The Dominican Republic has become the latest nation to join the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), whose members already include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Under the agreement, the Dominican Republic would be permitted to export a small amount of sugar to the U.S. Meanwhile, 80 percent of American-made consumer and industrial goods will become duty-free in the Dominican Republic, and all tariffs will be eliminated within 10 years. The one exception is agricultural goods. Under the agreement, about half of U.S. farm exports to the Dominican Republic will become duty free right away-the remainder will be phased in over the next 20 years.

According to the U.S. Trade Representative's office, the Dominican Republic's membership in the CAFTA represents an additional $8.7 billion of the total $32 billion in trade that the pact generates.

Highlights from the USTR's "Free Trade With Central America":

• The U.S. exported $9 billion in goods to the five CAFTA countries in 2001, about the same as U.S. exports to Russia, India, and Indonesia combined. American exports to the region have been growing, up 42 percent since 1996.

• The U.S. is the main supplier of goods and services to Central American economies: 40 percent of total goods imported by Central America come from the United States.

• Key exports to the region include machinery and equipment; chemicals and plastics; foodstuffs including apples, corn, wheat and rice; textiles and apparel; and paper.

• Seventy-eight percent of U.S. exporters to the region are small- and medium-sized businesses, and such firms generate nearly half of U.S. export value to Central America.