São Paulo – The Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC) reported this Thursday (23rd) that the Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex), the agency responsible for the sector’s policies, decided to extend the import tax reduction, from 6 to 0%, over non-alloy raw aluminum until August 17th 2016. Arab countries are among the suppliers of this product to Brazil.
According to the ministry, the item is used in the manufacturing of bus bodies, engine blocks, auto wheels and casings, roof tiles, pans and cables for electric transmission. The exemption, according to the MDIC, was approved by Camex because the Brazilian production is not enough to meet domestic demand.
In H1of this year, Brazil imported the amount of US$ 306.7 million in non-alloy raw aluminum, an increase of 24.2% over the same period of 2014, according to data from the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex) of the MDIC. The main supplier was Russia, followed by Argentina, India, Canada and United Arab Emirates.
The exports of the product from the UAE to Brazil totaled US$ 17.3 million in H1 2015, over zero in the same period of last year. Saudi Arabia sold US$ 1.2 million, a drop of 18.5% in the same comparison.
In all of last year, Brazilian imports of non-alloy raw aluminum totaled US$ 548.5 million, five times more the amount recorded in 2013. The measure now extended was issued in August 2014. The number of the product in Mercosur’s common classification (NCM) is 7601.10.00.
Shipments from the United Arab Emirates to Brazil fetched, in all, US$ 7.6 million in 2014, concentrated in H2, after the adoption of the original exemption. There are no records of business in 2013, according to Secex. Other sales were from Saudi Arabia (US$ 1.46 million) and Egypt (US$ 561,000).
Since the aluminum industry uses a lot of energy, the Arab countries in the Guld, especially the UAE, invest strongly due to the widespread availability of fossil fuels.
Other incentives
Camex also extended the reduction of the rate, from 10 to 2%, of the Import Tax over palm-kernel oil (NCM 1513.29.10), extracted from the kernels of the palms and used in the food, cosmetics and personal care industry. The reason, according to the MDIC, is to guarantee the supply due to a reduction of the domestic output. The extension is valid until April 16th 2016.
Camex also decided to reduce, from 16 and 14 to 2%, the Import Tax rates over 272 capital and computer goods until December 31st 2016. The incentives are included in the ex-tariff mode, which allows for a temporary reduction of taxes over these types of products when there isn’t a similar domestic output.
All of the decisions are within Camex’s resolutions 63, 64, 66 and 68/2015, published this Thursday in the Federal Official Gazette.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
