease the competitiveness of American shipping companies and producers of products in the US”.

“If adopted, this tariff would impose a signiﬁcant port fee of $1m per port call on any Chinese-built vessel calling at US ports. This tariff would have a farreaching ﬁnancial impact on exporters to the Caribbean. As you may be aware, most vessels serving the region were built in China. As a result of this tariff fee, ocean freight rates from Florida will increase by thousands of dollars per TEU.”

outlet. "I think the question is, what is the equity ownership of the new joint venture? How do you do the contracts for all the investors, the customers, the service providers? … The deal itself will be very clear, but actually creating those thousands and thousands of pages of legal documents, that's the one thing that I worry could slip." Trump has previously said the deadline on a TikTok deal could be extended further if needed. He has also proposed terms in which the U.S. would have a 50% stake in a joint venture. The administration hasn't provided details on what that type of deal would entail.

Bahamians ‘paying rent in own home’ over fee switch

“At least when the US was collecting it they weren’t charging these ridiculous fees,” Captain Butler told this newspaper. “It went from this thing being an asset for us to build capacity and develop the country. Now we’re paying rent in our own home. What are they doing? Where is this money going; $3m-plus a month?

“We’re being penalised for using our air space. Bahamians are paying instead of benefiting from these things, and the goal was for us to benefit from this natural sovereign wealth God gave us in our air space. Bahamians and Bahamian airlines were not to pay to fly in their own air space. It’s been reversed. Bahamians are now charging Bahamians for flying and we don’t know where the money is going.”

Meanwhile, Rick Gardner, a Bahamas Flying Ambassador and director of CST Flight Services, which provides ﬂight coordination and trip support services to the general aviation industry, told Tribune Business he had sent multiple questions to BANSA over how the new fee regime and its application will impact private pilots. Besides seeking answers on whether single-engine planes will still be exempt

from the charges over the next few years, as occurred between 2021 and 2024, he added that he has also posed questions on how BANSA’s proposed penalties - including liens that may be attached to aircraft belonging to different pilots - will work.

“I asked a lot of questions about how this is going to play out,” Mr Gardner said. “The part that took people aback is this retroactive provision. How can it be legal? To my mind, that’s the part that’s really over the top to the demise of the Bahamian operators. Nobody has said what a great idea this is.”

Under the proposed BANSA fee adjustments, all take-off and landing fees - known as origin/ destination charges - will endure between four-fold and six-fold plus increases over the next four years to 2028-2029.

BANSA’s “cost base review and charges adjustment” proposal, dated February 2025 and which has been seen by this newspaper, is shifting the fee burden away from overﬂight fees - levies paid almost entirely by international carriers that ﬂy through Bahamian air space without stopping in this nation - to so-called origin/destination charges. The latter are fees levied on planes that take-off and

land in The Bahamas, and BANSA’s own consultation paper revealed that 77 percent of such ﬂights between May 2021 and December 2023 were operated by locally-owned carriers or charters. All origin/destination charges are proposed to suffer between four-fold and more than six-fold increases, ranging from a minimum of 294 percent to a high of 679 percent.

In contrast, all overﬂight fee categories will enjoy reductions in both absolute dollar and percentage terms, with the latter involving cuts ranging from 36 percent to a maximum of 69 percent. The BANSA paper, citing the example of an ATR72-600, said the overﬂight fee rate will be reduced from $29.60 per 100 nautical miles to just $9.16, representing a 69 percent drop or a rate equivalent to 12 cents per passenger seat.

And, for a Boeing 777, the Authority is proposing to reduce the rate for transiting Bahamian air space from $51.60 per 100 nautical miles to $33.01, which marks a 36 percent reduction. And, given that the rate will be spread over a greater number of seats due to that aircraft’s capacity, economies of scale kick-in with the charge per seat or passenger dropping to just eight cents.

However, when it comes to the origin/destination charges (take-off and landing in The Bahamas), the fees for small planes with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of less than 10,000 kilograms - the likes of Piper Aztecs, Cessna 402s and Piper Navajosare increasing from $10 to $65.09 - a 551 percent or more than six-fold jump. The per seat charge for a Cessna 525, a small jet, is shown as $10.85.

While private planes with a single piston have been exempt from both overﬂight and origin/destination charges, the two categories that make up The Bahamas’ air navigation services regime, all those planes mentioned are twin engine and will likely be captured by it.

As for commercial planes, the origin/destination fee for an ATR 72-600 is proposed to increase by 294 percent from the present $35 to $137.92equivalent to $1.84 per seat. And charges for a Boeing 777 will jump more than seven-fold - from $61 to a new capped maximum of $477.05 - which represents a 679 percent hike.

However, BANSA is also seeking to make the fee rebalancing retroactive for the period May 2021 to end-July 2024. BANSA’s February 2025 consultation paper on the air navigation

MARK CARNEY IS SWORN IN AS CANADA’S NEW PRIME MINISTER AS COUNTRY DEALS WITH TRUMP’S TRADE WAR

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press

FORMER central banker

Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada's new prime minister on Friday, and will now try to steer his country through a trade war brought by U.S. President Donald Trump, annexation threats and an expected federal election.

Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader. Carney is widely expected to trigger a general election in the coming days or weeks. "We will never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada,"

Carney said. "We are very fundamentally a different country." The governing Liberal Party had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared economic war and repeatedly has said Canada should become the 51st state. Now the party and its new leader could come out on top. Carney has said he's ready to meet with Trump if

services fee proposals, using heavily-guarded and technical language, did give a hint of what was coming. It referred to the over and under-recovery of fees during the May 2021-July 2024 period, and said these would be adjusted for “the difference between the actual costs for the provision of services as allocated to overﬂights and origin/ destination respectively”. And, with fee income set to be reallocated according the cost incurred in providing these two separate services, the BANSA paper said airline operators and carriers would either receive a “credit” if they had paid more than their fair share or a “debit” demanding they pay extra to cover their under-billing.

