WASHINGTON – The Office of the United States Trade Representative today released the Fifteenth Biennial Report on the Operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA). The report is statutorily mandated by Congress and describes the main features of the program, analyzes trade trends, and outlines each country’s performance with respect to the CBERA program’s eligibility criteria.
The Biden-Harris Administration strongly supports the CBERA as it encourages the development of strong democratic governments and increased trade with our valued trading partners in the Caribbean region. United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai has praised the program and hopes to encourage greater utilization, noting that it provides opportunities for economic development and inclusive trade.
Highlights from this report include:
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U.S. imports under the CBI tariff preferences increased to $1.9 billion in 2022, from $1.4 billion in 2021 and $1.2 billion in 2020. The increase in 2022, 34.0 percent, was preceded by an increase of 16.7 percent in 2021.
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The value of total U.S. exports to CBI countries amounted to $18.4 billion, a 43.6 percent increase from the previous year. In 2021, U.S. exports were $12.8 billion, a 15.1 percent increase from 2020. Collectively, the CBI region ranked 21st among U.S. export destinations in 2022 and absorbed 1.1 percent of total U.S. exports to the world.
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The CBI continues to have a positive impact on a number of Caribbean Basin economies, including by encouraging the development of niche product manufacturing.
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The last edition of this report published in 2021 included data on rates of utilization of the program by beneficiary countries. Several products that were not benefiting from duty-free treatment were mentioned. There have been notable improvements since then, including an increase in utilization from 28 percent to 100 percent of electrical transformers from Haiti and an increase from 60 percent to 87.7 percent of margarine from Trinidad and Tobago.
Resources
Fifteenth Biennial Report on the Operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act
