The Impact of the Caribbean Basin Initiative Program on the Economic Growth & Development in the English Speaking Caribbean Region

INTRODUCTION The U.S. Congress enacted the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) in 1984 to assist countries in Central America and the Caribbean Islands. The act was a linchpin in the U.S. effort to stabilize the Caribbean Basin during the 1980's. The principal economic objectives were to stimulate foreign and domestic investment, to diversify local economies, and to augment export earnings by eliminating U.S. customs duties on most items manufactured or assembled in the region. The CBI, first proposed in 1982, is a broad United States foreign policy designed program to promote economic development and political stability. The CBI is not limited to the Commonwealth Caribbean nations but extends to the entire Caribbean Basin, also including selected countries of Central America, northern South America, and the non-English-speaking Caribbean. The CBI consists of trade, economic assistance, and investment incentive measures to generate economic growth in the region through increased private sector foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic development (Lunger, 1987; Newfarmer, 1985). The most significant aspect of the program is the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) of 1983. The CBERA provide Caribbean Basin countries with duty-free access to the United States market for most categories of exported products until September 30, 1995. It also includes special tax provisions for the tourist sector, as well as measures to support the economic development of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. In addition to the CBERA, other CBI measures include increased United States economic assistance, a wide range of government and private sector investment promotion programs, support from multilateral developing institutions and their donor nations, and Caribbean Basin country self-help efforts. The CBI resulted from a series of 1981 meetings involving United States, Canadian, and Caribbean Basin officials. In a July 1981 meeting in Nassau, the United States special trade representative and the United States Secretary of State met with the foreign ministers of Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela. Each agreed to support a multilateral action program for the region, within which each country and dependent territory would develop its own programs. Multilateral and bilateral meetings were held between the members of the so-called Nassau group and representatives of the Caribbean Basin countries (Lunger, 1987; Newfarmer, 1985). The CBI package announced by President Ronald Reagan in a February 1982 address before the Organization of American States (OAS) consisted of foreign assistance, a free trade arrangement, and tax incentives for United States investors. The foreign aid portion of the CBI, which proposed an additional U.S. $350 million for the Caribbean region for fiscal year 1982, was passed by the 97th Congress and became law in September 1982 (Two-thirds of this total was slated for Central America, with the remainder earmarked for the Caribbean.) (Zorn & Mayerson, 1983). The trade portion, contained in the CBERA, was passed by the 98th Congress in July 1983 and signed into law in August 1983 (Clasen, 1983). The CBERA also contained a tax benefit allowing United States citizens and companies to make deductions for expenses from conventions and business meetings held in CBI countries. The investment tax incentive portion of the package was left out of the legislation's final version. Also, a number of products were excluded from the eligibility list of duty-free exports (Newfarmer, 1985; Shingetomi, K., Rule, K., & Osler, D., 2009). Twenty countries (20) and dependent territories were designated to receive benefits on January 1, 1984: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. …

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