The issue of a change of status for Puerto Rico has gone quiet of late and it is easy to see why: the United States colony benefits from a number of tax concessions that it would lose if it opted for statehood or independence – breaks that mean that manufacturers of microprocessors and peripheral equipment, electrical and electronic products, precision and scientific apparatus, and medical equipment and instruments are now shipping near $5,000m a year of hardware and software from the island colony; the computer sector accounted for $1,800m according to Puerto Rico Treasury and Dun & Bradstreet data.
