Commonwealth leaders gather in Antigua as tariffs reshape old empire's trade
56 states representing 2.7 billion people seek intra-bloc commerce while Washington's duties fluctuate through the courts, Gulf and Brazilian officials attend as guests of a club they never joined
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Dozens of Commonwealth leaders descend on Antigua during global political turbulence – WTOP News
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More than 50 heads of government representing nearly a third of the world's population have descended on the Caribbean island of Antigua for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the biennial gathering of a club built from the wreckage of the British Empire.
The agenda is dominated by trade and money. Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey told the Associated Press that leaders representing 2.7 billion people would look at reducing barriers to intra-Commonwealth trade, because "all the countries woke up one day and were slapped with tariffs" — a reference to the highest US import duties since the Great Depression, rates that have fluctuated amid legal challenges. "If we are trading more among ourselves, whatever happens outside the Commonwealth will not affect countries too much," she said.
Officials also plan a fund to provide digital skills to about ten million young adults — Botchwey said she hopes the private sector, foundations and philanthropists will contribute — and a separate fund to help member states transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Forty-nine of the 56 member countries share a border with the ocean, and rising sea levels loom over the four-day programme.
The guest list says as much as the agenda. Officials from Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates — none of them members — are scheduled to attend, as are King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Botchwey framed the moment frankly: the world faces conflict, economic shocks, climate change and "the weaponization of tariffs, and all of this hitting directly the pockets of our people."
Some Caribbean leaders have pushed for slavery reparations to be discussed — a conversation King Charles III's presence makesawkward rather than resolved. Richardo Aiken, a civil society governor at the Commonwealth Foundation, noted that the people's forum will focus on climate justice and freedom of expression, and on bringing Indigenous communities into conversations whose financing depends on writing proposals, "the main vehicle to access financing."
The meeting opens Tuesday morning and closes Wednesday, by which time the communiqué will presumably describe the fund announcements as historic.