Digital CEDS

It is unlikely that any regional economy represented by an existing or proposed EDD has ever endured the multiple economic hardships over a longer period of time than the six municipalities comprising SPREDD. Starting in 2006, a key federal tax incentive for manufacturing in U.S. territories (section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States) was completely phased out, which coincided with the start of an enduring recession, where the GDP of Puerto Rico decreased from $103.9 billion in 2006 to $88.4 billion in 2019.[1] During this timeframe, Puerto Rico lost nearly 239,000 jobs, including 43,000 manufacturing jobs. In May 2017, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico declared a form of bankruptcy by means of reorganizing under Title III of PROMESA, which was enacted because there was no provision for a U.S. territory to reorganize under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.