DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Economist Ellen Perez Ducy writes a second part in her analysis for Diario Libre on DR-CAFTA now that the Trump Administration has levied a 10% tariff on the Dominican Republic, an outright change of the trading rules with the Caribbean and Central America.

In her analysis, “The Myth of Exports (Part II): The DR-CAFTA Paradox,” Perez Ducy makes the point that while free trade agreements may be hailed as a panacea for economic growth, it is up to each country to adapt export offerings to be able to capitalize on new market access. She stresses the importance of concentrating on the production of high value-added industrialized products without neglecting the strategic importance of agriculture exports.

She highlights it took the DR time to adapt its exports to DR-CAFTA, but eventually the country switched from being a major exporter of apparel to higher value-added exports prevailing for the free...