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Abstract
Following the creation of the World Trade Organization agreement in 1994,
CARICOM entered into a number of other Trade Agreements in order to increase the access of
CARICOM's member states into foreign markets. These agreements encouraged the sharing of
knowledge, removal of tariffs and non tariff barriers towards the improvement of each partner's
trade position. This study examined whether there were gains or losses in CARICOM's trade
competitiveness following the entry into effect of two of these free trade agreements: (i)
CARICOM-Costa Rica, (ii) CARICOM-Dominican Republic. The study utilized the Relative
Comparative Advantage, Regional Orientation, Trade Intensity and Trade Complementarity to
examine the performance of major agricultural production segments, such as Sugar, Edible Oils
and Textile products. These models were used to assess the changes of trade between partners
relative to the world, and also to determine which trade agreement provided the greatest gains. The
study examined the changes in performance over a nine (9)-year period (2001-2010), and trends
for each of indices were created. According to the study:
(i) CARICOM did not benefit from the agreements signed with Dominican Republic and Costa
Rica.
(ii) CARICOM maintained its Comparative Advantage within the exported product groups
selected in the study whereas no bias in trade was observed to Dominican Republic and Costa
Rica markets.
(iii)Trade Intensity from CARICOM to Costa Rica was shown to be highest in the group of HS
0303 Crustaceans, while it decreased in the other selected groups.
(iv)Trade potential remained high throughout the period 2001/2010, thus showing that
CARICOM's exports in the selected groups did not capture any significant market shares in
either the Dominican Republic or Costa Rica.