Brazilian companies suffer negative impact from Argentine import system

The measure is an attempt by the Argentine government to control the supply chain and monitor foreign trade operations in view of the fiscal situation and the drop in foreign exchange reserves. Argentina is Brazil’s fourth main trading partner, after China, the United States and the European Union. CNI’s International Trade and Integration manager, Constanza Negri, explains the restrictions imposed by the neighboring country.

“Given the country’s economic situation, Argentina has been adopting a series of restrictive measures on imports, through non-automatic licensing and through the control of currency outflows. In practice, this translates into barriers for Brazilian exports,” he points out.

The consultation carried out by the CNI heard 252 companies. In 84% of the companies that consider to have been negatively impacted, there was a reduction in the value exported to Argentina. Only 7% indicated that there was no reduction in the analyzed period. For 49% of the respondents, the reduction in the value exported was above 41%.

With the new system adopted in the neighboring country, the list of goods subject to non-automatic licenses jumped from 1,474, at the beginning of 2020, to 4,193, at the end of 2022. Constanza Negri highlights the main problems pointed out by companies.

“The companies also identified, among the main problems, the delay in the approval of licenses, that is, for Brazilian exports. 51% of companies identified that this time extends to more than 60 days and delays in payment terms for Brazilian exports and unpredictability in closing deals were also identified”, he points out.

CNI’s International Trade and Integration manager also recalls that the improvement in economic-commercial relations between Brazil and Argentina has a positive influence on the growth and competitiveness of both countries.