Import Restrictions To Be Lifted

[johnw100]

I am not a kid.
I am 60.
So I cannot comment on kids clothes.
My kids, when they were young, destroyed ANY clothes I bought them about the same time they outgrew them, in about a year.

But $12 blue jeans? I was buying blue jeans in the USA in 1970, and they cost more than twelve dollars then.
Again, I wear double knee Carhartts, and they can easily cost $50 a pair.

I think it may have something to do with where you shop, for sure. I am a pretty dedicated shopper- I have been involved with textiles all my life, and I look around a lot, and can tell good from bad based on years of experience sewing, knitting, crocheting, and actually making clothes myself.
But I just dont find it that hard to find good clothes here.
I have a semi-dress coat I bought from Mancini, in Palermo, at least 6 years ago, for about 30 bucks US off the sale rack, and it still looks good, I still wear it a fair amount.

I dont buy from big chains, pretty much anywhere, and, as I said, I buy smalls in Once, from the wholesalers.

Cheap Chinese will certainly flood the market if import restrictions are lifted, and, depending on the tax scheme, you should be able to find cheap kids clothes and socks in Argentina if that happens. (although, realistically, most really cheap clothes these days are no longer made in China- the chinese have moved upmarket, and the cheap stuff is more likely to be Vietnam, Bangladesh, or India.)

You missed the point, My kids also destroy clothes, but just the ones we buy in Argentina. The ones we bought in the UK from asian imports are all fine apart from a few socks. Jeans that cost £8 there are still fine, Jeans from here (3 or so from different places) that cost £40 all have holes in. Bought from places like cheeky and stores. Not from markets.

We have bought school uniforms here , all had either holes in the knees or ripped seams within six months. All from school uniform suppliers. We bought a white blank shirt for school from the uk for a 1/3rd of the price, still in one piece.

The issue here is that the cheapest stuff is worse than the cheapest quality in the uk and yet its still more expensive. We bought alot of our kids clothes from Primark in the UK, you can buy t-shirts for £1 there. And the quality is still better than branded items from here.

I can say the same for pretty much everything we buy here apart from wine.

 

[Somewhereinba]

I can't help but laugh when I go to the shopping strip near where I live. Womens pyjamas selling for 700+ pesos with stitching and material that you would expect from a first year fashion student. T-shirts average 350 pesos + again quality severely lacking. Is this what it means to support the local industry - how can people afford this stuff when salaries are averaging 10,000 pesos a month or less? I know the concept of cuotas has made pretty much anything purchasable given enough interest free bills. Americans would be proud.

 

[glasgowjohn]

You missed the point, My kids also destroy clothes, but just the ones we buy in Argentina. The ones we bought in the UK from asian imports are all fine apart from a few socks. Jeans that cost £8 there are still fine, Jeans from here (3 or so from different places) that cost £40 all have holes in. Bought from places like cheeky and stores. Not from markets.

We have bought school uniforms here , all had either holes in the knees or ripped seams within six months. All from school uniform suppliers. We bought a white blank shirt for school from the uk for a 1/3rd of the price, still in one piece.

The issue here is that the cheapest stuff is worse than the cheapest quality in the uk and yet its still more expensive. We bought alot of our kids clothes from Primark in the UK, you can buy t-shirts for £1 there. And the quality is still better than branded items from here.

I can say the same for pretty much everything we buy here apart from wine.

John , people who have never lived in the UK dont understand the concept of primark clothing....

 

[Matiasba]

The general theme of this thread would be:

imagina un país sin Peronismo/Kirchnerismo...

you can!! lets check the last dictatorship to see how it was

 

[citygirl]

Matias - I think most of us realized that not *all* the woes of Arg will be magically cured by a new party in power There are endemic issues here that won't be easily solved (if at all) and certainly not just by lifting import restrictions. That being said, I know that I feel that the K's have taken the country down the wrong road in terms of going for the short-term fix, not long-term solution.

I would love to see import restrictions lifted while yes, taxes - albeit lower ones - kept in place to protect some local industries. Hand in hand with that, I would like to see the gov't give breaks to small businesses (lowered tax rates, grants for entrepreneurs, etc) to encourage a growth of industries. I would love to get some revisions in employment laws while still having protection for employees. I would love to have a realistic working calendar b/c all those fun feriados are awfully expensive for the employers. I would like to see a currency devaluation (gradual) to allow exports. Etc, etc.

 

[Rich One]

Gringo boy

The WTO ruling means the following; Lifting of the requirement to Export Argentina products to be able to import goods..

