ITC Finds Dominican Republic 2-for-1 Program Underutilized

In a report released Friday, July 26, 2013, the United States International Trade Commission ("USITC") found that four years after its implementation, the Earned Import Allowance Program ("EIAP") is not providing enough incentives to help boost the competitiveness of Dominican apparel exports in the U.S. market.

The EIAP allows apparel manufacturers in the Dominican Republic who use U.S. fabric to produce certain apparel to earn a credit that can be used to ship eligible apparel made with non-U.S.-produced fabric into the United States duty free. The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, as amended, requires the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, to evaluate annually the effectiveness of the EIAP program and make recommendations for improvements.

The report, Earned Import Allowance Program: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Program for Certain Apparel from the Dominican Republic; Fourth Annual Review, is available on the USITC website here.