CODEVI Industrial Park Closure: Social Unrest and the Impact of the End of the HOPE/HELP Act

Ouanaminthe, October 9, 2025. The Industrial Development Company (CODEVI) has announced the immediate closure of its industrial park and the suspension of all corporate operations following recent social tensions. According to an official statement released on October 8, 2025, the closure is effective until further notice, though the exact nature of the incident remains unspecified in the document.

However, on October 6, 2025, hundreds of Haitian workers held a peaceful protest within the CODEVI free zone to denounce tax withholdings applied by the park at the request of the Haitian government. The mobilization led to the temporary evacuation of Dominican personnel for security reasons, according to Dominican media reports.

On October 7, the Haitian government—via the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor—clarified that no tax deductions by the DGI will be applied to the workers’ salaries for the time being. They also announced a tripartite meeting between executive representatives, unions, and employers to discuss the minimum wage.

This social movement comes at a particularly sensitive time for Haiti. October 1, 2025, marked the expiration of the HOPE/HELP Act, which guaranteed preferential access to the U.S. market for Haitian products.

The end of this program highlights a triple failure: that of Haitian diplomacy, the Ministry of Commerce, and the private sector. The United States allowed the mechanism to lapse, signaling a lack of interest in its renewal. Meanwhile, in Port-au-Prince, members of the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH) lobbied Washington extensively, but to no avail.

Former Haitian Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond stated on X: “Ending the HOPE/HELP agreements is like cutting off the lifeblood of the Haitian economy. Such a decision will severely impact the textile sector, which provides over 50,000 jobs. I humbly urge the Trump administration to consider an extension or any other means to launch a new HOPE/HELP program.”

The combination of worker mobilization at CODEVI and the loss of U.S. trade preferences increases the pressure on Haiti’s industrial sector, raising serious questions about the state’s and the private sector’s ability to protect jobs and national competitiveness.