Argentina: import tariffs reduced
In a global context heavily impacted by the ongoing trade war between major powers –the United States and China– through tariff policies affecting various countries and regions, the Argentine government issued Decree 236/2025 at the end of March, reducing import tariffs on footwear and apparel.
The objectives of the measure are: to promote competition in the sector, lower domestic prices –among the highest in the region and the world–, help reduce inflation, increase market supply, and improve internal competitiveness.
This decision has raised concerns within the affected sectors –footwear and apparel–, considering the critical period they are going through, as a result of the political and economic reforms implemented by the government, which have directly impacted purchasing power and consumer spending.
According to leaders in Argentina’s footwear industry, the decline in demand and the increased influx of imported products have seriously compromised activity, causing factory closures and staff layoffs.
In this regard, the Argentine Federation of the Footwear Industry (FAICA), which brings together all national chambers, issued a statement warning that “the measure is a direct and lethal blow to the continuity of the sector.” It added that imported products benefit from better entry conditions, while local industry must endure “extremely high production costs, tax pressure, smuggling, and informality.”
For this reason, the industrial entity has requested the government "to urgently provide the means to generate a context of competition on equal terms and to create the possibility of working together with national authorities to enhance the competitiveness of our manufacturing companies, which have been investing and operating in the country for over 100 years.”
It went on to state: “We are not asking for a protected industry nor do we advocate anti-competitive protectionism, but we fight every day as industrialists to compete under fair conditions and to continue investing in our brands, our factories, and our workers.”
“We are competitive industries, we are labor-intensive industries, we are an industry with history and experience. We are a technologically advanced industry, we are a leading industry in the region and globally, and what we ask for is to be able to compete in Argentina under the same conditions as the rest and under the same conditions as we compete abroad.”
"The countries that will benefit most from this measure are major global footwear producers, whose working conditions are often substandard and who, in order to enter our markets, will do so in a completely unfair manner and at very low prices, benefiting only large importers without even having a positive impact on consumers," concluded the FAICA statement.
Although the Brazilian footwear industry is currently performing well as a supplier to Argentina –its top export destination–, where exports have grown significantly, the Argentine government’s measure to reduce tariffs on footwear from outside Mercosur has also raised concerns.
On this matter, Haroldo Ferreira, executive president of ABICALÇADOS –entity that brings together Brazilian industries–, said that “although Argentina has become the main international destination for our footwear (in the first months of the year), it has increased imports from outside the Mercosur bloc, especially from Asia. The reduction of the import tariff on Asian footwear from 35% to 20% is likely to further increase the presence of those products in the country, at a time of economic recovery.”