NewsWhore
01-22-2007, 03:40 PM
The process leading towards a bilateral free trade agreement with the government of Taiwan began last October, and it opens new opportunities for increasing Dominican exports to the Asian industrial giant as long as the tariffs are reduced judiciously and some items excluded entirely. According to Hugo Rivera, one of the chief negotiators in the DR-CAFTA process, a "flexible" tariff convention is needed along with a list of items that will never undergo tariff reduction. Among the latter, he mentioned steel and some farm items, which, if tariffs were removed, "would have a devastating effect on the DR." Rivera also insisted on two lists of origin: One "very flexible" for exports from the Dominican Republic to Taiwan, and the other, "very rigid" for imports from Taiwan, due to the danger that the use of raw materials proceeding from mainland China would represent." Rivera was clear in stating that "in reality, there are not a lot of things that we can export to Taiwan." He suggested that the major benefits would come from investments and technological and innovation cooperation. Current trade between the Dominican Republic and Taiwan, previously reported in DR1 News, stands at US$5 million in exports to Taiwan and US$150 million in imports from Taiwan.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)