The Ministry of Economy announced a reduction in import tariffs on two fronts on March 21, one of which will last until the end of the year and the other will be permanent. The first, classified by the ministry as a short-term measure, eliminated tariffs on food imports, specifically on seven products that significantly impact the National Consumer Price Index (INPC): coffee, margarine, cheese, pasta, sugar, soy oil, and ethanol. In addition, a 10% cut was made in tariffs linked to capital goods and information technology. The first measure comes into force on the 23rd. The reduction applied to tech goods will come into force on April 1. The ministry calculates that setting the ethanol tariff to zero will bring the price of gasoline down “by around 20 cents,” according to Foreign Trade Secretary Lucas Ferraz. But, according to him, this does not prevent “the price from continuing to rise” due to external factors. “Our idea is to have a supply shock,” he said, noting that “the scenario [of production bottlenecks] grew increasingly more worrisome with the war.”
Sources: Valor Econômico/Datamar News