Online shopping affects Dominican textiles trade: ADITEX

30 Sep '13

2 min read

The Dominican Association of Textile Industries (ADITEX) has announced that the preferential treatment granted by the Dominican Republic Government to couriers and companies engaged in express mail for online shopping is harming the local textile trade.

ADITEX president David Cortes requested the urgent intervention of the Directorate General of Customs to standardize and control imports of more than 50,000 daily shipments of goods without the payment of ITEBIS (tax on transfer of industrialized goods and services) or tariffs that are required to be paid on such kind of imports, reports Diario Digital.

Mr. Cortes said that the exemption of duties and taxes on such goods is distorting the balance of payments which in turn is hurting the economy as well as creating an unfair competition in textile trade.

According to the ADITEX president’s estimates nearly US$ 700 million worth of goods enter the Dominican Republic evading taxes through courier companies.

Mr. Cortes said that the ADITEX is not opposed to online shopping or modernization but the couriers evade duties and taxes, and the shipments are also not fully verified, and hence it is unfair to the domestic textile traders.

If the online shopping completely disappears, the domestic textile companies, which currently employ over 100,000 Dominicans, would be able to create 30,000 more jobs in the country, he added.

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