Import Restrictions To Be Lifted

[Matiasba]

A refrigerator is made up of about 50 thousand components. An aircraft has over 7 million different components, from the most varied type of industries. No single country, not even China, can be industrially self sufficient.

This model of having everything being build domestically works very well if you want your society stuck in the 1950s.

I know that, I know that the world has changed, Argentina had a great great car industry, 90% of the cars were produced here, The Reanult factory, the only Mercedes Benz factory outside of Germany. Now we produce only 17% of cars, we import the rest. The same with cell phones. I know the world has became extremely interdependent, but some countries exports industry more than others, and Argentina used to be until the 60s a relatively very industrialised country. Today we are far away from there, so we must get there again, we must be the industrial country we used to be, before neoliberalismo desindustrializante that lasted 30 years.

 

[Matiasba]

And you think this model and the way it is put in place is sustainable?

I don't have a problem understanding you Matias. The problem is you often make wild statements that on the surface sound crazy (remember your world cup prediction?)

I agree with everything you wrote in your last post. But I don't think the model is sustainable. If Argentines would focus on making decent products that are competitive outside of Argentina, then the future might look a little better. But as things now, forcing sub-standard domestic production via regulations and import restrictions is only going to cause more problems once those are removed. Would you agree that is a problem?

yeah, the world cup prediction in EVERY SINGLE thread I talk. I already explained that zillion times. Boring.

I dont think this kind of industry is the best, it surely is the best we can have, and it works better everytime for argentine people. Maybe it will get complex more and more with the time, who knows? Maybe some day we re going to produce cell phones...

 

[camberiu]

Today we are far away from there, so we must get there again, we must be the industrial country we used to be, before neoliberalismo desindustrializante that lasted 30 years.

I am perplexed that you think raising barriers will get you there. I already showed you that this policy prevent a massive investment for a high tech factory in Argentina. EMBRAER would not be the 3rd largest aircraft manufacturer in the world if Brazil had adopted the same policies as Argentina.
By raising barriers, you will guarantee that your country will never become industrialized beyond the 1950s technology.

 

[Matiasba]

What you fail to understand Matias is that many businesses have gone under as a result of these draconian measures, because their business model was based on a free market and they imported goods to sell on. Read that again...free market.
Many others have had to resort to bribery to have their 20ft containers released at customs. In one case I know of, the bloke had to hand over 11,000 USD cash as a bribe.
Isolationism and protectionism are all very well, but as a slightly less harsh measure, many countries impose import taxes on certain products to protect local industry.

Here we have two models of a country, the left, protectionist, kirchnerista, peronista, pro-national industry, etc, and the right, macri, the menemismo, dictatorship, etc, which opened widely the doors to imports, without a penny of taxes, without protecting national industry, without requesting anything. These are two EXTREME models. Theres nothing in the middle.

BTW, I dont believe in free market.

 

[Matiasba]

I am perplexed that you think raising barriers will get you there. I already showed you that this policy prevent a massive investment for a high tech factory in Argentina. EMBRAER would not be the 3rd largest aircraft manufacturer in the world if Brazil had adopted the same policies as Argentina.
By raising barriers, you will guarantee that your country will never become industrialized beyond the 1950s technology.

...but embraer is what it is due the enormous help and support of the state. What argentine state is trying to do here is to recover the small factories, the great industries is a more complex thing to do, and it has to do more with crony capitalism, in part.

Investments, huge investments, also has to do with geopolitics, it has to do with gain... if we need Asian salaries to bring investment, Id rather choose a small protectionist country isolated from the world.

 

[camberiu]

if we need Asian salaries to bring investment, Id rather choose a small protectionist country isolated from the world.

So your rather become North Korea? That is interesting coming from someone who is in Mexico working to earn hard currency to finance leisure travel.
You don't need Cambodian salaries to attract capital. What you need is "estabilidade juridica", common sense trade laws, an educated work force (which you have) and a clear and fair trade rules. If you had that, investments would flood into Argentina.
Lots of investments are flooding into Mexico right now. Several companies are closing their plants in Asia and moving to Mexico, despite the fact that Mexican salaries are much higher and their labor laws are much more strict then those in China. At least some of those investments could be going to Argentina, if the situation there was just a little different. I know for a fact that many large Brazilian companies would love to increase investment in Argentina and tap your educated labor force. But the current economic/political climate in the country makes it impossible. You are shooting yourself in the foot thinking that "that which does not kill me makes me stronger". Argentina is its own worst enemy.

 

[camberiu]

Matias, because Argentina's crazy trade policies, this plant or a plant like this can never be build in Argentina.


http://youtu.be/TQcEMA08R3Q

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I know that, I know that the world has changed, Argentina had a great great car industry, 90% of the cars were produced here, The Reanult factory, the only Mercedes Benz factory outside of Germany. Now we produce only 17% of cars, we import the rest. The same with cell phones. I know the world has became extremely interdependent, but some countries exports industry more than others, and Argentina used to be until the 60s a relatively very industrialised country. Today we are far away from there, so we must get there again, we must be the industrial country we used to be, before neoliberalismo desindustrializante that lasted 30 years.

Argentina needs to return to the glory days of the early 1950s, when the country could count on El General to do the right thing, always.

 

[Joe]

The problem with having highly protected industries is that they are not competitive globally. If you have a change of government, and policy, those industries can disappear overnight. The investment in these factories is precarious.

Instead countries, including Argentina, should strive for export industries that can stand on their own two feet without protection, whether it be software outsourcing like India or low tech white goods, etc. These can be encouraged with export subsidies of a defined period, e.g. 10 years.

 

[ben]

Switching for a moment from the theoretical and subjunctive to the practical, the restrictions are to be lifted no earlier than 31 December.
As inane as the level of discourse is here, it is light years ahead of what the public on the street can and will swallow.
The bottom line is that the K government has succeeded in maintaining these policies up until its exit, and one may presume it will be quite successful in blaming its successor government for any adverse results coming from this ruling.