Economy & Business - September 2026

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | New critical mineral and rare earth deal with the US. On 10 September the Dominican Republic and the US announced the signing of a cooperation framework to strengthen “the security and resilience of critical mineral and rare earth supply chains, as well as to promote new investment and development opportunities linked to the extraction and processing of these strategic resources”, according to an official statement released by both governments. The agreement was signed by the Dominican Republic’s new foreign minister, Víctor Bisonó, and the US ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Leah Campos. According to the official statement, the US has signed similar cooperation framework agreements with 27 countries as it seeks to reduce its heavy reliance on China for such materials. The previous day, the Dominican government announced the start of talks with the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on tariffs and other issues, aimed at “further strengthening economic and trade relations between both countries and advancing topics of common interest”. Like much of the region, the Dominican Republic is facing US tariffs, including tariffs of 10%-12.5% under a package announced by the US in July. The tariffs, which the Dominican government led by President Luis Abinader is seeking to address, come despite the Dominican Republic-Central America-US Free Trade Agreement (Cafta-DR) which remains in place. 

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