USDA Warns of Impact to US Ag Exports Due to DR-Haiti Border Closure
U.S. agricultural exports could take a hit due to ongoing border closure between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a recently released report. USDA said the border was closed due to a dispute over the construction of a canal on the Haitian side of the Dajabon River, affecting trade between the two sides, including U.S. agricultural exports that are delivered to the D.R. before then being exported to Haiti.
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Because of the dispute, “there is a risk that demand for specific U.S. agricultural products will diminish,” USDA said, specifically referencing wheat, soybean and vegetable oil, soybean meal and corn, and pork and poultry meat. The agency said a “notable portion” of these U.S. goods undergo further processing within the D.R., where they are “transformed into consumer-oriented or intermediate products” before being sent to Haiti. A “portion” of the “$924 million in U.S. agricultural exports could suffer from a prolonged closure of the border between Haiti and the DR in the short term,” USDA said.
But the agency also said U.S. exporters could see an increase in Haitian demand for U.S. agricultural products in the medium and long term, “potentially offsetting losses in the DR.” Nearly all Haitian food retailers sell U.S. eggs, and as demand for imports grows in Haiti due to the border closure, “there could be opportunity for U.S. suppliers to benefit,” USDA said. “Nevertheless, it is essential to acknowledge that logistical and security challenges in Haiti could pose significant bottlenecks to U.S. producers’ satisfying this increased demand.”