Since this government took office, the outlook for SMEs seems to be slowly fading away.
Numerous laws and regulations have been passed this year, and many of them help to fan the flame of hope for those who believe that the free market leads to job creation and increased consumption.
Small and medium-sized enterprises - in number - were the most affected by the strong restriction and suppression of the payment chain that occurred in previous years. A reordering of the balances to be paid abroad was essential to raise awareness of the real debt for imports that was suffered. This was achieved by registering the existing real debts according to operations carried out or partially anticipated for capital goods.
As a first step and sponsoring the aforementioned, the SEPYME (Secretariat for Small and Medium Enterprises) took the first and fundamental step, together with the Central Bank, to restructure payment dates and balances, as well as prioritize payment needs. Compliance with the bonus systems with or without prizes was measured on the basis of the limit cut-off established at USD 500.000 to allow, in the first stage of payment, that around ten thousand companies that had debts abroad began to reschedule their dates of entry into the free exchange market.
In this way, the primary bottleneck of a chain of payments that had been interrupted was overcome. Under the premise of “regaining confidence from abroad”, the divided payment policy was established, which, although it did not work for 100% of the cases (due to the prohibition of advance payments), added payment options, inviting private parties to participate or seek alternative financing abroad.
After the first 6 months, the debt for imports has not stopped growing, but, at the same pace, exports have also begun to do so.
In this context, of the countless regulations that accompany the deregulation of areas necessary for greater flow without so much fiscal pressure, and in accordance with the economic markers of inflationary decline, payment terms were shortened to the options that are currently in force: 30-day payments for general goods and advance payments for capital goods.
But SMEs are waiting for the lifting of the restrictions, as are foreign markets. Because, in this way, those that were under the orbit of the debt registry cut and have not complied with any of the BOPREAL series are still waiting for a time when they will be able to begin to pay off these debts, even with parent companies.
Improvement of logistics costs in terms of control
Many of the published regulations provided other types of relief. Logistics and port costs were reduced by the repeal of import criteria and the removal of channel restrictions for goods covered by antidumping duties.
Understanding that controls will continue to exist, the forms of applicability of primary controls on merchandise that were subject to both reference values and additional duties exerted a strong value burden on the logistics costs of clearing shipments in the nationalization of imports.
These costs are, of course, a direct increase in price, an issue that the Secretariat must defend in its search for real competitive market values.
By repealing the rules on value criteria, it was established that in the event of a suspicion of value, the preparation of an additional guarantee may be chosen until the investigation is resolved, a fact that does not prevent the issuance of the same.
The high amounts paid for controls that can be moved to the "ex post" framework without the need for them to disappear, considerably reduces the time that the merchandise remains in the primary zone and, therefore, storage rates that increase the price.
The same fate occurs when a standard, simply because it overestimates control, establishes the condition of control channels even for merchandise that has been imported in similar ways for many years, for which the matrix already has memory in big data. This only brings increased costs and logistical complications that end up being assumed by the companies that must necessarily recover them.
For example, SME “A” always imports the same product from China, paying the corresponding anti-dumping duty at will, and even paying it again and again would have to go through all the red channels. Control, then, is not selective or random, but conditional. Some controls were reduced, others relocated. However, it was time to review all kinds of bureaucratic regulations, that was the right moment.
Another repealed regulation that was costly for the SMEs surveyed was the tax stamping regime. Traceability of this is currently limited to cell phone IMEI equipment. The rest of the merchandise is exempt from the placement of the famous green or blue stamp. This regulation was highly questioned, given that there is one leg of the traceability table that - according to the question - has been lost in the fight against illegality. For an SME, stamping a thousand products (outsourcing the service) costs around five hundred dollars per item.
Finally, customs control of several issues is relieved, including technical regulations for bicycles, tires, tubes, labels for textiles and footwear. The review of the latter is returned to the field of Commercial Loyalty when the merchandise is for commercialization in the domestic market. Although Decree 274 was always in force, it had lost its force of scope, which was recovered again. Also through General Resolution AFIP 5586/24, the intervention of observer entities on imports (Chambers of items or products) is repealed.
Tax relief on imports
According to resolution 5490/24, tax relief was brought, generating advantages for SMEs that import basic basket products and essential supplies that have combated inflation for access to them.
On the other hand, the use of non-withholdings or collections for micro, small and medium-sized companies in the resale value added tax and profits tax on imports has been extended.
This was intended to mitigate not only the inflationary impact, but also the shortage of these inputs necessary for consumption in the local market and some manufacturing inputs that supply companies that produce them.
In terms of the country tax, the percentage of collection has been reduced in accordance with the promises made by the government. And this month, according to the latest statements about the future elimination of the same, the advance collection of the tax on imports with deferred payment through the free exchange market has stopped being collected, given that upon access to payment in 30 days, the tax will cease to exist, so continuing to retain it at present would make it inapplicable at the time of payment abroad.
The intervention of SEPYME in favour of the reactivation of MSMEs and SMEs is being crucial for the promotion of trade and the generation of genuine employment, which forms a more than necessary percentage of the Argentine GDP.
Graduate in Foreign Trade (Universidad de la Marina Mercante), customs broker and customs transport agent. She works as a professor at the University of Belgrano and CAECE.
