The history of trade and commerce in the Republic of Haiti

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U.S.-Haiti Trade: The Politics of Rice
By Michael Dobbs, Washington Post, 13 April 2000. By forging special relationships with both U.S. politicians and Haitian military dictators, Lawrence Theriot, chief Washington lobbyist for the U.S.-owned Rice Corporation of Haiti has turned Haiti into one of the largest markets for American rice anywhere in the world. Critics see it as an example of corporate welfare resulting from the free market policies advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Farmers in Haiti have had their livelihood destroyed by competition from subsidised American rice
By Charlotte Denny, The Guardian, Thursday 11 April 2002. Under the dictates of the World Bank and IMF, Haiti began a program of rapid trade liberalisation in the 1980s. The import tariff on rice, the staple crop of Haiti's largely rural population, was cut from 50% to 3%, opening the country to a flood of cheap US imports.
Haiti drug link—Cops say fake fishermen smuggling arms, aliens
By Glenroy Sinclair, The Jamaica Gleaner, Tuesday 9 September 2003. An expanding drugs, arms and alien-smuggling ring between Jamaica and Haiti. Persons claiming to be fishermen are taking ganja and in return are given illegal guns; plus, aliens fleeding economic hardship are allowed to travel back with them.
Some areas really miss tariff
By Jane Regan, The Miami Herald, Sunday 26 October 2003. In Haiti, where free trade has turned into a free-for-all, tons of cheap U.S. rice and poultry have proven very unhealthy for local producers. Haiti, the hemispheres poorest nation, is home to the hemispheres most open market. Neighboring Caribbean countries protect their chicken and rice farmers with 40 percent tariffs, but foreign agribusinesses pay no more than a 5 percent tariff at Haitian ports.