United Progressive Party (UPP) political leader Jamale Pringle has pledged to eliminate all import duties on vehicles for personal use if the party wins the April 30 general election, arguing that the current tax structure forces citizens to depend on politicians for concessions.

Pringle, speaking at the party’s campaign launch rally in St. John’s Rural West, said the existing costs facing vehicle owners, include a 35 percent duty rate, 15 percent Revenue Recovery Charge (RRC), and 17 percent Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax (ABST), which he said combine to exceed 60 percent before the environmental levy pushes the total beyond 70 percent.

“We will remove all import duties on vehicles for personal use,” Pringle told supporters. “And with this policy, you will not have to go to a politician to access this.”

The UPP leader accused the ABLP administration of using duty-free vehicle concessions as a tool of political patronage, saying the practice reduced citizens to dependents.

“This Gaston Browne administration would have used a duty-free concession on a motor vehicle to bribe people in Antigua and Barbuda, to have people running behind politicians like beggars,” Pringle said.

He committed to ensuring that vehicle tax relief would be applied universally through policy rather than political discretion.

“No longer will the people of Antigua and Barbuda be subjected to the whim and fancy of a political party or a candidate or political person. We will ensure that policies are geared towards everybody without political interference,” he said.

Beyond personal vehicles, Pringle outlined a tiered approach to the broader transportation sector.

Import duties on commercial vehicles would be reduced by 50 percent under a UPP government, a measure he said was designed to support small business owners who he described as the people who employ neighbours and keep communities alive.

“We want our businesspeople, we want our small businesses to rise. And we want them to stay alive in Antigua and Barbuda,” Pringle said.

Agricultural vehicles and farm equipment would receive the most favourable treatment under the proposed policy, with full exemption from all duties and taxes. Pringle framed the measure as part of the party’s broader food security agenda, linking it to the need for increased domestic production capacity.

“We will never tax the tools of the people who grow our food,” he said, adding that full equipment support for farmers would ensure the country could increase production “not in words, but in actuality” in the event of future supply chain disruptions similar to those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The vehicle duty proposals formed one of five policy pillars Pringle outlined at the rally, alongside commitments on food costs, road infrastructure, water supply and healthcare. He also criticised the government’s 40 percent increase in vehicular licence fees, saying motorists were paying more for licences and vehicle repairs while road conditions remained poor.

The general election is scheduled for April 30.