The Chamber of Deputies will debate this week a reform of the Law on General Import and Export Taxes (LIGIE), which if approved will impose tariffs on more than 1,400 products from mainly Asian countries, with which there is no trade agreement.
As announced by Morena’s coordinator in the lower house, Ricardo Monreal, the Economy Commission plans to vote on this reform throughout “Tuesday or Wednesday” of this week.
The proposal includes tariffs on more than 1,400 products from some 16 industrial sectors, such as textiles, steel or household appliances, coming from countries with which Mexico does not have a trade agreement and have a “significant participation” in the country’s trade flow, mainly Asian nations such as China, South Korea, India, Vietnam or Thailand.
If approved, the measure will also affect the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Brazil and Nicaragua.
Its impact is estimated at an increase of nearly $52 billion in imports, which is equivalent to 8.6% of the national total.
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“It is a measure that will allow our country to face the global environment in better terms. We seek to strengthen the national industry, reduce dependence on foreign countries and protect national strategic sectors without contravening the country’s international commitments,” defended the Morena coordinator in Congress in a video published on their social networks.
As argued in the text of the reform, pending approval, the measure is necessary to “achieve a productive reorientation,” which is why tariffs will be imposed on sectors whose competitiveness has been “eroded by the availability of imported goods that do not adequately reflect the real costs of trade.”
Of the 1,463 tariff fractions to be modified, 398 correspond to the textile sector, 308 to clothing, 248 to steel or 141 to auto parts.
This initiative arose from the Government, which gave the Chamber of Deputies until this week to address the legal modification.
Precisely, this is the last week of the year of the ordinary period, so if they do not reach an agreement they would have to approve the tariff reform in an extraordinary period.
The federal Executive estimates that the reform will facilitate the protection of more than 320,000 jobs at risk, located in regions such as Nuevo León, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Mexico City and Querétaro.
With information from EFE.
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