CAFTA-DR Implementation to be Completed - Truth About Trade and Technology

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Thursday, 25 September 2008 23:07

Farm Futures
Originally Published: September 23, 2008
Costa Rica is expected to implement the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement on Oct. 1, 2008. Costa Rica would be the last country to implement the agreement. The agreement was designed to level the playing field between the United States and the six CAFTA-DR trade partners.

As the agreements have taken effect with each country, more than half of U.S. farm exports gain immediate duty-free access, including high-quality cuts of beef, soybeans, cotton, wheat, many fruits and vegetables, and processed food products. Tariffs on most other U.S. farm products will be phased out within 15 years. All tariffs will be eliminated in 20 years.

CAFTA-DR provides U.S. farmers and ranchers access to more than the 47 million people estimated to be living in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in July 2008. As these countries' populations grow and their economies expand, more and more people will enter the middle class, increasing food demand and creating U.S. trade and investment opportunities. Two-way trade of agricultural products between the United States and those countries grew 21% from $3.8 billion in 2006 to nearly $4.6 billion in 2007.