Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement

DR -CAFTA (English Dominican Republic- Central America Free Trade Agreement, Spanish Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Estados Unidos, Centro América y República Dominicana ) is a free trade agreement between the United States, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Since the accession of the Dominican Republic in 2004, the FTA officially DR -CAFTA ( Dominican Republic - Central American Free Trade Agreement ) is called.

The signing of the agreement triggered in many countries of Central America but also in the United States massive protests. While some trade associations in the U.S. national jobs look at risk in the Agreement, the Central American companies fear esp. the superior economic competitiveness of the U.S. economy. The Central American agricultural sector, especially in the smallholder sector, fears the discount through subsidies U.S. imports. One of the biggest criticisms by various NGOs is that countries may retain their sometimes very low labor and environmental standards. The CAFTA is seen as a further step in the failed negotiations FTAA ( Free Trade Area of the Americas ), which the United States and 34 Latin American countries to include ( with the exception of Cuba ) enforce. The DR -CAFTA guarantees U.S. companies unrestricted access to the market this Central American countries. By 2015, the Central American countries must have broken all import barriers to U.S. products. But it is precisely the import regulation esp. by tariffs, an important tool in many Central American countries to the economic development in their own country must be protected.