Haddad: Import tax combats unfair competition – 04/13/2023 – Market

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, said this Thursday (13) that the decision by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government to end the exemption for international orders of up to US$ 50 aims to guarantee fair competition among Brazilian retailers. and companies from outside the country.

In an interview with GloboNews in Shanghai, where he is accompanying Lula on an official visit to China, the minister stated that there is a lot of confusion and misinformation regarding the measure and that there are complaints from Brazilian companies about what they see as “unfair competition”, mainly on the part of Chinese retailers selling to Brazil via the internet.

“I have seen a lot of confusion and a lot of misinformation. What is being complained about by some companies is that there is a kind of unfair competition on the part of some sites, not all”, said Haddad to the broadcaster.

“So this is being investigated and can be curbed. The best thing that can happen for the consumer and for the Brazilian economy is equality in competition. You have to have equal conditions of competition. , he stated.

The government’s decision to end the exemption for international orders of up to US$50 is part of an effort to tax purchases made at large international retailers, which has generated a wave of criticism and reactions on social networks in Brazil.

‘I DON’T KNOW SHEIN’

Although Chinese companies have grown in popularity in Brazil, the minister has stated that the initiative is not focused on specific companies.

“You talk about Shein as if I knew her. I don’t know Shein. The only portal I know is Amazon, I buy a book every day, at least”, said Haddad this Thursday to journalists.

According to the Federal Revenue, the exemption applies “to shipments from individuals to individuals, but it has been widely used fraudulently, for sales made by foreign companies”.

In an interview with the G1 podcast O Subject, the executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Gabriel Galípolo, emphasized that there will be no type of creation of a new tax. “What there is, yes, is an inspection and change in this benefit that existed and was used irregularly”, he said.

Galípolo also spoke about the intention to publish a provisional measure to deal with the matter, which was confirmed by the advisory of the portfolio.

“An MP will come that will provide more instruments for the inspection process, and an MP will come to close this type of possibility that is being used today as a subterfuge, which is to emulate as if it were a shipment from an individual to another individual “, he said.

In a new interview, Galípolo told Globonews that the government’s estimate of revenue from this measure, of R$ 8 billion per year, already takes into account a possible reduction in the flow of purchases by Brazilians on foreign websites.

Asking about other fronts of action and a possible measure to tax large technology companies, the secretary said that the Treasury did not announce what it thinks in this area and stressed that it will dialogue with the sector and present the conclusions to society.

DOLLAR

In the interview, before leaving with Lula for Beijing where the Brazilian president will meet with the president of China, Xi Jinping, on Friday, Haddad reinforced the defense made by Lula earlier of a trade that does not pass through the dollar.

“We have already traded in local currencies, through reciprocal credit, there are several types of bilateral trade that do not need the currency of a third country to take place,” he said.

“And President Lula has the desire to sponsor this type of bilateral trade without this need or with the intermediation of another currency that is part of a bloc of countries that are trading a lot today. Let’s think about bilateral trade with local currencies.”

The minister made a positive assessment of Lula’s visit to China so far, and stated that the Asian country is very interested in investing in Brazil, in several areas. He cited, for example, the telecommunications and automotive sectors and Chinese interest in infrastructure works in Pará and Bahia.

“There is a great desire for China to invest in Brazil in all areas. We had meetings with companies focused on infrastructure, companies focused on communication, companies focused on the automobile sector, especially the issue of electric cars”, he listed.

In the second part of Lula’s trip to the Asian country, in Beijing, Haddad stated that there will be “news” in themes such as world geopolitics and the search for peace.

China is one of Russia’s main allies and has defended peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, invaded in February last year by Russian troops. Lula, in turn, has advocated that a group of countries, including China, seek to mediate peace talks.