Recently our firm spoke with US Embassy officials in the Dominican Republic and in the Bahamas about trade opportunities for one of our clients. The client is a
US manufacturer of home and commercial building construction products designed for hurricane protection and crime-deterrence. Initially, we suspected that the Dominican Republic would be an ideal market for our client’s products. The Dominican Republic maintains a Free Trade Agreement with the US (US-CAFTA) which would allow our client to incur low duty cost at 6-9%. Further evaluation of the country, however, showed that multiple local competitors existed on the island, and that this fact would slow access the market. While the Bahamas and the US does not share a Free Trade Agreement, the Bahamian-US embassy official explained that the country’s economy is strong and is capable of absorbing the heightened duties. Export to the Bahamas could be up to 30% from the US,
but because Bahamas must import many of its goods, our client would compete on an even playing field against other exporters and would have less competition from local companies like those established in the Dominican Republic.
Contact Loigica International Trade Law advisers to help you determine whether your product qualifies for low or zero duties in Free Trade Agreement countries and to learn about opportunities that exists in other foreign jurisdictions.