Recent trade performance of Caribbean countries

Executive Summary
The paper analyzes the evolution of trade patterns of the countries comprising the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC); with the following integration groupings: Andean Community, the Central American Common Market (CACM);, the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR);, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and the European Union (EU); in the 1990s.
CDCC trade with the Andean Community was relatively small compared to that with Europe or NAFTA. Non-CARICOM CDCC member countries were dominant in the Andean market with the average value of their exports being more than double that of their of CARICOM counterparts. The Dominican Republic accounted for 41 per cent of CDCC's imports. CDCC trade with the CACM grouping continues to be relatively sparse and contained. Ninetyone per cent of total CDCC exports to the CACM are from the non-CARICOM countries, with 72 per cent coming from the Netherlands Antilles.CDCC trade with MERCOSUR was relatively small compared to that with NAFTA and the EU since CDCC exports to MERCOSUR do not enjoy any preferential treatment as they do with the aforementioned groupings. Within MERCOSUR, Brazil and Argentina dominate trade with CDCC. Like that of the previous groupings, non-CARICOM CDCC countries constituted the major part of the CDCC exports to this grouping.
Trade between CDCC and Chile was dominated by the non-CARICOM CDCC countries, accounting for some 83.4 per cent of total CDCC exports, with the CARICOM countries accounting for the remaining 16.6 per cent. Within the latter grouping, exports to Chile were largely accounted for by Trinidad and Tobago while non-CARICOM CDCC exports originated from only three countries: the Netherlands Antilles, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, with the Netherlands Antilles' exports constituting 45 per cent of CDCC's total exports. On the imports side, the non-CARICOM CDCC countries accounted for 93.9 per cent of total CDCC imports.Trade was heavily concentrated in the NAFTA grouping, in particular with the United States, which remained by far the dominant trading partner for the CDCC countries. In this case, the CARICOM countries accounted for the bulk of CDCC exports, in fact these exports represented almost two thirds of total CDCC trade. These exports were dominated by the MDCs of the CARICOM subgroup, particularly Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. Similar to its exports, CDCC imports from NAFTA were dominated by the CARICOM countries which accounted for an average 60.4 per cent of the total, with the non- CARICOM countries taking 40.6 per cent.
CDCC trade with the EU recorded moderate growth of 4.7 per cent per year. Among the CDCC subgroupings, CARICOM exports represented 86 per cent of the total for the CDCC countries, accounted for largely by the exports of the larger non-OECS countries. Within the non-CARICOM CDCC group of countries, trade flows to the EU were recorded for the Dominican Republic and Haiti only. CDCC exports and imports from the EU are strongly influenced by the established patterns of comparative advantage and disadvantage and historical linkages. As a result, CDCC exports to the EU are made up of primary products, while their imports tend to be concentrated in manufactured goods.
The composition of CDCC trade is determined by its production structure, while preferential trading arrangements and historical links influenced its direction of trade. Despite repeated attempts at diversifying their economies, both in terms of products and markets, CDCC exports remain highly concentrated on a narrow range of relatively low value added primary products and manufactured goods, which are principally exported to North America and the EU. The United States remain, by far, the dominant partner for these countries.