The debate over raising the minimum wage in 2009 sparked protests and political fires, an outrage that confirms the importance of the Haitian people in the face of the need for policy responses to combat persistent poverty. There is little doubt that the failure to adjust the minimum wage to inflation has severely undermined the purchasing power of most Haitians. The Haitian Congress has proposed doubling the minimum wage from $1.80 to $5.00 a day. With a temporary return to relative political calm, U.S. imports increased (reflected in production) but declined after the year 2000, due to the loss of production to competition and the persistence of political uncertainty that dampened investors. However, the destinies of the garment sector have paralleled the general trends in the economy, which have undergone enormous social and political turbulence. Historically, the flowering of clothing in Haiti lasted from the 1960s until the end of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986. The turbulent transition to democracy, including the 1991 military coup and the subsequent trade embargo, led for years to a massive drop in production. Since 1994, the Haitian garment industry has entered a slow and timid phase of reconstruction. Haiti`s apparel industry enjoys a comparative advantage based on low-wage production and proximity to the U.S. market, complemented by flexible trade preferences created by the U.S.
Congress in the amended HOPE Act. Given that the United States is the main market for Haitian apparel exports, these generous „unique“ trade preferences, largely based on the duty-free treatment of apparel items made with intermediate consumption from third countries, particularly fabrics, are expected to lead to increased foreign investment in garment manufacturing. Employment growth and increased production in the garment industry since the adoption of HOPE I in 2006 are leading indicators in 2006 that the strategy was able to be maintained before the earthquake.