The International Trade Commission reports that the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act continues to have a small effect on the overall U.S. economy but provides a positive benefit to participating countries. CBERA took effect Jan. 1, 1984, and offers preferential tariff treatment to most products of the 17 designated beneficiary countries.
Highlights of the ITC’s most recent biannual report, covering the years 2023 and 2024, include the following.
- Two U.S. industries – methanol and T-shirts – were most likely to have faced slight negative effects due to competition from CBERA imports, but the estimated job losses in these two industries were outweighed by small increases in exports by U.S. yarn and fabric industries, whose products are used in the manufacture of apparel in Haiti.
- U.S. imports receiving preferential treatment under CBERA totaled $1.8 billion in 2024, a decline of 34.5 percent from 2022 that is attributed to reduced imports of textiles and apparel from Haiti; other mining and manufactured products, including methanol, from Trinidad and Tobago; and crude oil from Guyana.
- The CBERA regional utilization rate declined from 50.9 percent in 2022 to 36.9 percent in 2023 and 27.7 percent in 2024. Factors that affected program usage included the ability to meet U.S. import requirements, uncertainty regarding the future of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act and the Haiti HOPE and HELP acts, preference margins, mismatch between productive capacity and program eligibility, and other supply and demand factors affecting export activity.
- From 1990 to 2024 the number of products exported by the CBERA region to the U.S. increased by five percent, led by Aruba, Guyana, Montserrat, and Belize. However, the depth of diversification declined slightly across the region, reflecting continued heavy concentration in methanol and energy products as well as textiles and apparel. Human capital, quality of institutions, cost of compliance, infrastructure, and trade liberalization were among the main factors influencing export diversification in CBERA beneficiaries.
- The Haiti HOPE and HELP programs are scheduled to expire Sept. 30, 2025. While expiration will likely have a small effect on the U.S. economy, substantial negative effects are expected on the Haitian economy.
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