After several days of intense lobbying and suspended sessions, the Senate and the government agreed to suspend the 25% tax on soft drinks using High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) imported from the United States from the proposed free trade agreement. The two groups of negotiators also agreed that in January the Senate could take under consideration what compensation may or may not be offered to those groups of the Dominican industrial or agricultural sectors not assisted by the free trade agreement. According to Diario Libre, the Senate rescinded the contentious HFCS tax last evening after the morning negotiations yielded the prospect for talks on compensations between 2 January and 27 February. These new talks will address the tax exemptions to be granted to the nation’s industrial and agricultural sectors within what is now being called a “mini-tax reform package.” The legislation to remove the HFCS surcharge will now go to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
The tax on corn syrup created an impasse with the United States Trade Representative Office that had threatened to rescind the docking of the Dominican Republic agreement to the free trade agreement signed with Central American countries (DR-CAFTA).