Nicaragua Objects to U.S. Cigar Tax Increase

Nicaragua’s legislature has objected to proposed increases in U.S. cigar taxes, which would raise the tax on some premium cigars from 5 cents to $10. It says that 70,000 to 100,000 workers in the country’s cigar industry would be adversely affected by the tax increase, worsening poverty in a country still recovering from a civil war and the Marxist dictatorship that ruled the country in the 1980s.

The cigar tax increase is intended to play a small part in funding health care in the U.S. for children in certain households making up to $100,000 per year.