NOT at all lifting the restrictions and duties on imports of certain products...! as is today


Argentina had appealed the ruling by the WTO's trade watchdog last September finding fault with Buenos Aires' rules which set unfair requirements on goods exported by partners including the United States, the European Union and Japan.


One of the most well-known examples was German carmaker Porsche, which was forced to commit to purchasing Argentinian wine and olive oil in order to get roughly 100 of its cars into the South American country.

 

[Matiasba]

Matias - I think most of us realized that not *all* the woes of Arg will be magically cured by a new party in power

I dont care about the government, there are facts that will remain, certainly, and everybody knows that. Pretty well. So these elections may have the key, if we want to go further or back in time. There are people who can be comfortable with this current situation, with things like this. Thats why Cristina is so popular.

 

[Somewhereinba]

I just want mail to arrive on time (don't like waiting 2+ weeks with the possibility of a letter arriving).

 

[sesamosinsal]

What a topic.

We had this discussion at a dinner the other night. On one hand, everyone wants to get the highest quality for the lowest price. That makes sense. However, on the other hand, we want to have jobs and be able to buy things. That also makes sense.

Like it or not -- and sometimes I absolutely hate it -- kirchnerismo's most important accomplishment has been balancing trade and the country's cash flow.

People often cite the U.S. when it comes to this discussion, but they seem to neglect two things:

1) Income inequality, wage growth and labor participation have been in the dumps since the U.S. began exporting most of its manufacturing jobs since the 70s.

2) For decades, the U.S. has financed its current account deficits and trade imbalances by assuming more debt. This is bad, but that's exactly what is supposed to happen: a) the world exports its stuff to the United States, b-) countries receive dollars, and c) said countries take those dollars and buy dollar-priced goods from others (think oil, for example), and store its savings in their Central Banks as FX reserves. Some of those dollars wind up buying US Treasurys. So, the US prints dollars, pays a country for stuff in US dollars, and then that country returns the dollars to the U.S. (as a loan). And if countries don't want to lend money to us, that's OK -- The Fed will! In other words, a default in the US is impossible.

Argentina doesn't enjoy the same privileges as the U.S. In fact, no other country does, which is why comparing the U.S. to any other is unfair. It would be more fair to compare Argentina to Europe because at least Europe has some pretty notable examples of countries with current account and trade surpluses, which just so happen to be Europe's best performing economies. The ones with deficits, like Greece, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy? -- Yeah, not so great. Imagine that!

I am all for freer trade, but free trade is a racket. To make some analogies, let's take four countries -- Argentina, Germany, the United States and Greece -- and personify them:

1) Argentina would be the person who has a job (albeit a low paying one), buys only what she/he can afford, and never pays with credit.

2) Germany would be the person making 6 figures and not caring about how much he/she buys.

3) The United States would be a part-time employee who counterfeits money to make ends meet. ( http://www.huffingto..._n_7797120.html )

4) And Greece would be a part-time employee living off his/her credit card and loans from family and friends, just barely making the minimum payments with his/her monthly check.

In my opinion, there is no question that Argentina has to follow a path similar to that of Germany's. There are numerous ways to do that, but total free trade (a la the United States and many other countries) in a re-developing economy isn't one of them.

 

[Gringoboy]

Gringo boy

The WTO ruling means the following; Lifting of the requirement to Export Argentina products to be able to import goods..

NOT at all lifting the restrictions and duties on imports of certain products...! as is today


Argentina had appealed the ruling by the WTO's trade watchdog last September finding fault with Buenos Aires' rules which set unfair requirements on goods exported by partners including the United States, the European Union and Japan.


One of the most well-known examples was German carmaker Porsche, which was forced to commit to purchasing Argentinian wine and olive oil in order to get roughly 100 of its cars into the South American country.

Wrong.
This isn't a duties issue, it's mainly focused on the Declaraciones Juradas Anticipadas de Importaciones (DJAI) which importers and even citizens like you and me have had to complete (or similar), which in turn had to be approved by the secretary of commerce.We know who was in that position at the height of this loony situation, one Willy Moreno, the discredited Sec Comm who now resides in exile in Italy.
It was in fact his bright idea to insist on Mitsubishi et al having to buy bottled water from Mendoza in equal quantities to their luxury 4 x 4's.
According to most news outlets, this will no longer be a requirement from 31st December.
I'm not suggesting that the magic fairy will wave her wand at the end of the year; I've lived here long enough by now and at least it's a glimmer at the end of the tunnel.