In the midst of debate in congressional committees over the Omnibus Act, several industry sectors have spoken out in pushback the increase in export withholdings promoted by the project.
The Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) said “the measures could harm competitiveness, foreign exchange earnings and investment promotion”. In his presentation, Diego Coatz, executive director of the entity, said yes “an anti-export prejudice”.
Specifically, the UIA charged the negative impact that the increase in export duties to 15% for industrial products.
For entrepreneurs, this initiative “is not combined with the promotion of value-added exports, which are what generate the real foreign exchange that Argentina needs.”
The UIA warned that “fiscal pressure due to the effect of new tariffs on exports of industrial goods and food and drink would increase on average by more than 11 percentage points”.
Complaints against these points of the law have not only come from large companies. The Argentine Chamber of Electronic, Electromechanical and Lighting Industries (CADIEEL) also presented to the Government the need to “find solutions to the loss of competitiveness of the national industry”.
Furthermore, they expressed in defense of the Argentine Compro Regime that the bill seeks to repeal. “The participation of our SMEs in this type of projects returns to the State the direct and indirect fiscal contribution, due to the generation of qualified employment at local level and the internal consumption it promotes, a return that does not occur when turnkey equipment hand is purchased and distributed,” said Tamborenea, president of CADIEEL.
From this sector they argue why they were affected by the official decision to run the PAIS tax at a rate of 17.5% for importing inputs to produce electronic components. “At the national level, it favors sectors that import energy products or medical devices exempt from the national tax and penalizes domestic manufacturers who would have difficulty placing their components in Argentina, as well as exporting technology to the world due to high production costs” , underline from CADIEEL.
The Chamber of Metallurgical and Component Industries of Córdoba (CIMCC) has joined this demand.). “Industrial exports are not sustainable with export duties and the PAIS tax regime“, they underlined in a note.
For this reason they insisted on the request to “reduce the corresponding rates to avoid unnecessarily suffocating exports, production and industrial employment, without giving up fiscal resources but, on the contrary, seeking a scheme that allows for incremental collection which, with the proposed scheme, would be lost.”
The Industrial Union of the Province of Buenos Aires also called for a review of the proposal to increase export duties to 15% for exports of industrialized products, processed foods and minerals. “which implies a very negative impact for Argentine value-added exports.”
At the same time, industrialists in Buenos Aires demonstrated in favor of the labor reform that includes the omnibus law. “The approval of the proposed changes in the work axis will allow improve employability conditions and provide greater certainty to support and develop the quality jobs our country needs to move forward,” they indicated in a statement.
From the UIPBA they note that “obsolete labor laws generate significant damage not only in the business (especially of SMEs), but in job creation”. They argue that the current legislation is harmful “because of the judicial industry, the abuse of the right to strike, the blockades and takeovers of factories that destroy companies, the fact that Regulations have not been adapted to new ways of workingtechnologies and positions required by the sector’s activity in 2024″.
Source: Clarin
