Notebooks and tablets are on the increase: the Government is raising tariffs and making imports more expensive

In a decision that took international technology companies by surprise, such as Lenovo, HP and Dell, the government has doubled the tariff on the import of laptops and some tablets, which will be taxed at 16% instead of the 8% as hitherto. The decree, published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette, indicates that the provision has “the purpose of strengthening the industrial sector in question”in clear allusion to the main local producers of these devices, among them Newsan, Mirgor, Exo and PC Arts (owner of Banghó).

Global brands, historically, concentrate 70% of the computer marketthat now they will have a new surcharge in the price due to the increase in tariffs. “It had been talked about for some time, but it had never materialized,” he confided clarion an industry executive. He added that the higher cost of bringing laptops into the country “will have a pass-through on prices,” but clarified that the biggest concern for the industry as a whole is barriers to imports. “SIRA’s approval is very slow,” he graphically represented.

In principle, the price increase affects a large part of the currently offered notebooks (between 90 and 100%, according to provisional estimates) Already tablets 7 inches and up, which are considered mid-range and high-end. In the industry they have calculated the impact on costs and what percentage of the rate increase will be passed on to consumers.