Those carriers receiving a “credit” would have this applied against their fees moving forward.

With the burden being re-directed towards takeoff and landing fees, their retroactive imposition will largely fall on Bahamianowned carriers and others that service this nation.

Sherrexcia ‘Rexy’ Rolle, Western Air’s president, chief executive and general counsel, clariﬁed to Tribune Business that BANSA is demanding the carrier now pay an extra $2.4m over and above what it has already paid in air navigation services fees.

coming days. He received invitations from both.

"We must diversify our trade partners and strengthen our security in so doing," Carney said.

he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. He said he doesn't plan to visit Washington at the moment but hopes to have a phone call with the president soon.

"The president is a successful businessman and deal maker. We're his largest client in so many industries," Carney said. "Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way."

Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, and then in 2013 when he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England — helping to manage the worst impacts of Brexit in the U.K. Carney, a former Goldman Sachs executive with no experience in politics, becomes Canada's 24th prime minister. He said protecting Canadian workers and their families in the face of unjustified trade actions and growing the economy will be his top priorities.

Carney said he will travel to Europe to visit French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the

Trump put 25% tariffs on Canada's steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products April 2. He has threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested the border is a ﬁctional line.

Carney called the idea "crazy."

The U.S. trade war and Trump's talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.

Carney said he's worked with Trump before at G7 and G20 summits during Trump's ﬁrst presidency.

"We share some experiences. I have been in the private sector. I have worked in the real estate sector. I have done large transactions," Carney said.

"We will both be looking out for our countries but he knows, and I know from long experience, that we can ﬁnd mutual solutions that win for both."

The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the

“BANSA is requesting $2.4m separate from what we have already paid to them, and separate from what was previously invoiced,” she said. “Thus it is not ‘$1.3m-plus’ increase. It is $2.4m they are requesting despite never invoicing or notifying of such charges.”

Based on the fact Western Air has already paid $1.1m in fees for the relevant period, May 2021 to end-July 2024, the additional $2.4m will take the total demand to around $3.5m - more than tripling its bill via a 218 percent increase. Similarly, fellow Bahamian carrier, TransIsland Airways, has seen its bill more than triple and grow by almost 260 percent compared to the original for the same period. And, given that the overflight fees component is being substantially reduced in the air navigation services regime restructuring, those carriers likely to be the recipients of The Bahamas’ “credits” are the US and foreign-owned commercial passenger and cargo traffic that flies over this nation without stopping here. In effect, the restructuring represents a wealth transfer from Bahamian to US and foreign-owned airlines.

election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surge.

But after decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canada's next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the U.S.

"He will do very well. He's respected internationally," former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told reporters Friday. But, he added: "There is no magic solution. This is not a normal situation. We've never seen someone who changes his mind every ﬁve minutes as president of the United States."

A new Cabinet of 13 men and 11 women was sworn in, smaller than Trudeau's 37-member team. François-Philippe Champagne becomes Canada's new finance minister, the government's second most powerful position. Champagne has said a new prime minister offers a chance of a reset with Trump. Dominic LeBlanc goes from finance to to intergovernmental affairs. Mélanie Joly remains foreign minister. Chrystia Freeland, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister who lost to Carney in the Liberal Party leadership race, becomes minister of transport and internal trade.

MAKE ROOM STARBUCKS AND MCDONALD’S. CHINA’S MIXUE

AND OTHER BRANDS WIN FANS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

By KANIS LEUNG, VINCENT THIAN and TIAN MACLEOD JI Associated Press

CHINESE food and beverage brands are gaining ground across Southeast Asia, offering alternatives to big name American chains and expanding Beijing's commercial and cultural inﬂuence in neighboring economies.

The Chinese beverage giant Mixue Group has become the world's largest F&B chain by number of outlets, overtaking Starbucks and McDonald's.

The company, whose brand name Mixue Bingcheng means "Honey Snow Ice City," in Chinese, is capitalizing on the region-wide sweet tooth with affordable offerings of ice cream, coffee and bubble tea drinks.

"Even on social media like TikTok and others, there is a joke that any empty shophouse would soon turn into a Mixue store," Rahma Yuliana said, referring to a popular saying in Indonesia, where Mixue has more than 2,600 outlets.

The single mother, who runs an online business, takes her daughter for afterschool treats that won't drain her wallet, such as a cup of brown sugar milk tea that costs $1.10, about onethird cheaper than similar offerings by rival Taiwanese tea chain Chatime. An ice cream sells for as little as 50 cents, undercutting McDonald's.

As of September, Mixue Group had over 45,000 stores carrying its Mixue tea drinks, ice creams and

Lucky Cup coffee products, more than the store numbers of Starbucks and McDonald's, industry analysts reported. About 40,000 of those are in China.

More broadly, by December, Chinese F&B brands had opened over 6,100 outlets in Southeast Asia, Singapore-headquartered research ﬁrm Momentum Works reported. India and Vietnam account for roughly two-thirds, while there are relatively more Chinese brands in Singapore and Malaysia, which have sizable Chinesespeaking populations.

Nearly all of Mixue's stores are franchises that the company supplies with ingredients for drinks like Creamy Mango Boba, Mango Oats Jasmine Tea and Coconut Jelly Milk Tea.

