Under the frameworks, the US will remove reciprocal tariffs on products that qualify for the US/Dominican Republic-Central America FTA (CAFTA-DR). These actions follow each country’s commitments to take steps to strengthen their trade partnerships with the US.
The removal of tariffs on these CAFTA-DR qualifying products — items like textiles and apparel that are already subject to strict rules of origin — ensures that the US/Central American partnership can continue to support workers and communities throughout the US.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“We are grateful to President Trump and his trade negotiating teams for this bold step to support US workers and communities whose lives and livelihoods are directly enabled by US-Central American trade. These actions bolster key US export markets in Central America, reduce costs for American consumers, and reinforce the competitiveness of integrated regional supply chains that rely on US cotton and other textiles,” said AAFA president and CEO Steve Lamar.
AAFA vice president of trade and customs policy Beth Hughes added: “We urge these agreements to be finalised soon so that these gains can quickly take effect and encourage the United States to incorporate similar provisions in forthcoming agreements with our other CAFTA-DR partners.”
The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), representing the full spectrum of US textiles from fibre, yarn and fabrics to finished sewn products, applauded the administration’s announcement of plans to reinstate duty-free treatment for qualified textile and apparel goods from Guatemala and El Salvador under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).
NCTO president and CEO Kim Glas, said: “NCTO and our industry leaders have long been pushing for the reinstatement of duty-free treatment for qualified textile and apparel goods for our CAFTA-DR partner countries. We welcome the administration’s announcements about restoring these benefits for Guatemala and El Salvador and continue to press for a resolution for the other trade partners including Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, while acknowledging that the administration is conducting an extensive review under Section 301 of Nicaragua and their human rights violations under a separate track.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“The CAFTA-DR region forms a vital co-production chain with the American textile supply chain, facilitating $11.3bn in two-way trade in 2024 and supporting more than 470,000 US workers in the domestic textile sector alone. However, since reciprocal tariffs were imposed on qualifying CAFTA-DR trade, US textile and apparel imports from our free trade partner countries have declined 8% year to date in 2025 through July, while US imports from top Asian suppliers have increased by double digits.
“The restoration of duty-free status for qualified goods from El Salvador and Guatemala is a critical key first step for our collective industries. Restoring duty-free textile and apparel qualified goods from the CAFTA-DR region is important to bolster the US textile supply chain can help bring some stability to this critical sector. The US-Western Hemisphere supply chains stand as a bulwark to China and other Asian countries. We look forward to working with the Trump administration and lawmakers to find a resolution that will restore duty-free treatment for qualified trade for this vital region.”
