Dominican Rice Is Security Issue, 19 October
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · TRADE
Key Facts
- —The country The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and trades with the United States under the CAFTA-DR free trade pact, which took effect for it on 1 March 2007. Rice is its daily staple, and home-grown rice covers about 96% of national consumption.
- —Why it matters Under that pact the country agreed to end its tariffs on US rice by 1 January 2025. US exporters now have duty-free access on paper, while Dominican import licences still decide what actually arrives.
- —Why now Three days after the government unveiled a farm support plan, it called rice a matter of national security. The statement follows the September repeal of the special rice tariff rules that Washington had challenged.
- —What happened On Monday 19 October a Dominican vice minister called rice a matter that bears directly on national security and food security. He also accepted that the treaty timetable for dismantling tariffs is due to be applied.
- —The numbers Output rose from about 9.2 million quintals in 2005 to about 14.8 million in 2025. About 30,000 producers and more than 300,000 direct and indirect jobs depend on the crop.
- —What it means for you US growers and exporters now face a licence test rather than a tariff test. No change in Dominican shop prices has been announced.
- —Still open The cost of the farm plan, the rules for import licences and the aims of the renegotiation Santo Domingo wants are not public.
The Dominican Republic’s government called rice a matter of national security on Monday 19 October, even as it accepts that tariffs on US rice are ending under a free trade treaty. Vice Minister Daniel Peña of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Small Businesses told the news agency EFE in Paris that rice “bears directly on national security and food security.”
For US readers the statement matters because American rice growers and millers are watching whether duty-free access turns into real sales. It also shows how a US free trade partner is trying to protect a staple crop while honouring a treaty.
What Santo Domingo Said in Paris
Daniel Peña spoke at events on the Dominican Republic held by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Paris-based club of mostly wealthy economies. He added that the government has announced specific actions “so that the Dominican rice structure is not left unprotected.”
He accepted that, under the treaty, the schedule for dismantling tariffs is due to be applied. It will be managed, he added, “in the best possible way to avoid any imbalance whose consequences we would have to regret.”
What the Government Announced on Friday
On Friday 16 October, Vice President Raquel Peña led a presentation on the rice sector, the Presidency announced. Andrés Bautista García, the Presidency’s administrative minister, told the event that white rice output rose from about 9.2 million quintals, the unit Dominican statistics use, in 2005 to about 14.8 million in 2025.
He listed subsidies for certified seed and fertiliser, loans at preferential rates through the state Banco Agrícola, crop insurance, irrigation and drainage upkeep and crop-pledge programmes. A multi-year plan would add a specialised fund, stronger financing, wider seed certification, research and better rural roads, but the Presidency’s account gave no budget or start date.
Growers Back the Government for Now
On Sunday 18 October the Presidency announced that rice growers, millers and fertiliser firms had backed the government unanimously after a three-hour meeting in La Vega led by Agriculture Minister Francisco Oliverio Espaillat Bencosme. Espaillat guaranteed that controls on rice entering the country will stay as they are under current law while the course of the renegotiation proposed by President Luis Abinader is settled.
How the Rice Fight Got Here
The repeal itself, Decree 635-26 of Wednesday 9 September, was reported by Dominican newspapers in early October and is covered in Dominican Republic Drops 99% Rice Tariff After US Push. It cancelled Decree 693-24 of Tuesday 17 December 2024, which taxed rice outside a quota at 99% and capped duty-free US rice at 23,300 tonnes a year.
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), Washington’s trade negotiator, said in its 2026 trade barriers report of Tuesday 31 March that the Dominican Republic agreed to eliminate its tariffs on all agricultural goods by 1 January 2025. The report also said Dominican import licences for rice and other sensitive goods can lead to “inconsistent application of the law, uneven treatment, and uncertainty for U.S. exporters.”
The security language has a legal footing in Law 75-24, published in the Official Gazette on 2 December 2024, which lets CONASSAN, the national food security council, propose special measures such as tariffs and trade restrictions to protect sensitive products. The US Department of Agriculture said Decree 693-24 rested on that law and that its limits appeared inconsistent with the duty-free, unlimited access US rice was set to enjoy from 1 January 2025.
