Dominican Republic seeks more trade with Mexico; asks ECLAC for study

What are the products in which the Dominican Republic has an opportunity?

The Dominican Republic’s opportunities to join the global value chains in which Mexico participates are in steel, chemical, pharmaceutical, medical device, plastic and textile products.

In 2023, the products most purchased from Mexico to the Dominican Republic were knitted t-shirts, which represented 14.6% of the total, followed by electrical appliances to protect circuits, with 13.3%, and medical instruments and devices, with 12.2%.

The ECLAC analysis highlights the position of both countries in international trade. Both have a network of trade agreements that link them to various markets, but the relationship between them is limited.

“Although Mexico is the third largest supplier of goods to the Dominican Republic, the bilateral trade relationship is weak due to the insignificant exchange of goods, the regulation of which is carried out under the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), since there is no bilateral or plurilateral trade agreement in which both countries participate,” ECLAC highlights.

But products exempt from import duties from Mexico represent an opportunity for the Dominican Republic, for example, vinyl chloride polymer pipes, iron or non-alloy steel bars and mineral or chemical fertilizers with two fertilizing elements: phosphorus and potassium.

The ECLAC analysis concludes that Dominican business people perceive Mexico as a difficult market to penetrate and consider that there is little information about the Mexican market as an export destination.