On August 5, 2004, the United States signed the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) with Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The agreement will provide America’s farmers, ranchers, food processors, and the businesses they support with improved, and in many cases, new access to this growing regional market of 44 million consumers. The CAFTA-DR calls for eventual duty-free, quota-free access on essentially all products, and addresses other trade measures among the parties as well. Under the existing terms of the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which the CAFTA-DR replaces, nearly all agricultural exports from the CAFTA-DR countries to the United States already receive duty free treatment. The CAFTA-DR levels the playing field, providing U.S. exporters market access that is better than, or at a minimum equal to, that given to other competitor countries.

After CAFTA-DR. . . U.S. cookies gain preferential access in all 6 countries with tariffs on some types of cookies scheduled for immediate elimination, while other cookies have immediate tariff reduction and eventual removal within 5 to 15 years.

Before CAFTA-DR. . . Cookies are permitted to enter the United States duty-free from all 6 countries. From 2002 through 2004, U.S. annual imports from all 6 countries averaged $1.1 million.

After CAFTA-DR. . . Cookies from all 6 countries continue to benefit from duty-free access to the U.S. market as the United States’ zero duty is locked-in.