CONEP, ASONAHORES and ADOEXPO – three major forces in the Dominican business sector – continue their campaign against the proposed 5% tax on exports being pushed through by the government. Private business association CONEP is suggesting that the government introduce other taxes to breach the quasi-fiscal deficit, as part of the requirements for the agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Hoteliers association ASONAHORES and exporters association ADOEXPO are, for their part, proposing a one-off special contribution as an alternative to the 5% tax, an idea that has been met with stiff opposition from the export sector. In a document released yesterday, CONEP analyzes the export sector in detail and finds that there is no way the tax will succeed in its objective of raising RD$7.6 billion, the sum promised by the government to the IMF. “No country taxes exports. Exports are subsidized and imports are taxed,” concludes the CONEP document. JAD, the agricultural business board, also warned that the farming sector would not be able to bear the burden of a 5% tax on top of all the other difficulties it is experiencing. In a written document delivered yesterday at the hearings on the tax in the Chamber of Deputies, CONEP stated: “No country penalizes its exports. Countries penalize imports and subsidize exports.”