Dominican Republic a DR-Cafta leader but hurdles loom

Santo Domingo.- 13 years after the Central America-United States-Dominican Republic free trade agreement (DR-Cafta) took effect the country has managed to increase its exports and become a regional leader in trade with the US.

However, the country faces several challenges within the DR-Cafta, mainly with some products from the agricultural sector, according to Roberto Despradel, economist and trade expert.

Among the challenges, Despradel said there are still several “highly sensitive” agricultural products to conclude the liberalization calendar, goods that the United States produces and exports and that it also promotes through different internal support programs.

“There is a great challenge here, because combining the atomicity of domestic producers with the domestic support of the United States will make it very difficult to compete. For our country, these are products with high economic, social and, therefore, political sensitivity,” he warned.