Merchants say high tariffs in Brazil fail to boost local industry
發佈日期: 2025-07-08 21:00
TVB News
Since decades before the U.S. tariff wars, Brazil has been slapping taxes and tariffs in a bid to drive domestic industries. Does this "Brazil model" work?
Michelly Chen relocated to Rio de Janeiro some 20 years ago.
Despite Brazil's abundance in agricultural products, most daily goods have to be imported, and the import prices frustrate her deeply.
Exasperated, Chen questions why they cost so much. And that's because of the sky-high tariffs.
For instance, a designer bag here costs around 2,000 U.S. dollars in the States but set Brazilians back some 3,000 U.S. dollars.
That means an extra 1,000 U.S. dollars, or 7,800 Hong Kong dollars. A China-made iPhone sold for 799 U.S. dollars in the U.S. costs 1,600 U.S. dollars for a Brazil version.
To cut costs, Chen travels to the U.S. and Europe every few months just to shop.
Living here forces us to shop abroad, and lower tariffs would vastly improve life here, she said.
Brazil's decades-long tariffs have aimed to boost domestic industry.
Still, for over 20 years, its average annual GDP growth was just around 2 percent.
The economic contributions from the manufacturing sector plunged from around 36 percent in the 1980s to around 14 percent today.
Shang Guan Jian Feng, chairman of an import and export trading company in Brazil, says 70 percent of the prices among beauty products are taxes.
He says there are production tax, sales tax, import tax, consumption tax and so on. Profits are low but costs just keep rising, he laments.
He argues Brazil's inadequate supply chains also mean tariffs are ineffective in boosting sectors including the auto and shipbuilding industries.
He explains high tariffs block technology transfer, harming local industries.
The trade veteran says international trade barriers should be removed to lower costs for businesses and improve the overall livelihood of Brazilians.
