Trump tariffs present golden opportunity for Commonwealth Realms

Originally published in NOW Grenada and The Grenadian Voice on 3. February 2025.

US President Donald Trump’s imposition of across-the-board 25% tariffs on Canada late last week, and his repeated calls for Canadian annexation, has shattered the assumption among many international leaders that the United States can be counted on as a reliable and predictable international trade or defence partner. This is a major problem not just for Canada, but for every country across the globe, including Grenada.

The United States is Grenada’s main trading partner, with 33% of our exports going to and 37% of our imports coming from the US in 2022. Over-reliance on the US for trade, a natural consequence of America’s position as the world’s leading economy, has with these recent events proven itself a dangerous thing for our economy, and indeed the economy of any country.

Trade diversification is an imperative, and Trump’s tariff moves have been a wake-up call for this. Trump has, however inadvertently, opened the door for a golden opportunity: cooperation and integration between the 15 Commonwealth Realms.

The Commonwealth Realms, of which Grenada is one, is the group of 15 states within the Commonwealth which share King Charles III as head of state. Together this group, which contains the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, alongside most of the English-speaking Caribbean and some island states in the Pacific, would constitute a bloc with the third-largest economy in the world, at 7.4 trillion Dollars US, and a population of over 158 million.

Cooperation and collaboration between the Realms could see the opportunity of a lifetime for major trade diversification and international cooperation in an increasingly volatile world. This is not a new idea; the group CANZUK International has since 2015 advocated for the implementation of free movement and free trade between the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand based on the shared Crown, Westminster parliamentary system, historic heritage, Common Law system and English language. The Conservative Party of Canada, the country’s main opposition party which seems poised to win this year’s election, officially adopted support for the CANZUK idea as part of its platform in 2018.

We must, however, go further than this. Such an arrangement must  include not just the big CANZUK 4, but all of the King’s 15 Realms, who all share the same facets used to justify CANZUK. A Union of His Majesty’s Realms, which facilitates eased trade between our brother countries, guaranteed visa free travel and eased entry, would benefit Grenada and all 14 other realms.

The Union of His Majesty’s Realms should facilitate mutual defence and support guarantees, similar to those enjoyed by members of the NATO military alliance. It should guarantee visa free travel and eased entry by citizens of each realm, grant trade preferences, provide for education and political cooperation, and a commitment to move towards full freedom of movement and freedom of trade.

Some may counter with concerns about immigration among the big 4, or brain drain in the Caribbean, as impediments to such a Union. Indeed, freedom of movement and free trade between all 15 realms immediately would doubtlessly cause major brain drain here in the Caribbean, as we would see thousands move to the more prosperous big 4. This has been the case for many Eastern European countries after joining the EU, with thousands of their youngest and brightest moving to Germany or France for a better life. These concerns however can be neutralised rather simply by the implementation of a 2-speed structure for the Union. 

Under such a 2-speed structure, the Union of His Majesty’s Realms could provide full freedom of movement and trade at the onset to the CANZUK big 4, while the remaining smaller 11 realms receive guarantees of defence and visa free travel, eased entry and trade preferences. The smaller 11 would then be empowered to, when economically strong enough to not be at risk of crippling brain drain, join the full freedom of movement and trade scheme alongside the CANZUK big 4.

Such a Union would be revolutionary. It could supercharge the economies of all nations involved, opening new markets and bringing down trade barriers. It would foster closer international ties between a group of nations with not just deep shared historic and political heritage, but even a shared head of state. On a tangible day-to-day level, it would open the doors to visa free travel for Grenadians to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It would give Grenada a place in a forum of powerful nations, and a chance to diversify our trade away from an increasingly volatile United States.

Donald Trump’s tariff-warring has given our political leaders a golden opportunity to change the international scene. The Grenada Monarchist League is hereby calling upon the Government of Grenada to take a lead in starting the conversation on negotiating such a Union with our fellow Realms. All efforts should be made to bring the governments of all 15 Realms to the table, to hammer out an agreement for association and collaboration. This is not just a fantasy, this is something which is doable.

Too often our leaders get stuck in an endless cycle of talk and no action. Discussions, dialogues, and empty promises. Today, this is not an option. The increasing volatility of the world requires that we act quickly and stand together, or fall divided. 

Our call upon the Government is this: act now. Take the lead and start this conversation. Grenada may be small, but with determination, action and zeal, capitalising on this moment of international tension and uncertainty, we could be a driving force behind perhaps seeing a preliminary agreement for a Union of Realms agreed to already at next year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Antigua and Barbuda.

For the sake of Grenada’s future, for the sake of the future and prosperity of all 15 Commonwealth Realms, this is a golden opportunity which we cannot squander. We must seize this chance unreservedly with both hands.