Changes to import tariffs impact the aerospace sector

MEXICO - Due to the modifications made to the import tariffs, the aerospace sector is the most affected, since many of the items that were exempted by the General Law of Imports and Exports were reduced to 25%, said Beatriz Ramos García, founding partner of Van Beuren & Hamilton's Customs area.

During a videoconference organized by the Mexican Federation of the Aerospace Industry (FEMIA), entitled "Updates to the SAT databases and changes in Import Tariffs", the specialist urged to make an analysis of each of the tariff fractions.

She explained that last August, the decree was issued by which the General Import and Export Tax Law was modified, especially for steel raw materials.

This, she said, happened when the opposite had been announced last year: a decrease in imports. For this reason, Ramos García expressed that they invite the members of the sector to make an analysis and evaluate the possibility of importing them under Chapter 98.

The directive explained that in this chapter there are two fractions, one is the 98060005, which are the goods that are destined to the repair or maintenance of aircrafts or aeroparts, which are almost all exempted.

On the other hand, there is the fraction 98060006 to import merchandise, inputs, parts and components for the subassembly and packaging for the production of aircraft and aeroparts. When the companies have the approval for the production of aeronautical merchandise and its articles, in any of those types, issued by the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) through the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), they will also be exempt.

For this reason, she insisted on the importance of performing the analysis to assess whether goods can be imported under this sector and not impact the cost.

Beatriz Ramos García explained that 392 fractions were modified, of those 20% had a change of a first increase that goes to July 2024 and the second will go to the 2025 rate, that is to say, the impact was fractioned.

He detailed that in this modification all the fractions were upward, none of them were downward. Of the 392, one went to 5%; two to 10%; 27 to 15%, two fractions to 20% and 360 went to 25%, which implies that there will be an impact for the sector.