Dominican Republic and the United States, Relations Explained

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · US RELATIONS

The United States is the Dominican Republic’s biggest partner. In 2026 a new tariff, a security pact and a migration deal reshaped the relationship.

Dominican Republic US relations in October 2026 rest on trade, drug-fighting cooperation and a large Dominican community in America. A new 12.5% US tariff, in force since 24 July 2026, is this year’s biggest change.

This guide covers tariffs, security, deportations, visas, investment, aid and the diaspora, with every figure dated. More coverage sits on the Rio Times Dominican Republic page, and the geopolitics guide adds China, Russia and the Gulf.

Dominican Republic US Relations at a Glance

President Luis Abinader, re-elected in 2024, leads the Dominican side in October 2026. Víctor “Ito” Bisonó is foreign minister; Secretary of State Marco Rubio called to congratulate him on Saturday, 22 August 2026.

On Thursday, 15 October 2026 Bisonó spoke at the opening of the US-Caribbean Dialogue at the State Department in Washington. He met Rubio on Friday, 16 October to review the bilateral agenda, the Dominican foreign ministry says.

Leah Campos is the US ambassador in Santo Domingo, confirmed by the US Senate on Tuesday, 7 October 2025. Rubio visited the city on Thursday, 6 February 2025, and said Washington would not ask for a mass migrant wave.

Four terms recur in this guide. Each is explained here once.

• CAFTA-DR: the 2004 free trade agreement between the United States, the Dominican Republic and five Central American countries, in force for the Dominican Republic since 1 March 2007.
• Section 301: a US trade law that lets Washington tariff countries over unfair practices; in July 2026 it was used over forced-labour import bans.
• MIREX: the Dominican Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, the foreign ministry that publishes the country’s statements on US talks.
• Banco Central (BCRD): the Dominican central bank, which publishes remittance, reserve and investment data.

Trade and the New 12.5% Tariff

The two countries traded US$34.2 billion in goods and services in 2025, the US Trade Representative (USTR) says. American goods exports were US$12.9 billion and imports US$7.6 billion, a US surplus of US$5.3 billion.

In services the United States ran a US$6.1 billion deficit, with US$3.8 billion of exports and US$9.9 billion of imports. CAFTA-DR, signed on 5 August 2004, has applied to the Dominican Republic since 1 March 2007, USTR says.

The pact opens most trade in goods and services and also covers investment, intellectual property and labour rules. Related Rio Times coverage tracks the rice, tariffs and Viettel file.

On 28 July 2026 USTR published its Section 301 action against 60 economies that lack an enforced ban on forced-labour imports. The notice puts the Dominican Republic in the 12.5% tier for goods entered from Friday, 24 July 2026.

Partners that committed to adopt and enforce such a ban got a lower 10% rate, USTR says. Goods already in transit before 24 July avoided the duty if entered before 28 July.

Goods that enter duty free under CAFTA-DR still face the 12.5% unless an exemption list covers them. A notable carve-out covers textiles and apparel that qualify for duty-free entry under CAFTA-DR.

Goods covered by Section 232 national security tariffs are excluded from the new duty, the USTR fact sheet says. Those separate duties still apply to such goods.

The annexes exempt many products, among them nonmonetary gold, raw cocoa beans, fresh bananas and plantains, and many medicines. Cigars and medical devices, two well-known Dominican exports, do not appear on the annex lists.

The notice gives no end date for the Dominican rate. Any change would need a new US government decision.

Free zones, tax-exempt export factories created under Law 8-90, employ more than 198,000 people directly, the State Department says. As of March 2025 there were 92 zones and 850 companies.

Rubio and Bisonó discussed trade, investment and strategic sectors by phone on 22 August 2026. On 9 September 2026 Bisonó opened tariff talks with Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Goettman, the foreign ministry says.

The foreign ministry says Dominican exports reached US$14.65 billion in 2025, with 48.6% going to the United States. It also puts direct investment from the United States at US$1.04 billion that year.

Security, Drugs and Haiti

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon chief, visited Santo Domingo on Wednesday, 26 November 2025. US Southern Command, which covers Latin America, and the Air Force provide refuelling and transport aircraft, the Dominican foreign ministry says.

