WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is opening an investigation into labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua, a US official said on Tuesday, impacting relations with a country with which the US has a free trade agreement amid growing concerns about its increasingly authoritarian rule from President Daniel Ortega.
The investigation being opened by the U.S. Trade Representative should be completed within a year, according to the official and another person familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the probe before it was announced.
The White House was expected to announce the decision later Tuesday, the two people said.
The investigation, authorized under section 301 of the Trade Act 1974, will look not only at allegations of abuse but also at the extent to which they affect trade with the US. Only after this determination has been made will any retaliatory measures be taken.
Nicaragua’s vice president and government spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo, did not immediately respond to an email request seeking comment.
In May, the US government imposed Section 301 tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, including electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel and aluminum. These tariffs largely reflected the administration’s conclusion that China was unfairly subsidizing these industries.
“For years, the Chinese government has poured public money into Chinese companies,” President Joe Biden said of those tariffs. “It’s not competition, it’s cheating.”
In the case of Nicaragua, any retaliation would be complicated by its membership in a regional free trade pact, the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Of the trade pact’s five members, Nicaragua is one of only two to have a trade surplus with the U.S., about $3 billion in 2022, or nearly 20% of gross domestic product.
Ortega proposed a constitutional reform last month that would officially make him and his wife, current Vice President Rosario Murillo, “co-presidents” of the Central American nation and extend the presidential term from five to six years.
The proposals come amid a continued repression by the Ortega government, which has resulted in the mass imprisonment and forced exile of opponents, including religious leaders and journalists. Since 2018 The government has closed more than 5,000 organizationslargely religious, and forced thousands to flee the country.