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Argentina’s small and medium-sized businesses brace for total devastation

I doubt your friend is going to be getting a check cashed anytime soon. Read this in La Nacion today. Sounds like they have been floating bounced checks for a while now.

Oh no. That is too bad. I keep hearing of these kind of things happening. Implosion of failing companies now.
 
Another one dies.

Sad to see people lose their job. Most of their stuff is already imported. I have a bahco hammer(made in China) cost 20,000 pesos, pure steel, a wooden one with steel hammer made in Argentina is 50,000 to 60,000 pesos. Have also used their power tools, which are of poor quality and double the cost of Dewalt or Milwaukee in the USA. The price of their lithium batteries are insane. Hard to find a hammer made in Argentina that lasts for construction for a good price, even costs way less than A 35 dollar hammer made in Argentina is equivalent to a 10 dollar hammer imported from China in the USA. The difference between a Sodimac in Chile and Argentina is insane. Essentially, it leaves a situation where a well made tool is worth more than a laborer. Opening up construction imports and not taxing them heavily will be very beneficial to the common laborer in the country. IMO
 
Sad to see people lose their job. Most of their stuff is already imported. I have a bahco hammer(made in China) cost 20,000 pesos, pure steel, a wooden one with steel hammer made in Argentina is 50,000 to 60,000 pesos. Have also used their power tools, which are of poor quality and double the cost of Dewalt or Milwaukee in the USA. The price of their lithium batteries are insane. Hard to find a hammer made in Argentina that lasts for construction for a good price, even costs way less than A 35 dollar hammer made in Argentina is equivalent to a 10 dollar hammer imported from China in the USA. The difference between a Sodimac in Chile and Argentina is insane. Essentially, it leaves a situation where a well made tool is worth more than a laborer. Opening up construction imports and not taxing them heavily will be very beneficial to the common laborer in the country. IMO
Sad but a reality. It doesn't make sense to produce these when they can import much better quality for a fraction of the price. Hopefully they can repurpose these factories to do something else. I am not clear where all the jobs will come from however. Once you cut and use the chainsaw you still need to have the other side of it too.
 
Sad to see people lose their job. Most of their stuff is already imported. I have a bahco hammer(made in China) cost 20,000 pesos, pure steel, a wooden one with steel hammer made in Argentina is 50,000 to 60,000 pesos. Have also used their power tools, which are of poor quality and double the cost of Dewalt or Milwaukee in the USA. The price of their lithium batteries are insane. Hard to find a hammer made in Argentina that lasts for construction for a good price, even costs way less than A 35 dollar hammer made in Argentina is equivalent to a 10 dollar hammer imported from China in the USA. The difference between a Sodimac in Chile and Argentina is insane. Essentially, it leaves a situation where a well made tool is worth more than a laborer. Opening up construction imports and not taxing them heavily will be very beneficial to the common laborer in the country. IMO
Does Argentina have any hope of any industrial production @Good Stuff?

I read a sad story the other day in the paper. Milei goes around wearing those silly outfits around while he travels. The lady that makes them (an Argentine). Well she voted for him and she was saying she regretted it. She lost her job forced from being able to compete with China. Seems that is the new normal.
 
Does Argentina have any hope of any industrial production @Good Stuff?

I read a sad story the other day in the paper. Milei goes around wearing those silly outfits around while he travels. The lady that makes them (an Argentine). Well she voted for him and she was saying she regretted it. She lost her job forced from being able to compete with China. Seems that is the new normal.
Great question. I don't have the knowledge nor expertise to answer that question. A gentlemen on this forum(@sophos) made some nice insight to textiles and lack of government industrial policy. I encourage people to find the products made in ARS they like and buy those products.
 
Great question. I don't have the knowledge nor expertise to answer that question. A gentlemen on this forum(@sophos) made some nice insight to textiles and lack of government industrial policy. I encourage people to find the products made in ARS they like and buy those products.
I thought some of the leather products were really good in Argentina. My novia in Buenos Aires also has a lot of nice purses she buys in Argentina and they didn't seem too expensive. But what do I know about purses.
 
