Has the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act Achieved Its Stated Goals?

This paper examines the impact of CBERA (Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act) trade provisions to determine whether the program has achieved its stated goals. A major program enhancement had a negative impact across small beneficiaries, but countries with large manufacturing sectors were able to expand preferential export shares with negligible increases in total exports relative to GDP. Additional evidence supports the view that tariff preferences did not promote economic development in CBERA-eligible countries. Greater utilization of CBERA trade provisions will require expanding coverage to include all products of export interest to beneficiaries and reducing costs associated with administrative regulations and rules of origin.