May 22 (Reuters) – Argentina will gradually lower its export taxes for certain industrial sectors to zero in the 12 months starting this July, the economy ministry said on Friday.
Taxes on automotive, petrochemical, chemical, rubber and machinery exports, now at 4.5%, will be reduced by 0.375 percentage points each month, the ministry said.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo also announced gradual tax reductions of major agricultural exports on Friday.
Last year, Argentine automobiles made up just over 10% of all exports at $8.78 billion, down 2.5% from the year before, according to the country’s official statistics agency.
The combined oil and petrochemical sectors meanwhile exported $11.77 billion worth of products, representing 13.5% of exports and surging 12.8% from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Iñigo Alexander and Sarah Morland; Editing by Iñigo Alexander)
