The measure announced Thursday by the president of the United States Donald Trump imposeduty reciprocal“To countries that tax American products could have diverse repercussions For the Dominican Republicalthough, according to the experts consulted, the first signals do not seem to be negative.
The main advantage of the Dominican Republic In this context is the existence of Free Trade Agreement between the Dominican RepublicCentral America and the United States (DR-CAFTA), which allows preferential access to Dominican products without duty towards the US market, said the economist Roberto Despradel.
Said that this treaty ensures that the trade between the two countries is liberalized, which means that Rates tariff that are applied to products from Dominican Republic They should not be affected by the new measure, since the treaty already establishes clear conditions for the trade reciprocal.
In addition, he stressed that the Dominican Republic It is the eighth country with the largest surplus commercial With the United States, which implies that it is not one of those generated by the deficit commercial that Trump’s measure seeks to attack. “This reinforces the idea that policy commercial Trump would not have an adverse impact on the trade between both countries “.
In that sense, the specialist in trade Exterior, Elka Scheker, indicated that, since January 1, 2025, the Dominican products that were previously subject to duty They have remained exempt thanks to the last implementation phase of the DR-CAFTA.
Scheker stressed that this agreement The tariff universe with the United States had already negotiated and, therefore, the imposition of new duty reciprocal I would not have an impact on the Dominican Republic nor in the Central American countries that are also part of the treaty.
Also, Devadel stressed that Trump’s measure could even have repercussions positive For the Dominican Republic.
However, the economist recommended to continue monitoring the decisions of policy commercial of the United States, “our main partner commercial“, since any future change in commercial rules could affect the relationship between the two countries.
“Duty reciprocal“
Donald Trump He signed a memorandum to impose on Thursday “duty reciprocal“To countries that tax US products, with the aim of matching Rates that these nations apply to US exports, and with the European Union (EU) among the main victims.
“I have decided that, for reasons of justice, I will impose duty reciprocalwhich means that we will charge the same as a country to pay the US, neither more nor less, “he told the press in the Oval Office of the White House.
The new ones duty They will not immediately come into force, but within a period of “weeks” or “months”, and the first to be punished will be those with which the US has a greater deficit commercialaccording to a senior official before the signing of the memorandum.
The first step will be the elaboration, within 180 days, of a report especially impact fiscal which must be delivered to the President, as stated in the memorandum.
“Everyone has taken advantage of the US and we have paid a high price for it.”US President
The president considered that “now is the time for those countries to remember what we have done for them and treat us fairly.”
The document signed by Trump focuses on two aspects that, according to him, have generated an “unfair” treatment for the US in the trade international: the duty taxes by other countries to US exports and calls “Barriers non -tariff“
Are “Barriers“They include subsidies that favor certain sectors in each country, hindering competition for American products, as well as” excessive “regulations, especially in environmental matters, and” manipulations “in currency exchange rates.
Each nation will face duty Personalizedaccording to the aforementioned official. A 10 % or 25 % uniform rate will not apply, but the administration will establish specific rates depending on the duty and “Barriers“Commercial that each nation imposes on the US
