Congressman Adriano Espaillat Holds Member Roundtable On Impact Of Section 232 Tariffs On The Dominican Republic

Press Release

Today, Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) hosted a Member roundtable to discuss the impact of Section 232 tariffs on the Dominican Republic and continued efforts to rebuild Puerto Rico.

Throughout the ongoing recovery initiative, the Dominican Republic has been a principal resource for the revitalization of Puerto Rico's infrastructure. Though they are not shipped to the mainland U.S., concrete reinforcement bars--collectively known as rebar--that are exported from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico are crucial to rebuilding the island's infrastructure post Hurricane Maria. The Dominican Republic accounts for less than 0.1% of total U.S. steel and aluminum imports, and the majority of the steel shipped in 2017 was rebar to Puerto Rico.

"I am deeply concerned by President Trump's off-the-cuff decision to apply tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports, which adversely impacts businesses, drives up costs for consumers, and limits our ability to negotiate. The Dominican Republic has been providing aluminum products to help rebuild Puerto Rico, and a tariff of this significance dangerously impacts our efforts and delay our efforts to rebuild the island," said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13).

"The decision to impose tariffs on steel imports under Section 232, like most decisions this President makes, was made in haste and without thinking through the complex consequences. Am I at all confident that the President considered the impact of such tariffs on the Caribbean as they begin to face another unpredictable hurricane season? Absolutely not. Which is why I so appreciate my colleague, Representative Espaillat, for pulling this roundtable of experts together to more closely examine how these tariffs may impact the U.S. citizens on the island of Puerto Rico and their close neighbors in the Dominican Republic," said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (IL-04).

"Not only has this Administration bungled the response to Hurricane Maria since the beginning, but now through reckless, ill-conceived trade policies they are potentially further jeopardizing Puerto Rico's recovery. I'm pleased my colleague has hosted this valuable discussion," said Rep. Nydia Velázquez (NY-07).

"In addition to this free trade agreement, there are security commitments, in which the Dominican Republic plays an important role, both in the fight against drug trafficking and against terrorism in the region. These actions and the friendship and cooperation relationship between both countries, justify that the government of the United States take into consideration the Dominican Republic and its steel industry to be excluded from the tax measures to this productive sector," said Ambassador José Tomas Pérez, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to the United States.

Today's Member roundtable discussion was attended by Members of the Democratic Caucus, José Tomas Pérez, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to the United States; Charles Mariotti, Senator and President of the Commission of Industry of the Dominican Senate; Yahaira Sousa, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce; Carlos Espaillat, Embassy of the Dominican Republic in Washington, D.C.; Cesar Dargam, Executive Vice President of CONEP; José Miguel Vega, Commercial Director of Gerdau METALDOM; and Anyarlene Bergés, Vice President of Communications and Institutional Relations of INICIA.

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