The CBI came into effect on January 1, 1984, and aimed to provide several tariff and trade benefits to many Central American and Caribbean countries.
Provisions in the CBERA prevented the United States from extending preferences to CBI countries that it judged to be contrary to its interests or that had expropriated American property.
CBI countries had lost their advantage relative to Mexico, a major competitor in industries such as textiles and apparel, so they sought to increase their own preferences and achieve "NAFTA parity".
Several exports from the region continue to receive preferential status in the United States, however those preferences will likely be replaced by bilateral free trade agreements, and possibly by the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.
However, the CBI called for liberalizing Haiti's economy and re-allocating nearly one-third of domestic Haitian food production toward export crops, and as a result of the subsequent shrinking of the rice industry and inundation of the market with cheap imported rice subsidized by the US government, Haitian farmers found their livelihoods crippled as they could not compete with the subsidized "Miami rice".