The president Claudia Sheinbaum signed a decree to increase 35% tariffs on ready-made goods and 15% on the import of textile products; with the aim of combating abuses in current provisions, guaranteeing equitable conditions for national companies and protect nearly 400,000 jobs that depend on this strategic sector.
Marcelo EbrardSecretary of Economy, announced that this measure will close a gap in the Manufacturing IndustryMaquiladora and Export Services (IMMEX), which allowed the importation of products under the tax-exempt intermediate input scheme, but which ended up being marketed in the national market without meeting the required conditions.
“With these actions we closed a door that left Mexican companies at a disadvantage, allowing the entry of finished products that evaded taxes and competed unfairly,” he said at the morning press conference this Thursday, December 19.
Ebrard Casaubón also mentioned efforts to eradicate technical smuggling, a practice in which, he said, companies declare imports as temporary to evade taxes and then market the products in the national market.
The official explained that irregularities have been detected in at least 40% of customs agencies revised, which has led to the withdrawal of seven patents from customs agents. Likewise, operations are implemented to combat piracy and guarantee compliance with industrial property regulations.
“In this case we call it technical smuggling, that is, in your request you deceive the authority, you say ‘this is temporary.’ Obviously the authority cannot, neither here nor in any country in the world, verify all of them, you do it at random, between 7% and 1% are verified, so that is why the patent, license and patent of a customs agent has so much value, because you are delegating reliability, you are giving to some extent faith that it is true that this is a temporary import, because their patent is going to be withdrawn and the authorities are going to take action, because they are deceiving the authority Well, that door is closing,” the official explained.
