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CAFTA

December 2008

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Executive Summary

  • CAFTA-DR has been a dramatic success. In just two years, it has helped American companies large and small increase their exports to Central America and the Dominican Republic by an impressive 55%.
  • U.S. exports of agricultural products to the region more than doubled, and nearly 20,000 small businesses are successfully tapping the Central American and Dominican markets.
  • The Chamber estimates that machinery exports to Central America and the Dominican Republic sustain more than 100,000 American jobs ¡X similar to the number of Americans employed by General Motors.
  • Belying criticism that the CAFTA-DR market is insignificant, U.S. companies today export more to these six countries than to Italy, a G7 economy that is one of the largest and richest in the world.
  • The U.S. trade balance with Central America and the Dominican Republic went from a $1.2 billion deficit in 2005 to a projected $5 billion surplus in 2008.
  • Thanks in part to CAFTA-DR, Central America and the Dominican Republic in 2006-2007 achieved their highest economic growth rates since the early 1990s, successfully diversified their exports, and greatly increased the volume of direct investment they are attracting from overseas.