The Government renewed until mid-March 2023 the reduction, in some cases, and the elimination, in others, of tariffs on the import of electric cars through the Decree 617 / 2021 published this Monday (13.09.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX) in the Official Gazette.
The standard set in 4.500 the maximum limit of units which may actually be imported during the extension period of the measure.
He also established that of the set limit, 4.275 units will be assigned to terminal companies based and with production in Argentina, while the remaining 225 will be awarded to importing representatives of terminals not located in the country.
In May 2017, through decree 331, reduced rates of the Extra-Zone Import Duty (DIE) of 5%, 2% and 0% were established for the importation of certain hybrid, electric and fuel cell (hydrogen) automobiles, complete, both assembled and semi-disassembled and totally disassembled, for a period of 36 months.
At the beginning of November 2020, through decree 846/2020, the Government renewed the benefit until May of this year, and set the import quota for the period at 1.000 units.
Once the regime expired, the Association of Automotive Manufacturers (Adefa) requested an extension of the deadline and the authorized amounts.
The decree highlighted that "a high use of the temporary tariff benefit granted by the State to the local automotive industry has been observed throughout the validity (of the regime)."
Therefore, he stressed that "it is convenient to reestablish the validity of the tariff benefits for a certain period, prioritizing the total quantification of the maximum limit of units that may be imported with the reduction of the reduced DIE rate to terminals located in the country and that have local automotive production over importing representatives of non-located terminals."
The regulation indicated that "the automotive industry worldwide is implementing a replacement of engines due to the primary need to eliminate, in part, the negative environmental impact derived from the emission of gases produced by the use of internal combustion engines, mainly Otto cycle engines and diesel engines."
He pointed out that "this change is manifested with the incorporation of hybrid engines, electric motors and fuel cells, understood as those that use hydrogen as fuel, as well as new engines that present notable advantages both from an environmental point of view such as lower fuel consumption and the use of clean and renewable energy."
"Given the development of the local automotive industry, its level of production and its desire to incorporate vehicles with the new engines referred to in the list, it was considered appropriate to establish initial measures for the first stage of their commercialization," the decree stated.
He stressed that "some of the main barriers to the adoption of new technologies are, on the one hand, the high cost of vehicles with alternative engines and, on the other, the public's lack of knowledge regarding their use."
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