Strong commercial ties exist between the Dominican Republic and several countries across the world. The Dominican Republic is a vital supplier to markets in the United States as well as five Central American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Dominican Republic, 2020). When a manufacturer is interested in expanding internationally certain choices will determine its level of involvement and financial commitment (Sternquist, 2007, P.8, Par.1 ). On August 5, 2004, they signed the Dominican Republic- Central America- United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The Dominican Republic is currently our 36th largest goods trading partner with $14.7 billion in total (two-way) goods trade during 2019. Goods exported totaled $9.2 billion; Goods imports totaled $5.6 billion. The U.S goods trade surplus with the Dominican Republic was $3.6 billion in 2019 (Dominican Republic Trade, 2019). The lowest level of involvement is in exporting, or shipping products to a foreign country (Sternquist, 2007, P.8, Par.1). The Dominican Republic and the United States have long-standing cultural and personal links, which contribute to their close geographic proximity and the strength of their trading relationship. In the CAFTA-DR there are also other important disciplines that relate to trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, government procurement, and labor among others. The leading services exports from the U.S to D.R were in the travel, transport, and financial services sectors.
Figure 3
Written by: Zahira Santana
