The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI)

The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) is a programme of economic assistance whose objectives include promotion of economic development, increase in production, expansion of trade, increase in inward investment and fostering export diversification into more dynamic sectors for countries in the Caribbean and Central America. It was also designed to strengthen the economic and political ties between the United States and beneficiary countries. The CBI programme was passed in 1983 under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and implemented in 1984. The CBERA was amended between 1990 and 1992 to provide improved market access and tax benefits. The CBI programme was further expanded over the period 2000 to 2015 through a series of additional provisions. These included the passing of the 2000 Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), the 2002 Trade Act (relevant sections), the 2006 Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE Act), the 2008 HOPE II Act, the 2010 Haitian Economic Lift Program Act (HELP Act) and the 2015 Trade Preferences Extension Act. This entry describes the main features of the CBI, analyses its evolution and the structural challenges it has faced and faces to improve its impact on social and economic development.