The bulk of Dominican exports from free zone companies are already paying the 10% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump’s government on most of their imports, since April 5 this year.
Before Trump’s provision, imports from the Dominican Republic did not pay any tariffs, as they were included in the Free Trade Agreement between the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States (DR-CAFTA).
The United States has established a global tariff of 10%, leaving a mere 1,035 tariff items exempt, which includes products such as electronic components (semiconductors and memory cards), copper, energy, wood, pharmaceuticals, cell phones, computers, among others.
The Dominican Republic competes minimally in these tariff free products, with exports last year of only three million dollars and accounting for only 16 of the 1,035 tariff items that are electrical and electronic products, pharmaceuticals, metal waste, wood, among others, according to official data.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and MSMEs (MICM), Vilma Arbaje, said that they are encouraging the diversification of markets, to continue strengthening the export capacity of the Dominican Republic and the competitiveness of national production.
72% of exports from Dominican free zones in 2024 went to the United States and 5% to Puerto Rico. Faced with these changes in trade policy, there is a need to attract investment or make changes in current production towards those products that are key to the United States and that do not pay tariffs.
Free trade zones are one of the pillars of the Dominican economy and, in 2024, manufacturing registered a year-on-year increase of 6.8% compared to 2023 and exports were US$8,607.2 million, corresponding to 67% of those reported by the country, according to figures from the Council of Free Export Zones (CNZFE).
In March of this year, exports were US$779.9 million, an increase of 13.3%. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of the year, growth in this line reached 17.5%, with a total of US$1,998.9 million, compared to the same period in 2024.
194,943 jobs were created up to February 2025, 97 industrial parks currently operate, and 851 companies are active under the free zone scheme.
Arbaje indicated that the Dominican government sent two letters, one to the Secretary of Commerce of the United States, Howard Lutnick and another to President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, requesting meetings to discuss the provision of the global tariff of 10%. She said that they are waiting for a prompt response to start talks.
She stressed that the MICM has maintained an articulated work with the national productive sector, in coordination with other government entities, such as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, as well as the Customs and Internal Revenue directorates, among other key actors.
She also said that three working groups have been formed, which have met several times, with this issue as a basis.
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