Washington D.C. – Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat and the resident commissioner in Washington, Jennifer Gonzalezurged the Joe Biden administration to exempt from tariffs the steel and aluminum of Dominican Republicas a measure aimed at supporting the reconstruction of Puerto Rico.
Espaillat, the first congressman of Dominican origin and elected by a New York district, and González, who caucuses with the Republicans, sent a letter on Wednesday to the Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, and the United States Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo , to request that these Dominican products be exempted from section 232 of the commercial expansion law of 1962.
That section authorizes the President of the United States to regulate by tariffs or other means the importation of commercial or material goods from other countries.
“The Dominican Republic is an important ally of the United States, with strong trade and security ties through CAFTA-DR and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. ”indicated the federal legislators.
They stressed “that the Dominican Republic is a crucial exporter of steel and aluminum to Puerto Rico, since the local economy of Puerto Rico does not produce steel.”
“The United States has already exempted several countries from Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, including Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. It is critical that this administration take additional steps to advance Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts from these devastating hurricanes. In that spirit, we request that the Dominican Republic be exempted from the steel and aluminum tariffs of Section 232″, added Espaillat and González.
