New US Legislation Helps Caribbean Countries to Remain Competitive Against Mexico and Asian Countries

Under new US legislation, US imports from Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) countries will be entitled to tariff treatment similar to that which is granted to imports from Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). The new act should benefit US textile producers by boosting US exports of yarns and fabrics to CBERA countries. It should also help US firms assembling apparel in those countries to compete in the US market against imports from Asia. The new legislation will be of particular benefit to US manufacturers of underwear, foundation garments and outerwear T-shirts who have made major investments in CBERA countries.

The act should help to preserve existing production sharing in CBERA countries and to limit further trade diversion from these countries to Mexico. An expansion of US imports from CBERA countries may also partly displace US imports originating in Asian countries. However, any such displacement might be only temporary. Although CBERA countries will maintain the advantage of tariff free access to the US market, they will lose their advantage of quota-free access as quantitative restrictions on global textile and apparel trade are progressively phased out

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