Free trade with Taiwan causes stir

[NewsWhore]

Dominican industries are expressing their disapproval over the possibility of the DR signing a bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan, saying that the country doesn't possess the economic, social or political conditions to go ahead with such an agreement. According to El Caribe, the Dominican Republic Industrial Association (AIRD), the Haina Industries and Businesses Association (AIEH), the Herrera Industries Association (AEIH) and the Industrial Associations Federation (FAI) have sent Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso a note conveying their "serious concern" about such a free trade agreement. The associations point out that it would not be prudent to proceed with such a treaty when the effects of DR-CAFTA were as yet unknown. In addition, the business and industrial leaders are concerned that the current negotiations with the European Union are so complex that they will absorb the efforts of the Dominican negotiators for all of 2007. Finally, the associations point out that the industrialized nations do not take on more than two bilateral negotiations at one time, and that "the National Commission for Commercial negotiations has neither the budget nor the logistical wherewithal" to take on so many negotiations at once.
According to Diario Libre, last year the Dominican Republic exported US$5 million worth of goods to Taiwan, and Taiwan exported US$180 million in goods to the DR. Metals, tobacco products, coffee and cacao as well as other agricultural products are potential exports to the Taiwanese market. However, it appears that Dominican industrialists are not so keen on the idea of a free trade agreement with one of the "Asian tigers".

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