On 1 April 2014, President Danilo Medina received a response to a letter he had sent US President Barack Obama. Medina sent a formal letter to Obama on 27 November 2013 warning that the Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) under study in the US Congress would negatively impact the apparel industry in the DR-CAFTA region if certain special concessions were given to the signatories. The TPP is currently being negotiated by the United States with Mexico, Singapore, Peru, New Zealand, Malaysia, Chile, Brunei, Japan, Vietnam, Canada and Australia.
As reported in Listin Diario, in his April 2014 letter President Obama responded by saying he had instructed the negotiating team to take the observations made by the DR-CAFTA signatories into account.
Textile and clothing production in the Central American region, including the Dominican Republic, is largely based on US-made yarn and fabric. Medina had asked the US authorities to consider the TPP in terms of the ‘yarn-forward’ rule of origin for textile and apparel, as otherwise the products that would come from a country like Vietnam could have duty-access to the US market, even though they are made using raw materials from countries like China that are not part of the TPP agreement.
The TPP would also affect US manufacturers. DR argues that the DR-CAFTA region is the second largest market for exports of US made yarn and fabric. Clothing made in the region contains about 70% of US raw material content.
DR-CAFTA region countries estimate that 100,000 jobs could be lost in Central America and 500,000 in the United States if the bill passes in the US Congress.
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/5/25/323299/Obama-promete-a-Medina-respetar-pacto-DR-Cafta