Coffee growers of El Salvador favor FTA with China
Prensa Latina | 6 April 2023
Coffee growers of El Salvador favor FTA with China
by : Javier Arana Villasusa
San Salvador, Apr 6 (Prensa Latina) The coffee sector in El Salvador has very favorable expectations about a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in denial with the People’s Republic of China, sources from the sector said on Wednesday.
The Coffee Association of El Salvador (Acafesal), headed by Sergio Ticas, considers that the signing of the agreement will boost the sector, the costs of agricultural inputs will fall and the doors to that market will be opened.
If the accord is consummated, the association estimates that 80 percent of coffee production will be absorbed by the Chinese and other Asian markets such as Japan.
In November 2022, both nations announced the beginning of negotiations to sign an FTA in an expeditious manner, according to President Nayib Bukele, in order to take advantage of the potential of bilateral economic and commercial cooperation.
In the case of Acafesal, its associates consider that the FTA will benefit the sector, because it will open the doors to coffee export to China.
Ticas told Diario El Salvador that the agreement will boost the sector, because China is an important supplier of equipment, fertilizers and other inputs, in addition to having a high potential of consumers for the product.
The price of agricultural inputs will go down and tariffs will decrease. In addition, we produce one of the best coffees in the world, and they can be exported to China, to a huge market with people with a high payment capacity, who value the quality of Salvadoran coffee, he pointed out.
