Importer trap: government promises UIA to deal with critical cases

The direction of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA), led by its boss, Daniel Funes de Rioja, received the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini and his team this Wednesday to analyze “difficulty in accessing imported inputs and the impact on the manufacturing fabric of currency restrictions, “the entity said in a statement.

The presence of Tombolini at the table is not accidental. Assuming, after the replacement of the economic endowment, came to control all foreign trade operations and authorizations for the entry of goods from abroad, formalized through the SIMI (Integral Import Monitoring System). At the meeting, strictly speaking a lunch, they agreed to set up “a working table to address critical issues“, he said to Clarione a source of the UIA.

Regarding the meeting, Funes de Rioja explained that he had offered “a complete view of the problems” with the idea of ​​”finding solutions so that the industry has supplies, spare parts and machinery so that production processes are not interrupted“.

The head of the UIA added that “we understand the limits deriving from the emergency, but we ask to be taken into consideration in order not to stop the production processes”. And he added that “It is not a warning, nor a threat, nor a question of combatbut to pose problems and seek solutions ”.

Official sources and the UIA agreed that it was agreed to advance in the resolution of the most delicate cases. That means, those factories that are about to stop or suspend operations for lack of raw materials or intermediate goods.

Due to the scarcity of dollars, the Government had already convened two key sectors (automotive and electronic manufacturers) to address the issue of imports. So, while the emergency lasts, finished cars cannot be imported and Tierra del Fuego companies will have to lower their purchases abroad by up to 30%.

For the Government, the meeting with the industrialists is part of a strategy that aims to manage the foreign currency that the Central Bank stores. Tombolini stressed that it was “a productive meeting, where the sector (UIA) he strongly demanded that Argentina allocate the dollars which it produces through its exports to production and not for the benefit of a few living people“.

A UIA director acknowledged that meeting with the Secretary of Commerce is a first step in trying to mitigate the impact of the import trap. Specifically, Funes de Rioja stated that there is a “industrial stress due to lack of inputs, spare parts and machines“and asked the government to” spend the dollars where they should be spent: they cannot stop the industry“.

“What has been agreed is to start articulating a scheme to manage SIMI and Central Bank dollars,” a company source said, adding that today “the situation is a bit calmer than it was a month ago“Barriers to imports complicate many businesses and economic recovery in the first half of the year. Private consultants expect GDP to decline by 2% for the rest of the year.