The Dominican Association of Textile Industries has asked the Directorate General of Customs to investigate the large volume of goods sold in the country with ‘Made in America’ labels. There is a suspicion that the items alleged to be imported from the US may have its origin in non-NAFTA countries, because these goods have very competitive prices even though the cost of production is higher in the US. So many goods may have been manufactured in a third country with Made in America labels placed on them.

By putting labels of American origin, goods from other nations that are not part of the free trade agreement they get away without paying any tax, decrease customs’ revenue and also affect the Dominican garment manufacturing companies. Textiles and garments brought from the US or any other country with which the Dominican Republic has a free trade agreement are not subjected to taxes, but if they come from any other country with which the Dominican Republic does not have a free trade agreement, the goods are subjected to a 20 per cent tariff and 18 per cent sales tax.

The country’s textile and apparel industry comprises over 2,000 production units, including micro, small and medium enterprises in both formal and informal sectors, which employ more than 20,000 people.