ISDS Case Map
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico's trade with the Dominican Republic could double with the approval of Cafta-DR.
Dominican President Leonel Fernandez will visit the US next Monday to attend a meeting convened by President George W Bush to examine free trade agreements (FTA) together with several Central American counterparts.
Sixty-two Dominican organizations, integrated as Alternative Social Forum, will demand that the National Congress reject the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with the United States, coordinators reported Monday.
The Bush administration has decided to exclude the Dominican Republic from the Central American Free Trade Agreement because the Dominican Republic has adopted a tax on products containing high fructose corn syrup, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said.
The Bush administration is working to strip the Dominican Republic out of a wider free trade pact if the Caribbean nation does not repeal a recently implemented tax on soft drinks that affects U.S. exporters.
The U.S. government has suspended plans to ratify a free-trade agreement with the Dominican Republic after lawmakers passed a 25 percent import tax on corn syrup last week, a top U.S. official said Monday.
A U.S. lawmaker urged the Dominican president Friday to veto a 25 percent import tax on corn syrup, warning it could bring an end to a free-trade agreement between the two countries.
U.S. corn producers complained to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick after the Dominican Republic (D.R.) Congress decided to impose a 25% surcharge on imports of cheaper U.S. corn syrup for use as a sweetener.
The Dominican Republic will join a proposed free-trade pact with the United States and five countries of Central America known as CAFTA, US officials said.
