New fees have been announced for foreign charter boats as the Virgin Islands pulled back from a trade war with its nearest neighbour.
Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley hailed an agreement with the United States VI after the American territory had threatened 25-percent tariffs if yachting fees were increased for the first time in more than 30 years.
After “intense” negotiations with USVI Governor Albert Bryan Jr., Mr. Wheatley backed off from plans to hike levies by up to 6,000 percent.
Proposed legislation brought to the House of Assembly in January will now be amended, he said.
New fee structure
Under the revised measures, USVI charter boats will be charged $7,500 annually for up to seven entries to VI waters, with an additional fee of $2,100 for each extra visit — or $24,000 a year for unlimited access, according to government.
Under the originally proposed legislation, the annual licensing fee would have been a flat $24,000 — a 2,900 percent increase from the $800 maximum annual fee now.
The planned revisions also lower the new annual fee for USVI boats offering day charters: The originally proposed $12,500 — a 6,150 percent hike on the current $200 fee — will be lowered to $8,500, the premier said. The new fee for water taxis will stay the same, at $2,500 per year.
VI’s intent
Mr. Wheatley insisted the VI had always been seeking a fair deal with its neighbour.
“I think originally there may have been the sense that we were trying to be punitive to the USVI; we were trying to destroy their industry, trying to take all the business — those types of things. None of those things were our intent,” the premier said last week during a “Virgin Islands Voice” government broadcast.
He added that change is needed as fees have not been increased since 1992.
“We just simply wanted to modernise the laws and be able to extract reasonable value based on the value of the charter boat industry,” he said during the April 16 broadcast.
The premier added that the USVI has accepted that the two territories are different.
“They have a different fee structure,” he said. “We don’t have income tax. We have to fund the government through our fees, our duty, our payroll tax.”
The dispute led to a public spat in February after Mr. Bryan threatened to levy 25-percent tariffs on the VI, prompting Mr. Wheatley to accuse him of “Trump-like bullying.”
Spat cooled
Temperatures have since cooled, and the premier said last week that the new agreement will boost both territories.
“It’s a victory for diplomacy; it’s a victory for the greater Virgin Islands,” he said. “We have to give thanks that we were able to avoid the effects of having poor relations between both sides.”
Mr. Wheatley added that the measures will be contained in a revised version of the Commercial Recreational Vessel Licensing Act 1992.
“This positive diplomatic engagement marks a new chapter in regional maritime cooperation and reflects the shared goal of fostering a vibrant, fair and sustainable charter tourism sector,” he said.
