Browse Data and Analysis

The Dominican Republic, through its Ministry of Industry, Commerce and SME’s (MICM), announced the activation of the CAFTA-DR agricultural safeguard measure for imports of mozzarella cheese from the United States on May 31, 2023.

The 2023 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2023 calendar year.

The 2022 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2022 calendar year.

As a severe drought looms large over the sugar mill areas in the Dominican Republic (DR) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to prohibit sugar and sugar-based imports from the top Dominican producer, Post forecasts local production at 530,000 metric tons (MT) for marketing year (MY) 2023/24 (October/September), 12 percent down from the MY 2022/23 estimates.

Wheat consumption in the Dominican Republic (DR) during marketing year (MY) 2023/24 (July 2023/ June 2024) is forecast at 460,000 metric tons (MT), up two percent from MY 2022/23. Dominican wheat imports are forecast at 622,000 MT, a two percent increase from the last forecast due to manufacturers’ international expansion plans as well as expected population and hotel, restaurant and institutional (HRI) sector growth.

The Dominican Republic´s food processing industry was valued at $4.3 billion during calendar year (CY) 2022 in activities categorized as “food industry” with an additional $1.1 billion for processed beverages and other products over the same period.

The Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR)[1] region and Panama combine to represent the seventh-largest market for U.S consumer-oriented products, totaling $3.7 billion in 2022.

U.S. agricultural exports to the Dominican Republic reached an all-time record of $2.2 billion in 2022; a 14 percent increase from the previous record set last year. The increase in U.S. exports was driven mainly by increased demand for consumer-oriented products.

The economy of the Dominican Republic, which is the third-largest market for U.S. consumer-oriented products in the Western Hemisphere and the 15th globally for agricultural and related products, has bounced back due to the opening of the tourism, hotel, and restaurant sectors. During the first 10 months of 2022, the demand for consumer-oriented products increased over 20 percent from the same period last year.

On September 29, 2021, the General Directorate of Internal Tax (DGII) of the Dominican Republic (DR) issued Regulation 07-21 implementing the Fiscal Control and Traceability System for Alcoholic Beverages and Cigars (TRAFICO) to tackle illicit trade and tax evasion in the alcoholic beverage and cigarette sectors.

In July 2021, authorities detected African Swine Fever (ASF) in the Dominican Republic (DR). The disease, which rapidly spread throughout the country, crippled local swine production, but boosted export opportunities for U.S. swine meat producers to the Dominican market.

The Dominican Republic continues to be a strong market for U.S. bulk agricultural products (e.g., corn), intermediate goods (e.g., Soybean meal), and high value consumer-oriented products (e.g., processed food products), reaching a total export value of $1.59 billion in 2021.