Happy 2026 – to all who can afford to enjoy it! Following the Festive holidays and celebrations to ring in the New Year, it seems some food price frustrations are curiously festering despite relief. A couple of dates from the Old Year may offer more insight if we consider April 2 in the US and August 1 in Anguilla.
April 2 in the US was “Liberation Day” when the president declared new tariffs across the world! Yes, Americans were “freed” from decades of free trade that had given them – and us – globally competitive pricing on our goods primarily imported from their country. [1]
And on August 1, the People of Anguilla were liberated from paying GST on retail, wholesale and restaurant goods and services, and on the “goods” but not the “services” of manufacturers (they were unexpectedly denied full exemption). You know, like having a water or pump truck deliver water or concrete, as if you could buy such goods with a shopping bag and walk home?
Coincidentally, Tax Foundation analysts also reported that “On August 1, tariffs on US goods imports [were] scheduled to increase for more than 80 countries. With about 71 percent of US goods imports already facing President Trump’s minimum tariffs of 10 percent, much of the attention has focused on how tariffs will impact the manufactured goods sector. However, a variety of food imports are also impacted by the tariffs, and these will likely lead to higher food prices for consumers.” [2]
US Tariffs Affecting Anguillian Food Prices?
In fact, Tax Foundation analysts warned last July that tariffs would ripple through US food supply chains – just when GST Relief would begin. They described how a beverage company might switch source countries for aluminum in their cans, but that items like bananas and the flavours of Brazilian coffee could not be produced in the US. That would lead to passing on tariffs without options. [2] While we have regional coffee and our own banana alternatives, the impact is inescapable.
They continued, “In 2024, the US imported about $221 billion in food products, 74 percent of which ($163 billion) faced the Trump tariffs… they will exceed 30 percent for some countries if the reciprocal tariffs go into effect on August 1. The top five exporters of food products to the US, in order, are Mexico, Canada, the EU, Brazil, and China, accounting for 62 percent of total US food imports.” [2]
Tough Timing for Anguillian Consumers – and Leaders
Think about it. US tariffs took effect the same week 13% GST was repealed from goods while replacing duty previously re-named Interim Goods Tax, which we had always paid. Except for one thing: reinstated duty did not apply to food – which was exempted from GST in December 2024.
Thus, 13% savings on all goods, “confectionaries” and other newly exempted food items taxed by the previous government were countered by “10 percent to 30 percent” US tariffs on “food products” at the same time. Some wrongly blamed higher food prices on restoring pre-GST duties, because they were not added to food. Yet others blamed merchants for adding tariff impacts and accused them of gouging. They also created pressure to destroy freedom of commerce from a new law establishing unrestricted powers for business inspections, goods seizures, and fines. [3] Taking rights, as with GST.
By October, Premier Richardson Hodge explained, “We here are experiencing issues from the increases in tariffs that have impacted not just Anguilla, but all of the other countries that import items coming through the US…This is resulting in higher food prices. …as a result of Anguilla’s businesses importing products from the US, we, like other countries are now suffering from high commodity prices due to the recently imposed US tariffs.”[4]
So why are some still saying, “They promised relief, but putting duties back made food more expensive…”? Is it an excuse for those who wanted to keep GST, so customers paid double for their utility taxes? Remember: those taxes were built into prices before GST renamed them! If any, blame must go to US tariffs, not to duties we always paid, and which were not added back to food, regardless.
Growing American – and Global – Grocery Angst…
By November, Americans expressed their pricing pain at the polls. They handed handy wins to Democrats in a handful of off-cycle elections where Republicans had fared much better in the past. That political pressure led Trump to rescind some tariffs, “…in the face of growing angst among American consumers about the high cost of groceries.” [5]
Reuters reported rollbacks on many products that “…have seen double-digit year-over-year price increases. …over 200 items ranging from oranges, acai berries and paprika to cocoa, chemicals used in food production, fertilizers and even communion wafers.” Whereas “ground beef…was nearly 13% more… and steaks cost almost 17% more …” than a year earlier. [5]
And US price pressures persist from immigration policies affecting farm workers to tariffs on imported goods not rolled back in November. Whereas our Statistics Department just reported 1.2% overall inflation here, despite 1.3% lower food prices in the fourth quarter and 6.6% lower than 2024 – but, as US businesses have absorbed a large share of tariffs to date, “items with low profit margins, including groceries, may be among the first to rise” in 2026.[6,7] Thus, as these are averages, some prices may still seem higher, while others inch back to earlier levels due to erratic tariffs that continue.
Meanwhile, on December 30, the British Navy reported Russian attacks on ships in Black Sea ports attempting to load Ukrainian wheat, posing further risks to “global food security” [8].
Cost of Living vs. Lost Liberty
Nearly every household in Anguilla depends on prepared food from time to time, if not daily, to manage getting to work and getting children to school. And those time – and cost – pressures increase whenever anyone needs second or third jobs to pay their bills. Beyond completely removing GST from grocery stores, GST Relief made restaurant and bakery food more affordable, as even the smallest venues were pressured to register and collect it. Can you imagine today’s prices if we were still paying 13% more without relief? This government delivered on their promise.
If only they had promised to restore our civil rights lost under GST. When they replaced it with GST on services, did the technocrats force a compromise for financial relief? They notably retained their powers to oppress businesses left in the services snare – and the rest of us still subjected to lost rights and 26 ways to criminalise commerce. Yes, the General Services Tax Act reduced a few shocking penalties, but it continues to make a farce of the Constitution!
How? In an intimate society our size, intrusive taxation should stop at inspecting boxes at the border, not bank statements – without cause or court orders. For example, the General Services Tax Act exposes every lawyer to arbitrary audits of fees paid for some of the most private matters in our lives. And anyone can be called under oath to give evidence against a merchant – or forced self-incrimination, without a lawyer. Yet, even if liberated from GST, businesses remain at risk of predatory prosecution – in perpetuity. And they may also be forced to undergo audits going back many years, just to be removed from the registry! [9]
So, many food prices may seem higher than ever, now inflated by US tariffs. But. The price of our lost rights and privacy is the highest price we are still forced to pay!
Repeal GST – and pass a balanced budget bill. Now.
This article reflects issues raised on July 5, 2021, at the House Select Committee on GST Public Hearing.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Day_tariffs; [2] https://taxfoundation.org/blog/trump-tariffs-food-prices/; [3] Consumer Protection Policy, Ministry of Finance, Feb 2023; [4] https://theanguillian.com/2025/10/premier-attributes-high-food-prices-to-us-tariffs/
[5] https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-cuts-tariffs-beef-coffee-other-foods-inflation-concerns-mount-2025-11-14/; [6] Anguilla’s Consumer Price Index, 4Q25; [7] https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/03/business/tariffs-prices-2026; [8] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/31/ukraine-war-briefing-attack-on-global-food-security-as-russia-hits-wheat-ships-and-ports; [9] General Services Tax Act, 2025.
