2023-10-05 16:02:10
The import of raw materials, consumer and capital goods increases the competitiveness of national companies. Consumers also benefit from greater choice.
Imports, like exports, play a key role in boosting the economy; in addition to expanding the offer for consumers, they activate distribution value chains until they reach the end user. Free import also contributes to generating a broader range of products and sometimes with better prices. Among the main non-oil items that are imported nationally are raw materials, consumer goods and capital goods.
According to the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE), during the first half of this year, imports reached 10.97 billion dollars.
For the president of the Quito Chamber of Commerce (CCQ), Mónica Heller, within the context of productivity, the possibility of importing machinery, raw materials and technology allows national companies to increase their capacity, make their production more efficient and improve the quality of your products.
“A country with two-way integration is more competitive and has greater capacity to increase its production, increase its exports, generate employment and attract investment. On the contrary, if access to imported goods is expensive, the country is less competitive in international markets and the cost of the products to the citizen increases,” he explains.
Likewise, Heller points out that imports have been acquiring increasing relevance, thanks to the growth in the export of manufactured products that incorporate a growing volume of imported goods.
In 2022, for example, it was evident that 35 percent of Ecuador’s imports correspond to raw materials, especially chemicals and inputs for agriculture and industry. Followed by consumer goods, among which vehicles and automotive parts, cleaning products, medicines, textiles and footwear stand out. In a third group are capital goods such as machinery for the productive sector and heavy transportation equipment.
Having access to devices and products that are not manufactured in the country is a priority for several productive sectors, especially health. This is stated by the executive director of the Ecuadorian Association of Distributors and Importers of Medical Products (ASEDIM), Cristina Murgueitio, who assures that 99 percent of medical devices and products are imported from the United States, Germany, China and South Korea. .
According to the Superintendence of Companies, until January 2023, there were 1,882 companies dedicated to the wholesale or retail sale of these goods nationwide. Murgueitio states that the union works precisely so that the public and private health system can access these technologies. In 2021, device purchases were $516,839,116.
“ASEDIM represents 54 companies that total 300,545,310 dollars, which is equivalent to 58.15 percent of the volume of imports to the country. We estimate that in reference to the years 2022 and 2023 the volume of imports will remain in the same ranges,” he comments.
Dynamism and policies
In addition to providing a greater supply, imports also contribute to healthy competition, since they generate an improvement in local production processes by trying to emulate foreign products.
These, according to the manager of imports and local purchases of Almacenes Estuardo Sánchez, Bella Gavilanes, regulate themselves, since the importer depends on the optimal and total sale of their products to be able to generate payment to their supplier and import again; Therefore, they are permanently subject to a healthy market with purchasing power.
2022 was a difficult year for those who carry out this activity, he says, due to the container crisis that caused maritime freight to grow up to 500 percent compared to previous years.
In this first semester, with the reduction in the cost of maritime freight, Estuardo Sánchez’s imports reached levels equal to 2019, a progressive recovery that they hope will continue until the end of the year.
Currently, the company’s main purchasing markets are China, Taiwan and Turkey. Among the most in-demand product segments in its 15 stores are home decoration, electronics and toys, the latter with great movement in the Christmas season.
For Gavilanes, it is key that imports are made with due control over tax collection, since it is unfair trade (smuggling and underdeclaration) that harms both the State and the formal importers who do comply with all the requirements.
Likewise, the President of the CCQ believes that the regulation of this economic activity undoubtedly requires improvements, since the inconsistent tariff policy has complicated the commercial sector with one of the highest average tariff levels in the region, taxes such as Special Consumption and the Foreign Exchange Exit that increases the costs of products, as well as mixed tariffs that exceed the ranges established by the World Trade Organization.
“We are not unaware that it is important to support the national industry because it generates employment, in addition to the fact that it is a priority for a country to have its own industry and not depend entirely on foreign production. But profitability should not be achieved by imposing measures and conditions that make consumption more expensive and reduce the country’s competitiveness,” Heller highlights.
Meanwhile, the productive sector asks to work on reforms that refine trade regulation, that make import and customs clearance processes more agile so that Ecuador is a less expensive country for local consumption and more competitive in the world.
(vistazo.com)
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