The Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) continues to have a small effect on the overall U.S. economy but provides a positive benefit to participating countries, according to a new report released today, Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act: Impact on U.S. Industries and Consumers and on Beneficiary Countries, Twenty-Seventh Report, 2023–24, published by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).

The USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, today issued its 27th biennial report monitoring U.S. imports under the CBERA program. CBERA took effect on January 1, 1984, and offers preferential tariff treatment to most products of the 17 designated beneficiary countries in the Caribbean.

The publication covers the impact of CBERA, as modified by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act of 2000 (CBTPA) and the HOPE and HELP Acts, on the United States, with emphasis on 2023 and 2024. CBERA requires the USITC to prepare a report every two years that assesses both the actual and the probable future effect of the CBERA program on the U.S. economy generally and on U.S. imports, industries, and consumers. The report also covers the impact of the preference program on the beneficiary countries. 

The following are highlights from the latest report:

• The overall effect of imports under the CBERA program on the U.S. economy generally and on U.S. imports, industries, and consumers continued to be small in 2023–24. For U.S. industries, the overall effect of the program on domestic production, employment, and operating profits was also small. The USITC identified two U.S. industries—methanol and T-shirts—that most likely have faced slight negative effects due to competition from CBERA imports. However, the estimated job losses in these two industries were outweighed by small increases in exports by U.S. yarn and fabric industries, whose products are used in the manufacture of apparel in Haiti.
• U.S. imports receiving preferential treatment under CBERA totaled $1.8 billion in 2024, a notable decline of 34.5 percent from $2.8 billion in 2022.
  • The decline in imports under the program from 2022 to 2024 is attributed to reduced imports of textiles and apparel from Haiti; other mining and manufactured products, including methanol, from Trinidad and Tobago; and crude oil from Guyana.
• The CBERA program utilization rate has varied over time and across countries. The CBERA regional utilization rate declined from 50.9 percent in 2022 to 36.9 percent in 2023 and further to 27.7 percent in 2024.
  • From 2022 to 2024, the region’s per capita exports of CBERA-eligible goods increased from $297 to $352—representing strong growth in the eligible export base.
  • Factors that affected program usage included the ability to meet U.S. import requirements, uncertainty regarding the future of CBTPA and Haiti HOPE/HELP, preference margins, mismatch between productive capacity and program eligibility, and other supply and demand factors affecting export activity.
  • From 1990 to 2024, the number of products exported by the CBERA region to the United States increased by 5 percent, led by Aruba, Guyana, Montserrat, and Belize. Depth of diversification varied across countries and declined slightly across the region, reflecting continued heavy concentration in methanol and energy products, as well as textiles and apparel. Between 1990–94 to 2020–24, exports under the CBERA program shifted toward products with higher R&D intensities.
  • CBERA, particularly as modified by the HOPE and HELP Acts, has supported Haiti’s export diversification by fostering the growth of its apparel industry through preferential access to the U.S. market.
  • Human capital, quality of institutions, cost of compliance, infrastructure, and trade liberalization were among the main factors influencing export diversification in CBERA beneficiaries.
• Investment for the near-term production and export of CBERA-eligible products is expected to have little impact on U.S. competitive industries and on the U.S. economy.
• The future impact of CBERA on the U.S. economy and domestic industries will likely remain small. CBERA countries currently supply only a small fraction of the U.S. market, a trend anticipated to continue in the near term.
• The HOPE and HELP programs are scheduled to expire on September 30, 2025. While expiration will likely have a small effect on the U.S. economy, witness testimony and economic modeling both anticipate substantial negative effects on the Haitian economy.

Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act: Impact on U.S. Industries and Consumers and on Beneficiary Countries, Twenty-Seventh Report, 2023–24 (Inv. No. 332-606, USITC Publication 5662, September 2025) is available on the USITC website. The USITC is also providing a limited modeling release underlying the analyses associated with this report on its website.

About factfinding investigations: USITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs, trade, and competitiveness and are generally conducted under section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the USITC’s objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The USITC makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.