The suspension of the free trade agreement between Morocco and Tunisia, which greatly benefits the Tunisian economy, could be, according to analysts, the fatal economic weapon that the Moroccan authorities will use in the event of diplomatic escalation. between the two countries.
The deep political crisis between Morocco and Tunisia, caused by the regrettable welcome given by the Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, to the leader of the Polisario, Brahim Ghali, on the occasion of the Africa-Japan summit, Ticad, which took place held in Tunis on August 29, 2022, could have harmful consequences on economic relations between the two countries. Rabat and Tunis are linked by a free trade agreement signed in 1999 allowing them to import and export certain goods with total or partial exemption from customs duties.
For some years now, the trade agreement has not been able to achieve the expected objectives. The Moroccan government had expressed in January 2022 its intention to revise this agreement with planned changes to the list of products authorized to benefit from customs exemptions. It must be said that the trade balance between the two countries clearly leans in favor of Tunisia, whose export volume amounts, according to the latest report from the Foreign Exchange Office, to some 2.3 billion dirhams in 2021. against only 1.3 billion dirhams for Moroccan exports. A low level of exchanges which attests to the failure of this agreement to achieve its objectives.
Call for boycott
Hence the repeated calls in Moroccan business circles to suspend the agreement because of its weak economic consistency. Many analysts evoke the possibility of this suspension by the Moroccan authorities to respond to the unfriendly gestures of the Tunisian president towards Morocco. Tunisian exports to Morocco consist mainly of fruits, followed by electrical and electronic equipment, as well as school products. In the lot of fruits, we find Tunisian dates. According to the Tunisian Interprofessional Grouping of Dates, Morocco is by far the main destination of this product with more than 20,700 tons.
It is through investment that Morocco is strongly linked to Tunisia economically. Attijariwafa Bank, a subsidiary of the Al Mada holding company, ex-SNI, has strong banking representation in Tunisia, considered to be one of the most important on the Tunisian market. Calls for the withdrawal of the Moroccan banking group continue to multiply on social networks, but no reaction from the management of the group. At the associative level, the Moroccan Federation for Consumer Protection has called for a boycott of all Tunisian products sold on the Moroccan market, in addition to its decision to freeze all forms of activity and cooperation with Tunisian institutions for the protection of consumers.
This call for a boycott of Tunisian products finds a wide echo among Moroccans, who interact in a positive way with this crisis while expressing their fraternity with the Tunisian people.