WHAT ARE THE TARIFF RATES IN CENTRAL AMERICA?
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua are members of the Central American Common Market (CACM). The CACM has a system of common external tariffs [(Sistema Arancelario Centroamericano (SAC)], which generally range between 1-15 percent, levied on the C.I.F. value. Under the SAC, current duties generally are 0% for capital goods, up to 5% for raw materials, 5-10% for intermediate goods, and up to 15% for finished goods. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have particularly liberal trade policies for non-agricultural imports, but certain agricultural products remain highly protected. Nicaragua made changes in May 2001 to tariffs and taxes imposed on imports. While it increased tariffs on finished goods from 10% to 15%, Nicaragua modified the regular import duty (DAI) on selected agricultural and consumer products, and eliminated the temporary protective tariff (ATP) for capital and intermediate goods. Belize tariffs fall under the common external tariffs of the Carib
