Spanish
The tension surrounding the possible increase in tariffs on imported cookies escalated again this Monday, after President Luis Abinader publicly reacted to the warning that the Trade Defense Commission (CDC) is evaluating raising the tax applied to products from countries without free trade agreements with the Dominican Republic from 20% to 87%.
When asked about the issue in LA Semanal, the president, surprised by the news, stated that he "found out today" about the case and assured that the Government will follow up to take "the appropriate measures", anticipating that the announcement seems "out of place" and that the issue will be thoroughly reviewed to protect consumers.
"I found out about that situation today. We are going to follow up to take the appropriate measures. I think those announcements are out of place, with a rate that does not correspond. We will always make favorable decisions for the families' pockets," the ruler responded directly.
The presidential reaction comes at a critical moment: the main supermarket chains —CCN, Grupo Ramos, Bravo and Híper Olé— filed a formal challenge with the CDC in which they request the immediate suspension of the safeguard investigation, denouncing “serious defenselessness”, lack of access to the file and structural errors in the process.
They claim that the CDC is proceeding without essential information on financial statements, economic causality, or verifiable data to support the alleged "serious damage" to the manufacturers Molinos Modernos and Molinos Valle del Cibao, which control 92% of national production.
The challenge document also warns that the description of the investigated product — cookies in almost all their varieties — is so broad that it makes any serious technical analysis impossible, and that the deadline for completing the mandatory forms expires without the authority having delivered the necessary annexes. For supermarkets, this turns the process into a "legally unsustainable" procedure.
The economic background adds pressure: according to the projections entered in the file, a total tariff of 87.1% would cause increases of more than 50% in consumer prices, doubling the cost of the small packages sold in grocery stores and affecting more than 2.2 million low-income households that depend on these basic consumer products. In a case cited in the file, a cookie that currently sells for RD$10 would increase to RD$15 due to the direct effect of the tariff, due to the increase in the cost of import and the absence of intermediate denomination coins.
The chains also warn that the decision could affect tax collection —more than RD$600 million annually— and create a de facto monopoly in favor of the local duopoly, which also imports from Guatemala and Costa Rica paying 0% due to the DR-Cafta.
The CDC has a preliminary decision scheduled for December 16. Following the president's intervention, the process enters a zone of political and technical review. But the message is clear: in a context of price and cost of living sensitivity, any measure that could increase the cost of basic foods becomes a matter of paramount importance for the Government.
