Federal Government Mobilizes as BVI Charter Fees Trigger Vessel Relocations and Economic Losses

Small Business Administration Atlantic Regional Administrator Matt Coleman said Friday that the federal government is mobilizing a “whole of government approach” in response to what he described as unfair trade actions by the British Virgin Islands that are financially harming U.S. Virgin Islands marine small businesses.

Speaking February 20 from St. John — with Tortola visible behind him across the channel — Coleman noted that he is the first SBA regional administrator in about 30 years to visit the island. He pointed across the water to Tortola, the capital of the British Virgin Islands, located about one and a half miles away.

He said the BVI government recently enacted trade measures that “monetarily punish U.S. marine small businesses crossing that historically shared waterway between our islands,” including fee hikes “from $400 to $24,000 annually.”

“That’s a whopping 6,000% increase,” Coleman said, adding, “and it’s absolutely numbing.”

Coleman stated that the SBA is leading efforts to address the economic challenges through coordination with federal partners, including the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies and sub-agencies.