The Ministry of Foreign Relations has appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to resolve a number of bilateral commerce conflicts with Haiti. The Haitian government has proposed increases in tariffs by more than 40% for certain goods, taking advantage of its position as an impoverished nation and its recently achieved full member status in the Caribbean Common Market (Caricom).
Until now, Haiti has traditionally applied low tariff rates to goods imported from the Dominican Republic and not the Common External Tariff (CET) that Caricom members apply to third party countries. But on 10 April 2017, Haiti presented its intention to apply Caricom tariffs by means of the notification to the WTO and conversations are still ongoing.
With this measure, the member countries of Caricom would enjoy preferential tariffs of zero percent for products such as cement and metal bars that are also imported from the Dominican Republic.
The members of Caricom are: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Granada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, San St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the British Virgin Isles, Turks and Caicos Isles and Haiti (admitted in 1997).
The Dominican negotiators argue that if the new tariffs are allowed to be enacted, market access would be severely affected. This type of a tariff-imposed trade barrier has a remedy as contemplated in the Trade Facilitation Agreement of which Haiti is also a member, as part of the WTO.
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Listin Diario
18 July 2018