The KC-135 tankers refuel patrol aircraft, and the C-130 transports handle medical evacuations, firefighting and disaster relief. Abinader called the measures a temporary expansion of surveillance, and Hegseth said they respect Dominican sovereignty.

On Tuesday, 12 May 2026 the Dominican government extended, for a temporary period, US access to the same facilities used before. The statement gave no end date and placed the work under the “Shield of the Americas” cooperation.

The aims include surveillance, drug interdiction, information sharing, training and biometric airport and border security. The same statement says a decree designates Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanon’s Hezbollah as terrorist organisations.

In February 2025 Washington agreed to formalise a US customs officer’s presence alongside the Dominican National Police. The foreign ministry credits US leadership for UN Security Council Resolution 2793, which created the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti.

On 15 October 2026 Bisonó proposed five lines of action, including energy security and action against organised crime. On 26 October 2026 he told the UN support office chief for Haiti that Santo Domingo backs stabilisation efforts.

For the border build-up, see the Rio Times report on Dominican battalions at the Haiti border. The security and crime guide adds wider context on crime and policing.

Deportations, Visas and Travel

The Dominican migration directorate (DGM) counted 3,581 Dominicans sent back from the United States from 1 January to 10 October 2025. Of them 2,452, or 68.47%, were returned for illegal migration and 553, or 15.44%, over drug charges.

Monthly returns peaked at 531 in July 2025. A full-year 2025 total from the directorate could not be confirmed.

On 12 May 2026 the two governments signed a non-binding memorandum on third-country nationals in transit. It covers a limited number of people with no criminal record and excludes Haitians and unaccompanied minors.

Then foreign minister Roberto Álvarez said on 13 May 2026 that the United States funds the stays. He said people return home within days and that no asylum claims are accepted.

He added that either side can end the memorandum at any time and that it is not a “safe third country” deal. He said the country ranks high for US permanent residencies relative to population.

He also said the country was added to Global Entry, a US trusted-traveller programme. That claim has not been independently confirmed.

The State Department rates the Dominican Republic Level 2, “exercise increased caution”, because of crime. The US embassy site still showed that rating on 27 October 2026.

Investment, Minerals and Aid

The State Department’s 2025 Investment Climate Statement calls the United States the single largest investor in the Dominican Republic. It gives no dollar figure or year, and names tourism, real estate, telecoms, free zones, mining and energy as top sectors.

CAFTA-DR protects investors and allows arbitration, and three investor-state cases have been filed against the country since 2015. One of them remains unresolved, the report says.

The report lists slow courts, hard-to-enforce rulings against state bodies and untitled land, about 60% of the total. It credits Abinader with better prosecutorial independence, and the Transparency International corruption rank improved to 104 in 2024 from 137 in 2020.

The central bank puts gross reserves at US$15.24 billion in September 2026. It puts the current account deficit at 1.4% of GDP in 2025.

On Thursday, 10 September 2026 Bisonó and Ambassador Campos signed a critical minerals and rare earths cooperation framework. Energy and Mines Minister Joel Santos Echavarría attended, and the United States has signed the same framework with 27 countries.

The framework aims to protect supply chains, identify joint projects and ease financing. The foreign ministry text does not say whether it is legally binding.

In February 2025 Rubio hoped US Army engineers, who had worked under contract with Dominican authorities, could keep helping identify rare earths. He also said a US funding freeze would have exceptions, including Haiti aid, and offered waivers for frozen anti-drug programmes.

The Dominican Diaspora and Remittances

About 1.3 million Dominican immigrants lived in the United States in 2022, based on Census Bureau data. The Migration Policy Institute, a Washington research group, tabulated the figures and counts 2.7 million people of Dominican origin.

Some 56% of the immigrants were US citizens, and 41% lived in New York, 17% in New Jersey and 11% in Florida. Massachusetts held 8%, and Greater New York held 55% of all Dominican immigrants, for 2018 to 2022.

The median household income of Dominican immigrants was US$50,500 in 2022, against US$74,600 for US-born households. About 21% lived in poverty, against 12% of the US-born population.

The Banco Central counted US$9,489.8 million of remittances in January to September 2026. The Rio Times monthly remittance report tracks the flows, and the population and ethnic groups guide covers the people at home.