Apart from Mixue, other market stars include hotpot giant Haidilao, Fish With You sauerkraut ﬁsh restaurants, and well-known beverage brands such as Luckin Coffee, Heytea and Chagee. Mixue's shares have doubled from their IPO price since their March 3 trading debut in Hong Kong.

Momentum Works CEO Jianggan Li said Chinese businesses are actively seeking new growth in Southeast Asia after facing ﬁerce competition in their home market.

The push by food and drink retailers has raised awareness that China has more to offer than just cheap electronics.

The companies are well-equipped, using automation to enhance their efﬁciency, and adept at

online marketing, Li said. Big Western brands sometimes take a long time to ﬁnd local partners and develop long-term plans. The Chinese F&B companies are "much more impatient," he said.

In Thailand's capital Bangkok, Chinese entrepreneur Siya Han has invested over $1.37 million in 12 Mixue stores and about 10 other outlets selling spicy broth bowls, sauerkraut ﬁsh and fried chicken steaks in about six years. Outlets in shopping malls take time to recover costs due to huge rent deposits, she said, but her other outlets typically break even within six months to a year, excluding their lease guarantees.

"If you open Chinese restaurants slowly, you can't survive," she said.

In the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, Chinese sauerkraut ﬁsh chain Fish With You vice president Liu Liujun also spotted opportunity in Southeast Asia's large ethnic Chinese population and growing economies.

The brand's $235,000 investment in one of its Malaysian outlets paid off in just nine months, with lines out the door almost daily, said Liu, who oversees the company's overseas expansion across the region.

A customer, Victoria Kovalan said the new Chinese brands made it easier for her to try new cuisines. "It's opened up our palates," she said, referring to the popularity of Sichuan hotpots, known for their spicy ﬂavors.

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Vietnamese student Nguyen Thu Hoài in Hanoi initially was skeptical about Mixue as a Chinese brand but has become a regular customer, she said, won over by its affordability and better-than-expected quality.

If Chinese food brands exploded worldwide, they might have that inﬂuence, though the impact remains to be seen, he said.

"China does have an uphill struggle to obtain soft power, but it's doing an excellent job with its products," he said.

The expansion of Chinese food and beverage brands is part of a broader trend where Chinese goods are no longer seen as merely cheap but as having real value, said Gordon Mathews, a professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Recalling the cultural inﬂuence from McDonald's global expansion, Mathews said he visited its ﬁrst outlet in southern China's economic hub of Guangzhou in the 1990s, where a clerk told him, "I want to go to America."

NASA’S STUCK ASTRONAUTS WELCOME THEIR NEWLY ARRIVED REPLACEMENTS TO THE SPACE STATION

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer

JUST over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts.

The four newcomers — representing the U.S., Japan and Russia — will spend the next few days learning the station's ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Then the two will strap into their own SpaceX capsule later this week, one that has been up there since last

year, to close out an unexpected extended mission that began last June.

Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week when they launched on Boeing's first astronaut flight. They hit the ninemonth mark earlier this month. The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift. While the seven space station residents prepared for the new arrivals, one of the Russians — Ivan Vagner — briefly put on an alien mask in a

lighthearted moment. Wilmore swung open the space station's hatch and rang the ship's bell as the new crew ﬂoated in one by one and were greeted with hugs and handshakes.. "It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive," Williams told Mission Control.

Wilmore's and Williams' ride arrived back in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back. But more delays resulted when their replacements' brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs.

A WORKER carries a box of supplies for a Mixue store in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.

Photo:Achmad Ibrahim/AP

Critics warn staff cuts at federal agencies overseeing US dams could put public safety at risk

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press

TRUMP administration workforce cuts at federal agencies overseeing U.S. dams are threatening their ability to provide reliable electricity, supply farmers with water and protect communities from ﬂoods, employees and industry experts warn.

The Bureau of Reclamation provides water and hydropower to the public in 17 western states. Nearly 400 agency workers have been cut through the Trump reduction plan, an administration ofﬁcial said.

"Reductions-in-force" memos have also been sent to current workers, and more layoffs are expected.

The cuts included workers at the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest hydropower generator in North America, according to two ﬁred staffers interviewed by The Associated Press.

"Without these dam operators, engineers, hydrologists, geologists, researchers, emergency managers and other experts, there is a serious potential for heightened risk to public safety and economic

or environmental damage," Lori Spragens, executive director of the Kentuckybased Association of Dam Safety Ofﬁcials, told the AP.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said federal workforce reductions will ensure disaster responses are not bogged down by bureaucracy and bloat.

"A more efﬁcient workforce means more timely access to resources for all Americans," she said by email.

But a bureau hydrologist said they need people on the job to ensure the dams are working properly.

"These are complex systems," said the worker in the Midwest, who is still employed but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of possible retaliation.

Workers keep dams safe by monitoring data, identifying weaknesses and doing site exams to check for cracks and seepage.

"As we scramble to get these screenings, as we lose institutional knowledge from people leaving or early retirement, we limit our ability to ensure public safety," the worker added. "Having people available

to respond to operational emergencies is critical. Cuts in staff threaten our ability to do this effectively."

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the administration to rehire ﬁred probationary workers, but a Trump spokesperson said they would ﬁght back,

SpaceX launches a new crew to the space station to replace NASA’s stuck astronauts

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer

THE replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts launched to the International Space Station on Friday night, paving the way for the pair's return after nine long months.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams need SpaceX to get this relief team to the space station before they can check out. Arrival is set for late Saturday night.

NASA wants overlap between the two crews so Wilmore and Williams can ﬁll in the newcomers on happenings aboard the orbiting lab. That would put them on course for an undocking next week and a

splashdown off the Florida coast, weather permitting. The duo will be escorted back by astronauts who ﬂew up on a rescue mission on SpaceX last September alongside two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams on the return leg.

Reaching orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan's Takuya Onishi and Russia's Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free.

"Spaceﬂight is tough, but humans are tougher," McClain said minutes into the ﬂight.

As test pilots for Boeing's new Starliner capsule, Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week or so when they launched from Cape Canaveral on June 5. A series of helium leaks and thruster failures marred their trip to the space station, setting off months of investigation by NASA and Boeing on how best to proceed.

Eventually ruling it unsafe, NASA ordered Starliner to ﬂy back empty last September and moved Wilmore and Williams to a SpaceX ﬂight due back in February. Their return

leaving unclear whether any would return.

The heads of 14 California water and power agencies sent a letter to the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Interior last month warning that eliminating workers with "specialized knowledge" in

operating and maintaining aging infrastructure "could negatively impact our water delivery system and threaten public health and safety."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also operates dams nationwide. Matt Rabe, a spokesman,

was further delayed when SpaceX's brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs before launching their replacements. To save a few weeks, SpaceX switched to a used capsule, moving up Wilmore and Williams' homecoming to mid-March.

Already capturing the world's attention, their unexpectedly long mission took a political twist when President Donald Trump and SpaceX's Elon Musk vowed earlier this year to

accelerate the astronauts' return and blamed the former administration for stalling it.

Retired Navy captains who have lived at the space station before, Wilmore and Williams have repeatedly stressed that they support the decisions made by their NASA bosses since last summer. The two helped keep the station running — ﬁxing a broken toilet, watering plants and conducting experiments — and even went out on a

declined to say how many workers left through early buyouts, but said the agency hasn't been told to reduce its workforce.

But Neil Maunu, executive director of the Paciﬁc Northwest Waterways Association, said it learned more than 150 Army Corps workers in Portland, Oregon, were told they would be terminated and they expect to lose about 600 more in the Paciﬁc Northwest.

The ﬁrings include "district chiefs down to operators on vessels" and people critical to safe river navigation, he said.

Their last day is not known. The Corps was told to provide a plan to the U.S. Ofﬁce of Personnel Management by March 14, Maunu said.

Several other federal agencies that help ensure dams run safely also have faced layoffs and closures. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is laying off 10% of its workforce and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Dam Safety Review Board was disbanded in January.

spacewalk together. With nine spacewalks, Williams set a new record for women: the most time spent spacewalking over a career.

A last-minute hydraulics issue delayed Wednesday's initial launch attempt. Concern arose over one of the two clamp arms on the Falcon rocket's support structure that needs to tilt away right before liftoff.

SpaceX later ﬂushed out the arm's hydraulics system, removing trapped air.

The duo's extended stay has been hardest, they said, on their families — Wilmore's wife and two daughters, and Williams' husband and mother. Besides reuniting with them, Wilmore, a church elder, is looking forward to getting back to face-to-face ministering and Williams can't wait to walk her two Labrador retrievers.

"We appreciate all the love and support from everybody," Williams said in an interview earlier this week.

"This mission has brought a little attention. There's goods and bads to that. But I think the good part is more and more people have been interested in what we're doing" with space exploration.

THE GRAD Coulee Dam, the largest hydropower generator in North America is located in Coulee Dam, Wash., is run by the Bureau of Reclamation, is shown near the Columbia River on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Photo:Martha Bellisle/AP

A SPACEX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of four aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. Photo:John Raoux/AP

WITH TRUMP'S ZIGZAG ACTIONS ON TRADE, MARCH CAME IN LIKE A LION AND WON'T BE GOING OUT LIKE A LAMB

By CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press

A GOBSMACKED

planet is wondering what's next from President Donald Trump on the tariff spree he's set in zigzag motion.

In recent weeks, Trump has announced punishing tariffs against allies and adversaries alike, selectively paused and imposed them, doubled and then halved some, and warned late in the week that he'll tax European wine and spirits a stratospheric 200% if the European Union doesn't drop a 50% tariff on U.S. whiskey.

His ultimate stated goal is clear: to revive American manufacturing and win compromises along the way. But people and nations whose fortunes rise and fall on trade are trying to divine a method to his machinations. So far, he's spurred fears about slower growth and higher inﬂation that are dragging down the stock market and consumer conﬁdence.

"His tariff policy is erratic, more erratic than April weather," Robert Halver, head of capital markets analysis at Germany's Baader Bank, said from the ﬂoor of the Frankfurt stock market. "So, there is no planning certainty at all."

The same goes for Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park, New York, where owner Mark O'Callaghan is waiting to see if the prohibitive taxes on European wine — over a third of his business — really happen. He's mindful of Trump's seemingly whack-a-mole approach on which countries and goods to hit and how hard.

"It changes by the hour now, right?" O'Callaghan said. "You know, it's hard to navigate and manage, and everything changes so quickly."

In Canada, generations of political leaders took it as a point of pride that their country and the U.S. share the "world's longest undefended border," as they liked to say. No more.

Trump uniﬁes Canada Trump's sweeping taxes on Canadian imports come in the context of his wanting the U.S. to absorb its neighbor, an ambition that has united Canadians of the left and right in seething anger. A recent Nanos poll found that the vast majority of Canadians say their opinion of the United States has sunk from a year ago.

"The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country," Prime Minister Mark Carney said days before his swearing-in Friday. "Think about it. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life."

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said: "If the U.S. can do this to us, their closest friend, then nobody is safe."

Trade wars sparked by retaliatory and escalating tariffs typically form in the grind of legislation, as happened with the SmootHawley Tariff Act nearly a century ago. This round comes from Trump's executive actions, with Congress passive, and can change like the weather, or perhaps even his moods.

That's how March came in like a lion.

Watch your manners

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Public is hereby advised that I, CANDY N.S. MCPHEE of P.O. Box N.4707, Eve & Chaiser Street, New Providence, The Bamas Parents of HAILEY CHARCINIQUE TAMIQUA MCPHEE A minor intend to change our child’s name to HAILEY CHARCINIQUE BRINAE CARTER. If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Deputy Chief Passport Offcer, P.O. Box N-742, Nassau, Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CARLINE MEUS of #122 Triana Drive, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 10th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that ABNER MEUS of #122 Triana Drive, Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 10th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that AKSANA USHIENA CARDOZA Yellow Elder, Major Road, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

Personal pique is part of it all, suggests Commerce

Secretary Howard Lutnick. "If you make him unhappy, he responds unhappy," he told Bloomberg TV, explaining that Trump didn't like it when a variety of countries targeted with new U.S. tariffs retaliated with tariffs of their own.

Nor was Trump content when Canada did not show "immeasurable respect" for his trade grievances, Lutnick told CBS News. "Say, 'Thank you, I want to work it out with you,'" he added, as if advising Ottawa on how to be properly deferential. "'I want you to be happy.'"

Trump himself said of Canada, "We don't need anything that they have." Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S. and a key source of energy, cars and car parts via the integrated North American auto industry, food, critical minerals, fertilizer, lumber and more.

His stop-and-start tariffs have shaken the stock market, yielded some concessions and induced whiplash across industries and countries:

— Heavy taxes on Canadian and Mexican products were announced, shelved for a month — one day

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that ROSENIRVA MONESTIME Garden Hills, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

away from taking effect — imposed, then two days later adjusted to exempt, for now, a range of goods covered under the North American trade pact renegotiated in Trump's ﬁrst term. Trump's aides say the reason for those tariffs is to end fentanyl smuggling and illegal immigration, though the president also wants to close the trade deﬁcit with America's two largest trade partners.

—

Trump stuck with his new tariffs on China, imposing a 10% penalty then doubling it, drawing retaliatory tariffs of 15% on U.S. farm goods this past

week. The U.S. tariffs are also about fentanyl.

— The prevailing tensions between Canada and the U.S. ﬂared when Ontario, the most populous province, retaliated against the U.S. duties with an announcement that it would add a 25% surcharge on electricity it exports to several states.

Trump, who now belittles Canadian sovereignty at every turn, immediately threatened to slam Canada with a 50% tax on steel and aluminum. He then pulled back to a still-hefty 25% when Ontario backed down, in a drama that played out over mere hours.

But Wednesday, the global U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum kicked in, and Europe responded. The EU announced duties on U.S. textiles, home appliances, motorcycles, peanut butter, jeans and more. American whiskey, popular overseas, was marked for a 50% tariff.

Trump's response: 200% on European wine and spirits and on Champagne.

"We want toasts, not tariffs," said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council in the U.S.

But escalation appears to be the toast of the day.

The U.S. has a new wave of reciprocal tariffs in line against Europe in early April, and exemptions for the auto industry and other industries are set to expire.

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that VANNA EXILUS Kemp Road, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 17th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

A VISITOR to the city wearing a mask of President Donald Trump poses for a photo in front of a Canadian ﬂag being held by tourists from Toronto showing their support for Canada regarding trade tariffs, in front of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. Photo:Ben Curtis/AP

Indonesia’s cocoa farmers work with businesses to

the bitter impact of climate change

By VICTORIA MILKO and DITA ALANGKARA Associated Press

THE loud whirr of a chainsaw sounds through the forest as a small group of farmers gathers around a tree ﬁlled with red seed pods. With one slow stroke, a severed knobby branch hits the ground.

"Now it will help the tree grow new fruit," farmer Tari Santoso says with a smile.

Thousands of cocoa farmers across Indonesia like Santoso are working with businesses and other organizations to protect their crops from the bitter impacts of climate change and underinvestment that have pushed cocoa prices to record levels.

Cocoa trees are high maintenance: Grown only near the equator, they require a precise combination of steady temperatures, humidity and sunlight. It takes ﬁve years for a tree to start producing the seeds that are processed into cocoa used to make chocolate and other delectable foods.

Climate change raises the risks for farmers: Hotter weather hurts yields and longer rainy seasons trigger the spread of fungus and deadly pests. Increasingly unpredictable weather patterns have made it harder for farmers to deal with those challenges. So farmers are switching to other crops, further reducing cocoa supplies and pushing prices higher: In 2024, prices nearly tripled,

reaching about US$12,000 per ton, driving up chocolate costs and leading some chocolate makers to try growing cocoa in laboratories. Indonesia is the thirdlargest producer of cocoa in the world, behind Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, farmers are joining with businesses and nongovernmental organizations to develop better growing practices and improve their livelihoods.

Sitting in the shade of his forest farm in south Sumatra, 3 miles (5 kilometers) from a national park where Sumatran tigers and rhinos roam, farmer Santoso is working with Indonesian chocolate maker Krakakoa.

After he began working with the company in 2016, Santoso starting using practices that helped his cocoa trees ﬂourish, regularly pruning and grafting new branches onto older trees to promote growth and prevent the spread of disease. He is using organic fertilizer and has adopted agroforestry techniques, integrating other crops and trees such as bananas, dragon fruit, coffee and pepper, into his farm to foster a healthier ecosystem and invest in other income sources.

"It wasn't very successful before we met Krakakoa," Santoso said. "But then, we received training ... things are much better."

Krakakoa has trained more than 1,000 cocoa farmers in Indonesia according to its founder and CEO, Sabrina Mustopo. The company also provides ﬁnancial support.

Santoso and other farmers in Sumatra said the

partnership helped them to form a cooperative provides low-interest loans to farmers, with interest paid back into the cooperative rather than to banks outside of the community.

Cocoa farmers who need bigger loans from

“It wasn’t very successful before we met Krakakoa. But then, we received training ... things are much better.”

Tari Santoso

government-owned banks also beneﬁt from partnering with businesses, as the guaranteed buyer agreements can provide collateral needed to get loans approved, said Armin Hari, a communications manager at the Cocoa Sustainability

Partnership, a forum for public-private collaboration for cocoa development in Indonesia. Dozens of other businesses, the government and nongovernmental organizations and cooperatives are also working with cocoa farmers to better cope with climate change, beneﬁting thousands, Hari said. He pointed to a collaboration between Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency and the local division of international chocolate maker Mars, which have released a new variant of cocoa that produces more pods per tree.

Challenges still remain, said Rajendra Aryal, the FAO's country director for Indonesia. Fewer people see cocoa farming as a lucrative business and instead are planting other crops such as palm oil. And many small-scale farmers still cannot get loans, he said.

But Aryal said he hopes that continued collaboration between farmers and others will help.

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A FARMER picks cocoa pods at a plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. Photo:Dita Alangkara/AP

Aircraft catches ﬁre after landing in Denver, sending passengers onto wing as smoke engulfs plane

By THOMAS PEIPERT, SARAH BRUMFIELD, JESSE BEDAYN, COLLEEN SLEVIN and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press

A FIRE on an American Airlines plane after it diverted mid-flight and landed at Denver International Airport sent passengers fleeing onto a wing in a fraught evacuation amid billowing clouds of smoke. Airport officials said 12 people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.

The country has seen a recent spate of aviation disasters and close calls stoking fears about air travel, though ﬂying remains a safe way to travel. Recent on-the-ground accidents included a plane that crashed and ﬂipped over upon landing in Toronto and a Japan Airlines plane that clipped a parked Delta plane while it was taxiing at the Seattle airport.

Flight 1006 was headed from the Colorado Springs to Dallas Fort Worth on Thursday but diverted to Denver after the crew reported engine vibrations. It landed safely around 5:15 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. An engine on the Boeing 737-800 caught ﬁre as it taxied to the gate, the FAA added.

Passengers described people exiting the plane onto its left wing, as an engine beneath the right wing burned and black smoke surrounded the aircraft. They lined up and got to the ground using slides and ladders brought over by ground crews, according to the FAA, video footage and passenger interviews.

All 172 passengers and six crew members were safely evacuated, authorities said. American Airlines referred questions about the 12 people taken to hospitals to local ofﬁcials.

The damaged plane was seen parked behind a hangar at the airport Friday.

Passengers’ accounts of what happened Passenger Hani Levi said she felt a “very strong vibration” after the plane took off, followed later by an announcement that

there would an emergency landing emergency landing in Denver because of an apparent engine problem.

As the plane taxied to the gate, the former military airplane mechanic from Las Vegas who was sitting in a window seat, saw smoke coming from the wing and then fire. A passenger said to evacuate, but Levi said some people were panicking and a mother screamed that she needed to get off with her two children, one of whom tried to run toward the front of the plane, she said. Black smoke filled the cabin as people crowded the exit, but Levi had to remain seated because a handicapped woman was between her and the aisle. As they waited for a wheelchair, Levi watched black smoke and flames spitting from the wing just feet from her seat. People could be heard jostling to get off the plane in videos Levi took, with one person saying “orderly, orderly” and another saying “go go.”

“I chose to stay calm,” said Levi, who said she tried not to breathe deeply to avoid inhaling the smoke.

Passenger Daniel Friedman said he started thinking about writing a eulogy as the chaotic evacuation unfolded. He described people pushing and shoving to get off.

“Really I just wanted to make sure we got here safe and didn’t know if it was going to happen or not,” Friedman told WRAL-TV, “I don’t wish that upon anybody.”

Twelve people were treated at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora Thursday night and released, the hospital said Friday.

A replacement plane and crew took passengers to Dallas-Fort Worth, the airline said. The ﬂight landed Friday around 5 a.m. local time, according to the ﬂight-tracking website FlightAware.

How common are airplane engine ﬁres?

American Airlines said in a statement that the ﬂight experienced an enginerelated issue after taxiing to the gate. There was no immediate clariﬁcation

NOTICE

IN THE ESTATE OF KENTH RODGER SYMONETTE a.k.a. KENTH SYMONETTE, late of No. 38 Waterfall Drive in the City of Freeport of the Island of Grand Bahama, one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.

NOTICE is hereby given that all persons having any claims against the above Estate are required on or before the 24th day of March A.D., 2025 to send their names, addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the undersigned and, if so required, by notice in writing from the undersigned, to come in and prove such debts or claims or, in default thereof, they will be excluded from the beneft of any distribution AND NOTICE is hereby also given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the date hereinbefore mentioned AND NOTICE is hereby given that at the expiration of the date hereinbefore mentioned, the assets of the Estate of the said KENTH RODGER SYMONETTE a.k.a. KENTH SYMONETTE, deceased, will be distributed among the persons entitled thereto having regard only to the claims of which the Administratrix of the Estate shall then have had notice.

PROVIDENCE LAW

Attorneys for the Administratrix 16 Village Road North New Providence, Bahamas

on exactly when the plane caught ﬁre.

Engine ﬁres are rare, and crews trained to deal with them, aviation expert Steven Wallace said. They typically are not catastrophic even if they occur in the air because planes can ﬂy with a single engine, he said.

“A pilot going to work for an airline today could likely ﬂy for 30 years and never experience an engine failure,” said Wallace, a former director of the FAA’s accident investigations ofﬁce.

Two engine fires made news in recent weeks: a fire on a United Airlines flight Feb. 2 as it was preparing to take off from Houston and a March 1 fire on a FedEx cargo plane that made an emergency landing in New

Jersey following a bird strike.

Former National Transportation Safety Board

Chairman James Hall said the reported engine vibrations on the American flight were unusual but a slew of problems could have caused them and a fire, making it difficult to speculate on.

As for the recent spate of aviation incidents, “given the past history, you can classify it as unusual,” said Hall, but “I don’t know if you have enough information to draw any conclusions.”

LEGAL NOTICE

JADEN SHIPPING COMPANY LIMITED (In Voluntary Liquidation)

Notice is hereby given in pursuance of Section 138 of The International Business Companies Act, 2000 (as amended) that the Sole Member of the above-named company by Resolution passed on the 25th day of February 2025 resolved that the company be wound up voluntarily forthwith and that the Liquidator is Mr. Bennet R. Atkinson of Ronald Atkinson & Co., Chartered Accountants, Marron House, Virginia and Augusta Streets, P.O. Box N-8326, Nassau, Bahamas.

All persons having claims against the above-named company are requested to submit particulars of such claims and proofs thereof in writing to the Liquidator, Mr. Bennet R. Atkinson, Marron House, Virginia and Augusta Streets, P.O. Box N-8326, Nassau, Bahamas, not later than the 17th day of April 2025, after which date the books will be closed and the assets of the company distributed.

Dated the 13th day of March 2025.

Bennet R. Atkinson Liquidator

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board said they will investigate.

The plane was built in 2012 with an engine from CFM International. Boeing declined comment, and CFM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, American Airlines thanked its employees and ﬁrst responders “for their quick and decisive action” following the accident.

Colorado resident Ian Paisley was ﬂying from

Denver to Hawaii on Friday with his family and heard about Thursday’s ﬁre but didn’t think that it would change their plans.

“We can have conﬁdence that even though these are terrible things that happen and very frightening for people, that for most of us it’s not going to be something that affects our lives,” he said. ___ Brumﬁeld reported from Washington and Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

AN AMERICAN Airlines jetliner that caught ﬁre after landing Thursday at Denver International Airport sits near a hangar at the airport Friday, March 14, 2025, in Denver.

Photo:David Zalubowski/AP

AT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES, CHECKED BAGS WILL NO LONGER

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer

SOUTHWEST Airlines

will begin charging customers a fee to check bags, abandoning a decades-long practice that executives had described last fall as key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals.

Southwest, which built years of advertising campaigns around its policy of letting passengers check up to two bags for free, said Tuesday that people who haven't either reached the upper tiers of its Rapid Rewards loyalty program, bought a business class ticket or hold the airline's credit card will have to pay for checked bags.

The airline did not outline the fee schedule but said the new policy would start with ﬂights booked on May 28.

"We have tremendous opportunity to meet current and future customer needs, attract new customer segments we don't compete

for today, and return to the levels of proﬁtability that both we and our shareholders expect," CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement. Less than a year ago, the Dallas-based airline announced it was doing away with another tradition, the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years. Southwest expects to begin operating ﬂights with passengers in assigned seats next year.

Southwest has struggled recently and is under pressure from activist investors to boost proﬁts and revenue. The airline reached a truce in October with hedge fund Elliott Investment Management to avoid a proxy ﬁght, but Elliott won several seats on the company board.

The airline announced last month that it was eliminating 1,750 jobs, or 15% of its corporate workforce, in the ﬁrst major layoffs in the company's 53-year history.

The job cuts, which were scheduled to be mostly

completed by the end of June, are part of a plan to slash costs and transform the company into a "leaner, faster, and more agile organization," Jordan said at the time.

Southwest's stock rose more than 9% Tuesday.

As recently as Southwest's investor day in late September, airline executives described the bags-ﬂy-free as the most important feature in setting Southwest apart from rivals. All other leading U.S. airlines charge for checked luggage, and Wall Street has long argued that Southwest was leaving money behind.

The airline estimated in September that charging bag fees would bring in about $1.5 billion a year but cost the airline $1.8 billion in lost business from customers who chose to ﬂy Southwest because of its generous baggage allowance.

Southwest said Tuesday that it would continue

to offer two free checked bags to Rapid Rewards A-List preferred members and customers traveling on Business Select fares, and one free checked bag to A-List members and other select customers. Passengers with Rapid Rewards credit cards will receive a credit for one checked bag.

People who don't qualify for those categories will get charged to check bags.

The airline said that it also would roll out a new, basic fare on its lowest priced tickets when the change takes effect.

"I would rather have the free checked bags, that's for sure," said customer

Dorothy Severson, who was awaiting a ﬂight Tuesday at Chicago Midway International Airport. "It's one of the main reasons I still ﬂy Southwest." Southwest is betting that the added bag fees will outweigh the loss of business from travelers who look closely at the costs on top of ticket prices. Rivals on Tuesday saw an opening. "I think clearly there are some customers who chose them because of that, and now those customers are up for grabs," said Delta Airlines President Glen Hauenstein, speaking at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference.

THE WEATHER REPORT

Yet in the current economic environment, keeping travel affordable may play an outsized roll in staying competitive. The trade war initiated by President Donald Trump is roiling U.S. markets and dampening the high-ﬂying optimism prevalent last year among businesses and households.

To start the week, Delta slashed its quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, saying that a recent decline in consumer and corporate conﬁdence over the economy is weakening domestic demand. Shares of Delta have tumbled 24% this year.

MARINE FORECAST

A SOUTHWEST Airlines traveler checks a bag at Midway International Airport, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Chicago.

Photo:Erin Hooley/AP

As AI nurses reshape hospital care, human nurses are pushing back

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer

THE NEXT time you're due for a medical exam you may get a call from someone like Ana: a friendly voice that can help you prepare for your appointment and answer any pressing questions you might have.

With her calm, warm demeanor, Ana has been trained to put patients at ease — like many nurses across the U.S. But unlike them, she is also available to chat 24-7, in multiple languages, from Hindi to Haitian Creole.

That's because Ana isn't human, but an artiﬁcial intelligence program created by Hippocratic AI, one of a number of new companies offering ways to automate time-consuming tasks usually performed by nurses and medical assistants.

It's the most visible sign of AI's inroads into health care, where hundreds of hospitals are using increasingly sophisticated computer programs to monitor patients' vital signs, ﬂag emergency situations and trigger step-by-step action plans for care — jobs that were all previously handled by nurses and other health professionals.

Hospitals say AI is helping their nurses work more efﬁciently while addressing burnout and understafﬁng.

But nursing unions argue that this poorly understood technology is overriding nurses' expertise and degrading the quality of care patients receive.

"Hospitals have been waiting for the moment when they have something that appears to have enough legitimacy to replace nurses," said Michelle Mahon of National Nurses United. "The entire ecosystem is designed to

automate, de-skill and ultimately replace caregivers."

Mahon's group, the largest nursing union in the U.S., has helped organize more than 20 demonstrations at hospitals across the country, pushing for the right to have say in how AI can be used — and protection from discipline if nurses decide to disregard automated advice. The group raised new alarms in January when Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the incoming health secretary, suggested AI nurses "as good as any doctor" could help deliver care in rural areas. On Friday, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who's been nominated to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, said he believes AI can "liberate doctors and nurses from all the paperwork."

Hippocratic AI initially promoted a rate of $9 an hour for its AI assistants, compared with about $40 an hour for a registered nurse. It has since dropped that language, instead touting its services and seeking to assure customers that they have been carefully tested. The company did not grant requests for an interview.

AI in the hospital can generate false alarms and dangerous advice

Hospitals have been experimenting for years with technology designed to improve care and streamline costs, including sensors, microphones and motionsensing cameras. Now that data is being linked with electronic medical records and analyzed in an effort to predict medical problems and direct nurses' care — sometimes before they've evaluated the patient themselves.

Adam Hart was working in the emergency room at Dignity Health in

Henderson, Nevada, when the hospital's computer system flagged a newly arrived patient for sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to infection. Under the hospital's protocol, he was supposed to immediately administer a large dose of IV fluids. But after further examination, Hart determined that he was treating a dialysis patient, or someone with kidney failure. Such patients have to be carefully managed to avoid overloading their kidneys with fluid.

Hart raised his concern with the supervising nurse but was told to just follow the standard protocol. Only after a nearby physician intervened did the patient instead begin to receive a slow infusion of IV ﬂuids.

"You need to keep your thinking cap on— that's why you're being paid as a nurse," Hart said. "Turning over our thought processes

to these devices is reckless and dangerous."

Hart and other nurses say they understand the goal of AI: to make it easier for nurses to monitor multiple patients and quickly respond to problems. But the reality is often a barrage of false alarms, sometimes erroneously ﬂagging basic bodily functions — such as a patient having a bowel movement — as an emergency.

"You're trying to focus on your work but then you're getting all these distracting alerts that may or may not mean something," said Melissa Beebe, a cancer nurse at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. "It's hard to even tell when it's accurate and when it's not because there are so many false alarms."

Can AI help in the hospital?

Even the most sophisticated technology will miss signs that nurses routinely

pick up on, such as facial expressions and odors, notes Michelle Collins, dean of Loyola University's College of Nursing. But people aren't perfect either.

"It would be foolish to turn our back on this completely," Collins said. "We should embrace what it can do to augment our care, but we should also be careful it doesn't replace the human element."

More than 100,000 nurses left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to one estimate, the biggest stafﬁng drop in 40 years. As the U.S. population ages and nurses retire, the U.S. government estimates there will be more than 190,000 new openings for nurses every year through 2032.

Faced with this trend, hospital administrators see AI ﬁlling a vital role: not taking over care, but helping nurses and doctors

gather information and communicate with patients.

'Sometimes they are talking to a human and sometimes they're not'

At the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences in Little Rock, staffers need to make hundreds of calls every week to prepare patients for surgery.

Nurses conﬁrm information about prescriptions, heart conditions and other issues — like sleep apnea — that must be carefully reviewed before anesthesia.

The problem: many patients only answer their phones in the evening, usually between dinner and their children's bedtime.

"So what we need to do is ﬁnd a way to call several hundred people in a 120-minute window -- but I really don't want to pay my staff overtime to do so," said Dr. Joseph Sanford, who oversees the center's health IT.

Since January, the hospital has used an AI assistant from Qventus to contact patients and health providers, send and receive medical records and summarize their contents for human staffers. Qventus says 115 hospitals are using its technology, which aims to boost hospital earnings through quicker surgical turnarounds, fewer cancellations and reduced burnout.

Each call begins with the program identifying itself as an AI assistant.

"We always want to be fully transparent with our patients that sometimes they are talking to a human and sometimes they're not," Sanford said.

While companies like Qventus are providing an administrative service, other AI developers see a bigger role for their technology.

THIS March 2025 image from the website of artiﬁcial intelligence company Xoltar shows a demonstration of one of their avatars for conducting video calls with a patients. Photo:Xoltar/AP