MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Argentina increases export tax on biodiesel to 15% from 8%
The Argentine government is raising an export tax on biodiesel to 15% from 8%, effective July 1, according to a decree published in the official Gazette on Monday. Argentina is one of the world's top providers of biodiesel fuel, exporting 1.65 million tons in 2017, but it has been hit by retaliatory tariffs in recent years. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesBrazil does not WANT to produce Biodiesel or any alternative, sustainable “Green Energy” [of course; for the most obvious reasons].
May 29th, 2018 - 12:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In fact Brazil is the 2nd largest biodiesel producer in the world, vastly bigger than Argentina. It doesn't say why other countries have been putting tariffs on the Argentine biodiesel, but I expect EM will be pleased about the increased export tax.
May 29th, 2018 - 03:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Seems to me they should lower the tax on soy oil and other soy products and leave it high on the raw beans to encourage processing within the country.
Of course, the export taxes make sense and may help reduce dumping accusations that close doors to biodiesel.
May 30th, 2018 - 05:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Cornered by a situation of his own creation, the Macri government is beginning to realize that helping the richest and make pay the poor has its limits. Of course, the detonant of this change in direction is the IMF and conditions the organization will put before releasing any 'standby' loan money.
As a sign of times, Macri and his star team even thought of reintroducing export taxes on corn and wheat, but quickly backtracked when representatives of the sector strongly reacted against the initiative.
DT's idea of designing the taxes to encourage domestic processing makes sense and one would wish that such were the criteria applied to every single government's decision.
Surely it would be pointless if every country followed the same rules? Seems to me the reason for creating tariffs is mostly to compensate for other countries' creating tariffs, so everyone having them would be equivalent to no one having them.
May 31st, 2018 - 08:32 am - Link - Report abuse 0What Macri should be doing is trying to improve Argentina's lousy 'ease of doing business rating', as that would make the country more competetive naturally instead of artificially. And it doesn't mean getting rid of worker's rights, either. Most European countries have a good rating and also strong protections for workers.
I found a website that tries to explain the difference between countries in business culture based on six factors, and one of them is Uncertainty Avoidance. It say's this about Argentina:
“At 86 Argentina scores very high on UAI – and so do the majority of Latin American countries that belonged to the Spanish kingdom. These societies show a strong need for rules and elaborate legal systems in order to structure life. The individual’s need to obey these laws, however, is weak. Corruption is widespread, the black market sizeable and, in general, you´ll see a deep split between the “pays réel” and the “pays légal”.
”To compound the issue, in these societies, if rules cannot be kept, additional rules are dictated. According to recent Nobel Prize winner Vargas Llosa, “A logical consequence of such abundance is that each legal disposition has another that corrects, denies or mitigates it. That means, in other words, that those who are immersed in such a sea of juridical contradictions like transgressing the law, or that – perhaps even more demoralizing – within such a structure, any abuse or transgression may find a legal loophole that redeems or justifies it.””
Sounds like this explains some of the excessive bureaucracy in Latin America. You have experience of living in different countries so what do you think? Here's a link:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/argentina,canada,france/
Peronism is out of power in Argentina but is alive and well in Washington and the capitals of Europe. ;)
Jun 02nd, 2018 - 11:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0Populism, not Peronism. Peron was a populist but not all populists are Peronist. (Say that five times fast.)
Jun 03rd, 2018 - 11:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!