These diaspora figures are a 2022 snapshot, and newer Census tables may differ. The guide to foreign powers in the country covers other outside partners.

What It Means for US Readers

Importers should check the tariff code of each Dominican product, because the 12.5% applies unless an exemption covers it. Cigars and medical devices are not on the exemption lists, and CAFTA-DR textiles are exempt.

Exporters sell into a market that took US$12.9 billion of American goods in 2025 under CAFTA-DR. The July 2026 notice added a tariff but did not cancel the pact.

Investors should weigh free-zone tax breaks and the minerals framework against slow courts and untitled land. The State Department report is the best public checklist of those risks.

Travellers should read the Level 2 advisory and follow resort and tour-operator safety advice. The State Department’s STEP programme sends alerts to enrolled Americans abroad.

Dominican families in the United States face continued removals, with 3,581 counted in the first ten months of 2025. The transit memorandum covers non-Dominican migrants, not Dominican nationals.

Business readers can follow the Dominican foreign ministry and USTR notices for any lower tariff rate. The Rio Times also covers the Dominican Tier 2 rating in the US trafficking report.

What Is Not Known

Tariff talks began on 9 September 2026, but no deal or timetable for a lower rate has been published. The notice gives no end date for the 12.5% rate.

Official data do not show which Dominican exporters lost orders after 24 July 2026. The end date of the US aircraft access and the facilities covered are not named in the 12 May 2026 statement.

The number of third-country migrants who may transit is not published, and no transfers have been confirmed. A directorate total for all of 2025 or for 2026 to date could not be confirmed.

The current US aid total, any visa fees or wait times, and any US visa-pause status for Dominicans were not confirmed. Whether Global Entry enrolment is open to Dominicans is also not confirmed.

The diaspora figures date from 2022, and the share of remittances sent from the United States in 2026 is not confirmed. Whether the minerals framework binds either country is not stated.

No prediction market on Dominican-US relations with real trading was identified, so none is shown. The tariff outcome therefore rests on official US and Dominican notices.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tariff does the United States charge on Dominican goods?

A 12.5% Section 301 tariff has applied since 24 July 2026, with exemption lists for some products. CAFTA-DR textiles and apparel are exempt.

Is CAFTA-DR still in force for the Dominican Republic?

Yes, the agreement has applied to the Dominican Republic since 1 March 2007. The July 2026 notice adds a tariff but does not end the pact.

Does the United States have a base in the Dominican Republic?

The sources checked describe temporary US access to facilities used before, not a permanent base. The Dominican government says sovereignty is respected.

Will the Dominican Republic take third-country migrants from the United States?

A non-binding memorandum of 12 May 2026 allows a limited number of people in transit. It excludes Haitians, unaccompanied minors and people with criminal records.

How many Dominicans live in the United States?

About 1.3 million Dominican immigrants and 2.7 million people of Dominican origin lived there in 2022. Most live in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts.

Is the Dominican Republic safe for American travellers?

The State Department rates it Level 2, exercise increased caution, mainly because of crime. The advisory notes more police presence in areas often visited by tourists.

Sources: US Trade Representative, Dominican Republic page; Federal Register, Section 301 notice of 28 July 2026; USTR fact sheet, July 2026; Dominican foreign ministry statement, 12 May 2026; Foreign minister press conference, 13 May 2026; Dominican foreign ministry, minerals framework, 10 September 2026; Dominican foreign ministry, Bisonó and Rubio, 16 October 2026; Dominican foreign ministry, US-Caribbean Dialogue, 15 October 2026; Dominican foreign ministry, Hegseth visit, 26 November 2025; Dominican foreign ministry, Rubio visit, 6 February 2025; Dominican migration directorate, repatriations, 12 October 2025; US State Department, 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report; Dominican foreign ministry, tariff talks, 9 September 2026; US State Department, 2025 Investment Climate Statement; US State Department, Dominican Republic travel advisory; US Embassy in Santo Domingo; Banco Central de la República Dominicana, remittances to September 2026; Migration Policy Institute, Census Bureau data on Dominican immigrants (all accessed 26 and 27 October 2026).