2023-12-19 06:12:00
Representatives of the wine industry expressed their concern regarding the announcement to charge 8% withholdings to wine exports carried out by the Government. In September, the then Minister of Economy, Sergio Massahad announced the reduction of withholdings from 4.5% to 0%, within the framework of a general elimination for regional economies.
“We are concerned regarding the way return to an issue that for us had been resolved in September. It was a fight that lasted a long time, making us understand why an activity like ours did not have to pay export duties,” he stated. Mario Gonzalezpresident of the Argentine Wine Corporation (Coviar), in response to PERFIL’s consultation.
“Above any other product, it is the regional economy with the highest added value and labor per hectare. Furthermore, it is present in many provinces, with SMEs and cooperatives, it is not a concentrated activity. It exports 25% and 75% for the domestic market without problems,” González added.
Luis Caputo at the UIA: foreign trade crisis, “inexorable” inflation and the fear of another delay of the dollar
According to the president of Coviar, 2023 will end with a 35% drop in exports due to the delayed exchange rate. With the new exchange rate of $800, it was planned to regain competitiveness, “but with a tax like this we have to analyze everything once more and God willing that the equation turns out to be positive, but today we still do not know how our internal costs play. Imported inputs are paid with a dollar of $940 pesos, for example,” he added.
Wine sales declines
For its part, Milton KuretExecutive Director of Bodegas de Argentina, expressed: “We hope it does not come to fruition. There is no foundation to apply withholdings or export duties to wine products. So far this year we have had historic sales declines and we are losing the markets that it took us so many years and investment to build.”
“Withholdings, lack of payments to our clients and suppliers, lack of international agreements, increased cost of imports with higher country taxes, exclude us from the world. We are surprised that they want to apply withholdings to an industry of regional economies, with more than 450 thousand jobs, which has been an example of international insertion, with added value and one of the best trade balances for our country,” stressed the president of the entity that brings together 250 wineries.
New withholding scheme for the countryside
This moon, the Secretary of Bioeconomy, Fernando Villelaannounced today that 20 regional economies will be exempt from the generalization of withholdings, a reduction in the rate to 8% in the case of winegrowing, and an increase for soybean byproducts to compensate for the drop in income.
The decision was accompanied by a increase from 31% to 33% for soybean byproducts which caused rapid rejection among cereal companies.
The chains that are left out of the withholding increase that will be implemented from January 1, 2024 are: rice producer, olive, dairy leather, bovine, fruit (excluding lemon), beans, vegetables, potatoes, garlic, chickpeas, peas, lentils, sugar, honey, yerba mate, tea, horses and wool.
LM / ED
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