Santo Domingo.- Exports from the Dominican Republic to Haiti have significantly decreased, falling 13.68% between January and September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. This decrease translates into a reduction of 113 million dollars. According to the analysis of the Haitian Statistical Monitor carried out by the Haitian Studies Unit of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Dominicana Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), exports from the Dominican Republic to Haiti totaled 713 million dollars during this period, compared to 826 million in 2022.
Meanwhile, Haitian imports showed a minimal increase, going from 0.0224 percent in the January-September period of the previous year to 0.0555% in 2023. Despite the drop in exports, the Dominican Republic still maintained a clear trade surplus. According to the General Directorate of Customs (DGA), the Dominican Republic exported goods worth 713 million dollars and imported goods worth 12 million dollars, resulting in a surplus of 701 million dollars.
The study attributes this surplus to the large differential of more than 59 dollars exported by the Dominican Republic for every dollar imported from Haiti. However, this surplus has been affected by various factors, including the Haitian national and economic-financial crisis, the collapse of public institutions in Haiti and the recession of productive and labor activities in the Dominican Republic, which led to a drop in real gross value. Domestic product.
One of the significant impacts on trade has been Haiti’s construction of a canal on the Dajabón River (known as the Haiti Massacre), which the Dominican Government considers illegal. This led to several decisions, among which the total closure of the borders on September 15 stands out, although the Dominican Republic later made this closure commercially more flexible. Haiti, however, rejects the resumption of binational markets.
The main exports from the Dominican Republic to Haiti during this period were cotton (116 million dollars), knitwear (95 million), plastic and its manufactures (86 million), wheat, cotton and similar products (60 million) and cement. Lima, and others ($57 million). These items represented 58% of total exports to Haiti, worth 414 million dollars, and 4.56% of the Dominican Republic’s global exports.