CAFTA

Your Business Location: United States

The member countries of the United States-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) make up the second largest U.S. export market in Latin America, behind only Mexico. Bilateral trade between the U.S. and the CAFTA countries is valued close to $45 billion annually, about 42% of which passes through Florida. The United States exports more than $25 billion annually to the region, making it the United States� 5th-largest export market worldwide. These countries�Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua�purchase more U.S. goods than Australia, Italy, or Sweden. The 45 million citizens of these countries purchase more U.S. goods than the 1.5 billion citizens of India, Indonesia, and Russia combined.

Computer, electronic, aerospace, and information technology products account for over a third of all U.S. exports to Central America and the Dominican Republic. Medical devices and pharmaceuticals, as well as agricultural products, account for a large share of American sales to the six countries, as do textiles and apparel. This trade between the United States and the CAFTA countries has already reached $45 billion. With the implementation of CAFTA, this rapidly growing market is growing even faster and yielding greater opportunities for U.S. companies across a range of industries, and over time is expected to boost sales by over $20 billion annually.

Now, how can your company tap into the opportunities that CAFTA has opened?

Contact Enterprise Florida, the statewide economic development organization for Florida, for a variety of site selection services and other confidential business assistance.

Choose your corporate location and see how CAFTA can benefit you

International
United States
Florida
CAFTA Country

One third of the CAFTA countries� total merchandise trade with the rest of the world, and about 42% of their trade with the United States, passes through Florida � about $18.6 billion a year.
A tenth of the CAFTA countries� total worldwide imports, and a fifth of all goods they import from the United States (over $4.8 billion a year), are made in Florida.
Florida is the main investment gateway to the CAFTA countries: about 300 multinational firms have their Latin American & Caribbean regional HQs in Florida. In all, more than 2,000 companies based outside the U.S. operate in Florida.
Almost 40 companies from the CAFTA countries have operations in Florida, while about two dozen Florida companies have facilities in the CAFTA countries.
Florida�s airports offer more direct flights to CAFTA destinations than all other U.S. cities combined. Along with Florida�s 14 deepwater seaports and 20 Foreign Trade Zones, they offer unparalleled connections to the CAFTA markets.
Florida has one of the largest Spanish-speaking populations in the U.S., numbering almost 4 million. A seventh of them are of Central American or Dominican origin, with extensive family and business ties to the CAFTA countries.

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