Dominican Republic Approves CAFTA-DR, NCGA Notes (9-7-05)
The Dominican Republic became the fourth country to approve the Central
American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, the National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) notes. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and
United States have already approved the agreement; Costa Rica and Nicaragua
have not.
“It’s
good to see the Dominican Republic sign on to CAFTA-DR,” said
Leon Corzine, NCGA president. “These countries understand the
importance of trade in our own hemisphere. We need to have a trade
agreement with these countries in order to have strong relationships
with them. It’s good to see they want to have a strong relationship
with the United States as well.”
President George
W. Bush signed CAFTA-DR Aug. 2. CAFTA-DR provides immediate duty-free
access to more than half of all U.S. agricultural exports to the region
and will enhance U.S. agricultural exports by $1.5 billion when fully
implemented.
NCGA and other
agriculture organizations have long touted the benefits this agreement
provides to agriculture, including:
* Increasing agriculture exports by $900 million annually
* Immediate elimination of duties on more than 80 percent of U.S.
exports
* Increasing exports of U.S. manufactured exports by approximately
$3 billion annually
* Opening markets to give our growers access to important markets.
“With the
addition of the Dominican Republic, corn imports from the United States
will grow from an average of $93.3 million (1999-2001) to $148.3 million
in 2024,” said June Silverberg, NCGA director of public policy.
“Tariffs on both white and yellow corn will be set at zero duty
immediately. As a result, we expect to see our exports to the Dominican
Republic grow as a direct effect of the elimination of duties.”
U.S. Trade Representative
Rob Portman said, “We will be coordinating with the CAFTA governments
over the next few weeks to determine when to put the agreement into
effect.”
Corzine is excited
the agreement could kick into effect soon.
“We’re
moving very quickly,” he said. “The quicker we enact the
agreement, the quicker all of the countries involved can see the beneficial
effects of free trade. This agreement is very beneficial to the United
States economy and agriculture.”
Silverberg added,
“The playing field is now level and with the addition of DR,
our producers are provided with new opportunities to gain greater
access to additional markets in the Dominican Republic.”