Fourth Report to Congress on the Operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesFourth Trinidad Report and Tobago Antiguato Congress and Barbuda Aruba onBahamas the Barbados Belize British VirginOperation Islands Costa Rica Dominica of the Dominican Caribbean Republic El Salvador Basin Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint EconomicVincent and the Grenadines Recovery Trinidad and TobagoAct Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El DECEMBER 31, 2001 Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua PanamaPrepared St. byKitts the and Office Nevis ofSaint the Lucia United Saint States Vincent Trade and theRepresentative Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize British Virgin Islands Costa Rica Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize Table of Contents Executive Summary ...........................................................1 Introduction ..................................................................3 Chapter 1 – Description of the Caribbean Basin Initiative .............................4 Key Product Eligibility Provisions .............................................4 Beneficiary Countries ......................................................5 Safeguard Provisions ......................................................6 Anti-Transshipment Provisions ...............................................6 Rum ...................................................................7 Tax Provisions ...........................................................7 Reports ................................................................8 Meetings of Caribbean Basin Trade Ministers and USTR ...........................8 Other Provisions .........................................................9 Chapter 2 – Trade Under the CBI Programs .......................................10 Chapter 3 – Eligibility Criteria and Advancement of Trade Policy Goals ................14 CBERA “Exclusionary” Criteria .............................................14 CBERA “Discretionary” Factors ............................................15 CBTPA Eligibility Criteria ..................................................16 Country Reports: Compliance with Eligibility Criteria ..............................18 The Bahamas .....................................................18 Barbados ........................................................20 Belize ...........................................................22 Costa Rica .......................................................24 Dominican Republic ................................................27 Eastern Caribbean States ............................................30 El Salvador ......................................................32 Guatemala .......................................................35 Guyana .........................................................38 Haiti ............................................................40 Honduras ........................................................42 Jamaica .........................................................45 Nicaragua .......................................................48 Panama .........................................................51 Trinidad and Tobago ...............................................54 Chapter 4 – Summary of Public Comments ........................................56 Annex: U.S. Imports from CBERA Countries, Total and Under Selected Import Programs EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • The trade preferences known collectively as the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) continue to generate important benefits for countries in the Caribbean and Central America, as well as for the United States economy. Expansion of CBI benefits through enactment of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) in 2000 represented an important affirmation of the United States’ ongoing commitment to economic development in the Caribbean Basin, by providing an open U.S. market for CBI goods. • In conjunction with economic reform and trade liberalization by beneficiary countries, the trade benefits of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and the CBTPA have helped countries in the region diversify exports and support income growth. At the inception of the CBI in 1984, traditional and primary products such as coffee, bananas, and mineral fuels accounted for a solid majority of U.S. imports from the region. In 2000, manufactured products such as apparel and electrical and non-electrical machinery amounted to over half of CBI exports to the United States. • The total value of CBI exports to the United States in 2000, at $22.2 billion, was 2.5 times greater than in 1984. The CBI’s share of total U.S. imports was 1.8 percent in 2000, down slightly from the 1.9 percent share seen in each of the three preceding years. • U.S. exporters have also benefitted from the general trade expansion fostered by the CBI programs. Total U.S. exports to the CBI region, totaling $20.7 billion in 2000, made the CBI the 9th largest market for U.S. exports, ahead of countries such as France, Singapore, and the Netherlands. Following a slight drop in 1999, U.S. exports to the CBI expanded by 8.9 percent in 2000. The region absorbs approximately 3 percent of global U.S. exports. • The overall impact of the CBI programs on the region’s trade patterns is undergoing a transition. On the one hand, the relative share of CBI exports that benefit from CBERA preferences has continued to decline in recent years, to 11.9 percent in 2000, compared to nearly 19 percent in 1998. On the other hand, early trends indicate that a significant amount of exports of apparel – the region’s number one export to the United States, and previously excluded from CBI preferences – will benefit from the newly enhanced duty-free provisions of the CBTPA. In the first 8 months of 2001, imports of $3.5 billion were entered under the new CBTPA provisions, representing 24.4 percent of total U.S. imports from the CBI region. • It appears that much of the use of the new CBTPA provisions is accounted for by a shift of eligible, but previously excluded, apparel into the new trade preference categories. The overall volume of U.S. apparel imports from the CBI region declined slightly during the first 8 months of 2001, with the value of imports essentially flat compared to a year earlier. 1 • While the CBTPA provisions are clearly being extensively used by CBI exporters and U.S. importers, implementation of the CBTPA has been characterized by unforeseen challenges, particularly with respect to the application of certain statutory provisions in the technical rules governing imports under the new preferences. The Administration will continue to work with Congress, the private sector, CBI beneficiary countries, and other interested parties to ensure a faithful and effective implementation of this important expansion of trade benefits. • The eligibility criteria reflected in the CBI statutes, including the revised factors outlined in the CBTPA, have continued to provide opportunities to advance important U.S. policy objectives. In mid-2000, the Administration