Dominican producers worry as DR-Cafta deadlines loom

Santo Domingo.-The free trade agreement between Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, the United States and the Dominican Republic (DR-Cafta) has Dominican producers worried about pork, poultry, beans, garlic, onions, rice and milk, among others, labeling as unfair competition placing those items to compete with those imported with subsidies from their respective governments .

While times have changed the world is better linked with more open markets, but it is up to each country to gather the necessary tools to be more competitive with their peers and know how to negotiate free trade agreements so that they don’t become threats to local producers

Diario Libre reports that there are agro products whose 15-year period already expires this 2020 as is the case of pork and beans. “And by 2025, products such as rice, chicken thighs and some dairy products will enter the Dominican market free of tariffs.”