A Dominican mission made up by Minister of Industry and Commerce Victor (Ito) Bisono, Minister of Hacienda Jose Manuel (Jochi) Vicente and Minister of Foreign Relations Roberto Alvarez is in Washington, D.C. for high-level meetings on Dominican and United States relations, especially with officials of the US Trade Representatives Office. The negotiators seek to remove the 10% tariff, the Trump administration has levied on all Dominican imports to the United States, including free zone imports as of 5 April 2025. The Dominican Republic is a signatory of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement.
Speaking on the issue during the 21 April 2025 press conference, President Luis Abinader said that the 10% tariff should be removed given that it is a tariff levied to ensure trade reciprocity. The United States has an enormous trade surplus with the Dominican Republic. “If it is as they say that there needs to be reciprocity, then the 10% tariff should not exist,” said President Abinader.
While the Dominican Republic initially was among the countries with the lower 10% tariff, in a new measure US President Donald Trump announced a leveling of tariffs to most countries to 10%, in effect as of 5 April 2025, leaving the door open for individual negotiations.
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La Semanal press conference
Diario Libre
22 April 2025