Dominican Republic: Dominican Republic Inflation Mitigation Measures To Boost Competition Against US Agricultural Products

On March 7, 2022, President Luis Abinader addressed the nation to announce 10 policy measures to ease inflationary pressures in the Dominican Republic (DR) due to the lingering effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, in 2021, the DR recorded its highest inflation rate of 8.5 percent in over 14 years, as food prices continue to rise sharply during the first quarter of 2022. But despite policy measures that are aimed at lowering retail prices in DR, two of the measures will have the secondary effect of easing competition for non-U.S. agricultural products by cutting tariff rates to zero and subsidizing the imports of inputs, even from non-CAFTA -DR signatories.