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ANNOUNCEMENT 31 Mar 2015
In March 2015, the government of Brazil announced a change in import duties.NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS
1
SOURCE
Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade, news item of 1 April 2015: http://www.mdic.gov.br/sitio/interna/noticia.php?area=1¬icia=13685
Camex resolution no. 21 of 31 March 2015, published in Official Gazette of 1April 2015: http://pesquisa.in.gov.br/imprensa/jsp/visualiza/index.jsp?data=01/04/2015&jornal=1&pagina=11&totalArquivos=140
WTO. (26 July 2013). Trade Policy Review, Report by the Secretariat, Brazil. Report prepared for the sixth Trade Policy Review of Brazil. Document WT/TPR/S/283/Rev., p. 53, para. 3.38: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/s283_e.pdf
On 31 March 2015, the Brazilian Foreign Trade Council (Camex) issued Resolution no. 21 decreasing the import tariff on 18 tariff codes belonging to the IT-sector from 16% and 14% to 2%. For 15 codes the reduced tariff is new, while for the remaining three it was extended. The measure which took effect on 1 April 2015 lasts until 31 December 2015.
The tariffs were reduced under Brazil's ex-tarifário regime which allows for a temporary customs duty exception to the Mercosur Common External Tariff on capital and IT goods. Such an exception can be invoked in case the good in question has no domestically produced equivalent. The goal of this is to restructure Brazil's industrial park and infrastructure services (see WTO Trade Policy Review).
The measure was introduced simultaneously with Camex Resolution no. 22 which reduces the tariff on capital goods (see 'Related Measures' or measure Nr. 8757). According to Camex, both measures produce 281 ex-tarifários representing USD 450 million of imported goods and global investments worth USD 2.679 billion.
The main affected sectors are civil construction (64.43%), railway (5.38%), metal-mechanic (4.70%), auto parts (4.13%) and nutrition (4.10%). The products' main countries of origin are the USA (23.13%), Germany (17.98%), Italy (12.88%), Spain (10.89%) and Japan (5.29%).
The imported products will be used, amongst others, for the construction of a high-voltage transmission line in the North and Northeast Regions, the capacity increase of Niobium alloy production in Minas Gerais as well as for urban mobility, including the implementation of light weight railway vehicles in some municipalities of interior Săo Paulo.