Great question. I don't have the knowledge nor expertise to answer that question. A gentlemen on this forum(@sophos) made some nice insight to textiles and lack of government industrial policy. I encourage people to find the products made in ARS they like and buy those products.
I believe that Argentina must survive this adapt or die phase of their manufacturing. Cutting spending is needed but that isn't going to turn things around for Argentina alone.

I do not see textile and clothing and footwear sectors coming back after opening to China. Argentina simply can't compete with China. Shein and Temu and others will keep growing their share of sales in Argentina.

Local manufacturers are caught in an impossible bind. They aren't just competing against cheap overseas labor; they are competing against an incredibly heavy domestic tax burden. In the local garment industry, roughly 50% of the retail price of an item goes straight to taxes, rent, and banking fees. Less than 10% is the actual manufacturing cost. When you combine that with a strong peso and high energy costs, local businesses simply cannot compete with a $10 imported shirt.

The fallout has been severe. The textile and clothing sector alone has lost over 20,000+ jobs recently, and Argentina actually recorded the second-worst industrial decline in the world over the last two years (manufacturing fell by nearly 7.9%, trailing only Hungary). Milei himself has openly acknowledged that certain sectors will "disappear" if they can't adapt to structural reforms, arguing that the trade-off is cheaper prices for consumers and lower inflation.

It will take more than agriculture, energy and mining in my opinion. But there was such a lack of competition for years that I doubt Argentina will be able t compete with global competition. Too much baggage.

What we will probably see is another bust cycle. What Milei is going through now reminds me a little of Macri and the markets closing. No chance of Argentina going to the credit markets this year with the War.
 
I honestly agree with a lot of what you’re saying. At the beginning, I thought the situation wasn’t going to be this bad, or at least that the adjustment would be shorter. But it’s hard to ignore what’s happening now, more and more companies closing, businesses struggling, and entire sectors shrinking.

The clothing issue is a perfect example. Prices here are just unreal. It makes no sense that locally produced clothes are often more expensive than imported ones, and that says a lot about how distorted things are. At some point it stops being about “competitiveness” and becomes a structural problem.

And that’s where I think the focus is off. Instead of spending time on laws that don’t really impact everyday economic activity (like the glaciers law debate right now), there should be a serious discussion about the tax system. The current tax burden is clearly suffocating a lot of industries.

If nearly half of a product’s price goes to taxes and fixed costs, how is any local business supposed to compete , not just with China, but with anyone?

I get that reforms take time and that cutting spending is part of the process, but without a real overhaul of the tax structure, it’s hard to see how some sectors are supposed to recover. At this point, it feels pretty clear that what’s needed isn’t just adjustment, but a smarter, more targeted economic strategy.
 
I honestly agree with a lot of what you’re saying. At the beginning, I thought the situation wasn’t going to be this bad, or at least that the adjustment would be shorter. But it’s hard to ignore what’s happening now, more and more companies closing, businesses struggling, and entire sectors shrinking.

The clothing issue is a perfect example. Prices here are just unreal. It makes no sense that locally produced clothes are often more expensive than imported ones, and that says a lot about how distorted things are. At some point it stops being about “competitiveness” and becomes a structural problem.

And that’s where I think the focus is off. Instead of spending time on laws that don’t really impact everyday economic activity (like the glaciers law debate right now), there should be a serious discussion about the tax system. The current tax burden is clearly suffocating a lot of industries.

If nearly half of a product’s price goes to taxes and fixed costs, how is any local business supposed to compete , not just with China, but with anyone?

I get that reforms take time and that cutting spending is part of the process, but without a real overhaul of the tax structure, it’s hard to see how some sectors are supposed to recover. At this point, it feels pretty clear that what’s needed isn’t just adjustment, but a smarter, more targeted economic strategy.
Without fixing the taxes nothing else matters.
 
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