Trinidad officials unveiled plans on Thursday for a 200 per cent tax on carnival costumes imported from China and India, saying the flood of imports is hurting the culture of the Caribbean nation.
Winston “Gypsy” Peters, Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism, announced the planned tariff as he promised to make Trinidad and Tobago an “exporter of carnival costumes”.
“We have been indulging in a kind of subculture where we are importing most of our mas (masquerade items) from India and China while the people who are creative in our country stand idly by,” he said.
“People who are intent on bringing any mas costume to Trinidad will have to pay,” he added.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar supported the proposal, saying it was a good way of passing on the necessary carnival skills to a younger generation.