The United States will be sending the DR-CAFTA to its Congress following the 2 November elections. Juan Guilliani Cury, the vice-minister of foreign relations for economic affairs and commercial negotiations, feels there are several months left for the country to straighten out the issues relating to the 25% surtax to be levied on soft drinks using HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup, called syrup or corn syrup in the local press). Guilliani Cury feels that these months can be used to open a dialogue with the United States trade representatives and avoid the consequences defined by Robert Zoellick in his letter to the US Congress. Zoellick told the congressional leaders that he felt that if the Dominican Republic continued to uphold a 25% tax on imported HFCS, the country should be dropped from the FTA legislation. Guilliani pointed out that the DR is one of the United States’ most important trading partners in the hemisphere, representing annual commerce of US$9 billion, and that a solution must be found to this issue. He urged Dominican legislators to act quickly.