Dominican rice growers are hoping government officials will come up with a way to get around opening to tariff-free rice imports. The authorities have set up a working group, Minister of Agriculture Limber Cruz Lopez has met with farmers from the growing regions, and President Abinader has expressed his support.
The DR is a signatory of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement with the United States that had established zero tariff rice imports would begin in 2025.
Local farmers are concerned they would be affected if US rice competes in price with locally produced rice. Rice is a centerpiece of Dominican farming, and a mainstay for the economies of many provinces in the central Cibao region. The farmers are concerned their livelihoods will be seriously affected now that the deadline is approaching.
Curiously, there was an article in the Diario Libre and the Listin Diario that stated that rice in the United States is more expensive than locally-produced grain.
Rice will continue to be on the front burner of the government’s agricultural agenda in 2023 and 2024.
The Dominican ambassador in Washington, D.C., Sonia Guzman was the chief negotiator for the DR-CAFTA signed during the Hipólito Mejía presidency.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
20 March 2023