Tension for dollars: Massa tightens the import trap

Concerned about the trade deficit and the lack of results in negotiations with exporters to obtain more foreign currency, the government in the next few hours it will tighten controls on imports and will shorten the deadline for some exports of soy products. These are three measures that will be formalized by the Ministry of Commerce, Customs and AFIP.

The economic team made progress on these decisions after learning of the July trade deficit, which reached $ 437 million, driven by a 43.7% increase in imports. Sergio Massa warned last week that he would do it further restricting overseas purchases to prioritize health, services and technology.

The first ongoing provision comes to the temporary import regime in which an asset is industrially perfected. Today a company that imports an input and converts it into a product You have 1 year to export it and pay the dollars, with the possibility of extension for another year. From now on, this term will be reduced to a maximum term of 8 months.

According to official data, temporary imports between January and July this year they added up to $ 3,786 million. Of this total, USD 1,633 million corresponded to soybean imports, that cereal companies use to transform them in local shortages – as is happening now – and export soy derivatives, such as soybean oil and flour

“We don’t think it’s an extraordinary change, what we hope is that the export will happen sooner. If the dollars come out quickly, what Enter a little faster too. “ an official from the Massa economic team said.

On the other hand, the government will also tighten import controls. AFIP will evaluate new indicators to assess companies’ economic and financial capacity (CEF), a previous step to access the import monitoring system (SIMIS). The argument is the alleged exponential increase in software imports.

In turn, Commerce will pass 34 tariff positions for consumer goods from automatic to non-automatic licensing. That group includes waffles, baked goods, whiskey, yachts, and bovine sperm.

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