What It Means for You
US rice exporters now face a licence test rather than a tariff test. USA Rice, the US industry group, said on Friday 9 October that the repeal clears the way for duty-free, quota-free access but that Dominican import licences remain a systemic barrier.
US rice sales to the Dominican Republic reached only 15,920 tonnes in 2025, below the old 23,300-tonne quota, USA Rice said. The US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service says 40% to 45% of the US rice crop is exported and that Arkansas typically grows 56% to 58% of US long-grain rice.
The stakes reach beyond rice, since US goods exports to the Dominican Republic totalled US$12.9 billion in 2025 and left the United States with a goods trade surplus of US$5.4 billion, the trade representative’s office reported. On Monday 12 October, Abinader told a Dominican programme by video link from Rome that talks on a reciprocal trade deal are only beginning and that he wants “zero tariff” on Dominican exports because “that is the free trade agreement.”
For Dominican farmers the pressure is cost. Marcos Rodríguez, president of Fenarroz, the national rice growers’ federation, has put the cost of growing one tarea, a local land unit of about one-sixteenth of a hectare, at RD$10,000 to RD$10,200 (about US$163 to US$167), up from RD$6,500 to RD$7,000 (about US$106 to US$114) before the pandemic, Revista Mercado reported on 7 October.
Domestic farms covered about 96% of the 15.4 million quintals the country consumed in 2025, Agriculture Ministry data cited by Revista Mercado show. Leonel Fernández, a former president who leads the opposition Fuerza del Pueblo party, urged Washington on Wednesday 14 October to renegotiate the pact, warning that “when the roads to progress are closed, mass illegal migration comes.”
What Is Not Known
The Presidency has published no budget, timetable or funding source for the multi-year rice plan. It is also unclear which rules will govern import licences now that Decree 693-24 is gone.
The aims of the renegotiation Abinader proposed, and whether Washington will agree to reopen a treaty in force for the Dominican Republic since 2007, have not been made public. Nor is it clear whether Daniel Peña’s remarks signal a change of policy or a defence of a sensitive crop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Dominican Republic call rice a national security issue?
Rice is the country’s staple, and about 30,000 producers and more than 300,000 jobs depend on it, according to the farm confederation Confenagro. Law 75-24 also lets the national food security council propose tariffs and trade restrictions to protect sensitive products.
Is the Dominican Republic keeping its special rice tariffs?
No, the special rice tariff rules were repealed. Decree 635-26 of 9 September 2026 cancelled Decree 693-24, although Agriculture Minister Francisco Oliverio Espaillat Bencosme has said controls on rice entering the country will stay as they are under current law.
What does this mean for US rice exporters?
Tariffs are no longer the main hurdle, but Dominican import licences still decide what arrives, according to the industry group USA Rice. US rice sales to the Dominican Republic reached 15,920 tonnes in 2025, below the old 23,300-tonne quota.
What did the government announce for rice farmers?
On 16 October the Presidency listed subsidies for certified seed and fertiliser, preferential loans, crop insurance and upkeep of irrigation and drainage. It also outlined a multi-year plan with a specialised fund and better rural roads, without giving a budget.
Sources: Listín Diario (EFE), vice minister Daniel Peña, 19 October 2026, Presidency of the Dominican Republic, rice sector presentation, 16 October 2026, Presidency of the Dominican Republic, rice sector backs the government, 18 October 2026, Diario Libre, President Abinader on the repeal, 12 October 2026, Diario Libre, Leonel Fernández on CAFTA-DR, 14 October 2026, Diario Libre, rice growers and the renegotiation, 18 October 2026, Revista Mercado, rice output, consumption and farm costs, 7 October 2026, USTR, 2026 National Trade Estimate Report, Dominican Republic chapter, 31 March 2026, USA Rice, Dominican Republic takes steps to open market access for rice, 9 October 2026, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report DR2025-0001 on Decree 693-24, USDA Economic Research Service, Rice Sector at a Glance, updated 9 October 2026, FAO FAOLEX record of Law 75-24 (Official Gazette 11174, 2 December 2024), Banco Central de la República Dominicana, exchange rate notice for 19 October 2026. All retrieved 20 October 2026. Peso conversions use the central bank buying rate at the close on Monday 19 October, RD$61.2304 per US dollar. Quotes from Spanish-language sources are translated by The Rio Times.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief