Nicaragua's legislature, the National Assembly, on Thursday issued a declaration objecting to a planned U.S. tax on premium cigars.
The measure would raise the price of cigars from five cents to 10 U.S. dollars for each puro; hitting the tobacco industry in Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
Freddy Torres, a member of the assembly's economic commission, said that the declaration calls on the U.S. legislature to reconsider the measure.
"This measure will prejudice thousands of workers in the tobacco growing and cigar making industry," Torres said. "The U.S. Congress and Senate should recognize the damage this measure does to Nicaragua in its fight against poverty," he added.
Nicaragua would lose 60 million dollars a year, because 69 percent of its cigar exports go to the United States, Torres said. This could affect 70,000 to 100,000 workers, he added.
The United States-Central America free trade agreement CAFTA does not include a provision for tobacco exports.
Source: Xinhua
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