Mobile Chamber: CAFTA to provide "real benefits and opportunities for Alabama exporters"

This session, Congress is considering a free trade agreement with the Dominican Republic and several Central American nations. In Sunday's Mobile Register, Win Hallett, president of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, writes persuasively that the agreement, known as DR-CAFTA, will be good for Alabama.

According to Hallett, the agreement "is expected to tear down barriers and give Alabama companies a chance to compete on a level playing field."

There is already a substantial volume of trade between these countries and Alabama. Removal of trade barriers will only enhance that mutually beneficial relationship.

Central America countries and the Dominican Republic may be small, but they are big markets for Alabama and the United States. Last year, these six countries formed Alabama's ninth-largest export market in the world, accounting for more than $471 million of exports.

Between 2000 and 2004, Alabama has more than doubled its exports to this region.

The countries are also the largest fabric export market worldwide for the state. Some 75 percent of all exports last year were fabric-related.