President Javier Milei cut tariffs that made Argentina one of the most expensive places in the world to buy iPhones after decades of protectionist policies, delivering on a campaign promise to open up the economy to trade.
Milei’s administration announced Tuesday it’s slashing levies on imported mobile phones to eight percent from 16 percent this week and will eliminate the tariff altogether by early next year, according to chief spokesman Manuel Adorni. The government will also lower domestic taxes on imported electronics.
The tariffs led to some iPhones costing more than US$2,000 in Argentina, a price so high many locals would pay less to fly to Miami and buy a mobile phone there. A black market for Apple Inc products and other top brands became a staple of life for years in South America’s second largest economy.
“A mobile phone with 5G technology costs twice as much here as in Brazil or the US,” Adorni said during a press briefing in Buenos Aires. “It’s such a ridiculous situation that people would pay a flight and hotel stay to buy something as basic as a cellphone in another country. And even so, it was cheaper than buying it in Argentina.”
Former leader Cristina Fernández de Kirchner imposed steep tariffs more than a decade ago on Apple products and other imported electronics. Her government forced companies to assemble mobile phones and more in Tierra del Fuego, a province closer to Antarctica than Buenos Aires, in order to be exempt from tariffs. Prices for imported electronics skyrocketed as a result.
Milei’s measure is just one example of how the libertarian economist aims to open Argentina to global trade. But his stance on lowering trade barriers contrasts with the tariffs his top ally, US President Donald Trump, has imposed on China, which has prompted Apple to consider price increases. For his part, Milei has dismissed the policy difference between Argentina and the US and rejects labelling Trump’s measures protectionism, arguing they’re geopolitical tactics.
by Patrick Gillespie & Manuela Tobias, Bloomberg
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