Your Business Location: Florida

The United States already exports more than $25 billion worth of products to Central America and the Dominican Republic---more than it sells to India, Indonesia and Russia combined. A fifth of that originates in Florida. This trade is responsible for 35,000 manufacturing jobs and 30,000 services jobs in Florida. 

With the implementation of CAFTA all those numbers are growing significantly.  Within the first year of its full implementation, the Agreement is providing a half a billion dollar boost to Florida�s exports, adding more than 7,000 jobs. By the ninth year, with the removal of virtually all barriers to trade between the six CAFTA countries and the United States, Florida exports will grow by an additional $3 billion, boosting total economic output by $5 billion, and employment by nearly 37,000 more jobs. These workers will have $1.2 billion in additional earnings to pour back into the economy.

CAFTA is not only greatly increasing the volume of trade, but also the type of trade, significantly expanding the kinds of businesses that participate in, and benefit from, the resultant increased trade.  The most immediate beneficiaries of CAFTA are the many U.S. businesses that have had, until now, only limited access to the markets of CAFTA countries. The agreement opens the door to the region for a broad array of industries and commercial activities -- many for the first time. These sectors include: aviation and aerospace, information technology, multimedia, financial and professional services, apparel and textiles, manufactured goods, the life sciences, agricultural and food products, and government procurement. Florida companies in these sectors have a unique advantage in doing business with the CAFTA countries.