Managua. The Nicaraguan parliament repealed yesterday, December 14, a trade agreement and other legal instruments signed with Taiwan, a week after breaking diplomatic relations with the island and renewing its ties with China, according to the official press.
The ruling parliament approved with urgent proceedings by 80 votes and none against a request from the government to “cease and nullify” any agreement or legal instrument signed with Taiwan before December 9, reported the official website El 19 Digital.
The repeal of the agreements, which includes a Free Trade Agreement in force since 2006, comes a week after Managua broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan and resumed them with China.
In the request sent to the deputies, the government mentioned that since December 9, Nicaragua “has recognized only one China in the world (…) and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.”
The deputy of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC-right), Azucena Castillo, said that “there are concerns about commercial relations” that were protected by an agreement signed in 2006. It is unknown how this decision will be implemented, he added.
The trade agreement allowed Nicaraguan exports such as coffee, sugar, seafood and beef, among other products, to enter the island with tariff preferences.
In 2007, exports to Taiwan totaled $ 10.1 million and in 2020 they increased to $ 82.8 million, according to official data.
Castillo estimated that the government should have expectations that “all this trade will be replaced with China and that it will double in volume, but it will be necessary to see if the country has the capacity to supply that demand.”
Other agreements repealed include the abolition of visas in diplomatic, official and service passports; technical cooperation agreement; air services; abolition of the requirement of double legalization of foreign public documents and a loan contract with the Export-Import Bank.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx