Corn syrup producers of the United States have requested that US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick intervene to remove a paragraph from the text that would penalize companies using the cheaper corn syrup as a sweetener with a 25% surcharge. The Chamber of Deputies has included the additional charge in the tax reform bill currently under study in the DR Congress. The paragraph in question seeks to restore protectionism of the Dominican Republic’s sugar industry. The Corn Refiners’ Association and the National Corn Growers’ Association objected that the change would override the Free Trade Agreement signed between the DR and the United States recently. Diario Libre reports that the use of corn syrup is subject to duty in Mexico, and the corn syrup producers do not want the same to happen in the DR.
The Corn Refiners’ Association and the National Corn Growers’ Association condemn the legislation that would impose a restriction on the domestic sale of beverages containing high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
“Legislators in the Dominican Republic are clearly trying to shield their sugar producers from import competition just as the United States is poised to consider a free trade agreement with that country,” said Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners’ Association. “Passage of this legislation would call into question the two-way trade envisioned under the Central American Free Trade Agreement and could seriously jeopardize CAFTA ratification.”
Dominican sugar producers objected to the DR-CAFTA on grounds that it would affect their profitability and local sales. Recently, on the other hand, Atahualpa Dominguez, spokesman for the association of companies that use sugar as an input material said that local protectionism has resulted in a reduced production of manufacturing industries by at least 50%. They attributed this to the higher cost of locally produced sugar, which renders it non-competitive with imports and less competitive in export markets.
See http://www.corn.org/newsroom.htm