Nicaragua and China Speed Up Implementation of Free Trade Deal

On Monday, Nicaragua's Trade and Industry Minister Jose Bermudez announced that President Daniel Ortega's administration is promoting actions to implement the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China.

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This Central American country signed the "Early Harvest Agreement" (EHA), a trade instrument whose objective is to facilitate the bilateral exchange of agriculture-related goods by establishing preferential tariffs.

Among other things, this agreement favors trade in harnesses for vehicles, textiles, beef and bovine meat, seafood, vegetables, rum, plants and flowers, garlic, sweet corn, tuna, pasta, bakery products, truck tires, and raw materials.

"Nicaraguan exports to China could increase by some US$100 million in tariff-free goods. Chinese demand will force us to increase our production," lawmaker Wilfredo Navarro said, adding that the EHA "contemplates investments from Chinese companies to Nicaragua.” 

Recently, Nicaragua and China also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the Joint Commission for Economic, Trade, and Investment Cooperation.

This instrument is designed to facilitate the participation of the Central American country in China's new "silk road", which implies multimodal interconnection between countries on several continents.

Between January and May of this year, Nicaraguan exports to China reached US$3.1 billion, which represents a year-on-year increase of 19.1 percent.