On 15 August 2023, the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, published a Decree amending the Tariff Schedule of the General Import and Export Duties Law. The decree focuses on the implementation of temporary import duties ranging between 5% and 25% on goods classified in 392 tariff items covering steel, aluminum, bamboo, rubber, chemical products, oils, soap, paper, cardboard, ceramic products, glass, electrical material, musical instruments and furniture. These temporary duties are applicable as of 16 August 2023 and until 31 July 2025.
On 15 August 2023, Resolution No. 5403/2023 was published in the official gazette. Through this resolution, the Federal Tax Authority reduced the collection regime for certain transactions covered by the Tax on the Acquisition of Foreign Currency from 25% to 5%. The resolution will apply to operations carried out as of 15 August 2023.
On 15 August 2023, the Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission (Comisión Nacional de Valores or CNV) issued General Resolution No. 971/2023 to limit the purchase and sale of fixed-income marketable securities denominated and payable in US dollars issued by the Argentine Republic under local or foreign law.
On 8 August 2023, the Report of the Provisional Measure No. 1.172 of 2023, that provides new rules for the minimum wage in Brazil, was presented and approved by the Joint Committee in charge of this at the Brazilian Congress.
The Report incorporated the main changes on the taxation rules for individuals investing abroad, previously provided in Provisional Measure 1.171/23, which regulates the taxation of earnings by Brazilian individuals in financial investments, controlled entities and trusts abroad.
SECEX published on 31 July 2023 an official notice of initiation of a new investigation into possible resumption of antidumping duties applied (but immediately suspended) to Brazilian imports of ethanolamines, monoethanolamines and triethanolamine, from Germany.
The last sunset review concerning ethanolamines, decided by CAMEX Resolution No. 7/2019, resulted in a five year extension of the antidumping duties for imports originating in the United States and Germany. However, the antidumping duties applicable to the Brazilian imports from German were suspended due to the existence of doubts as to the probable future development of imports from this origin.
The ProNDSAM (for its acronym in Spanish) was created on 3 August 2023 by the National Mining Secretariat.
The agency’s objective is to regulate and standardize the publication of mining sector information under international standards. The data will be published weekly, monthly, and in special reports.
The Data Protection Bill of Law submitted to Congress proposes significant amendments to the current regime and introduces mandatory provisions that are novel to Argentine legislation. For example, it includes express references to the extraterritorial scope of application and changes the traditional approach to the legal basis for the processing of personal data. In this alert, we address some of these changes and novelties.
The Brazilian Secretariat of Foreign Trade published on 31 July 2023 an official notice of initiation of a new investigation against Brazilian imports of gloves used for non-surgical procedures from Malaysia, Thailand and China (Circular No. 27, dated 28 July 2023). The investigated product is mainly used for non-surgical medical, dental or veterinary procedures and is commonly classified in the sub-items of the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM) 4015.12.00 and 3926.20.00.
On 27 July 2023, through Resolution 621/2023, the National Energy Secretariat called for interested parties to submit offers in the “TerCONF” open call to enter into thermal generation supply agreements with Compañía Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Eléctrico S.A. for a term of up to 15 years. Remuneration contemplates a payment for the availability of the power offered and another one for the energy supplied. The open call seeks to increase the thermal generation of the Argentine Interconnection System, modernize the power plants and their assets located in Tierra del Fuego, and adapt the reserves to accompany the increasing demand.
On 7 August 2023, Decree 405/2023 (“Decree”) was published to regulate Law No. 27,669 that states the regulatory framework for the development of the medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp industry. Further, the Decree: (i) regulates the chain of domestic production and commercialization and/or for export purposes of the cannabis plant, its seeds, and its derivative products for medicinal use, including scientific research and industrial use; and (ii) complements Law No. 27,350, which initially regulated the medical and scientific research of the medicinal use of the cannabis plant and its derivatives.