The national official rubs his hands in his office. He talks about them greater external competition with which the government is looking reduce the consumption of household appliances by Argentines and in particular, to offer more options from other parts of the world than what is produced in Tierra del Fuego as part of the industrial support. And at that moment he blurts out: “And now in January Television sets from Egypt begin to arriveso the supply will continue to grow.”
Strictly speaking, it will not happen in vain that the administration of Javier Milei did on time. On August 2, 2010, Mercosur signed a free trade agreement with the Republic of Egypt This came into force on September 1, 2017 and was the trading bloc’s first agreement with an Arab country, allowing and granting access to various markets.
The pact called for the “full reduction” of tariffs on more than 90% of trade in agricultural and industrial goods between both parties, with a reciprocal reduction plan divided into five baskets.
In this context It was expected that 31% of tariff lines would reach zero tax within eight years, i.e. next year, to enter the bloc. These goods include Egyptian-made televisions, a product that, according to the government’s calculations, will gradually appear in the country in an environment of commercial openness, low price and declining household appliances, with a special addition for this article: It will coincide with a World Cup year, when TV sales have historically surged.
TV manufacturers are aware of the news and are currently analyzing the possible impact on local supply. According to the Afarte Device Manufacturers Chamberthe weight of local television manufacturing relative to imports has not changed.
While between January and September 2024 the available market This year there were 1.4 million televisions jumped to 2.4 million unitsalthough the ratio remains intact: 95% is produced domestically, 5% is imported.
Egypt has a Samsung monitor and television factory since 2012when the Korean-origin company entered a 360,000 square meter plot gifted to it by the government in the town of Beni Surf. From then on, the company became a very strong competitor throughout the Middle East and began exporting to various parts of the world.
“We know Samsung is in Egypt, but we have to see it How competitive can they be? “We want to penetrate the Argentine market,” said the local industry in view of the new competition that is emerging. In the same city south of Cairo, in addition to mobile phones, there are other brands that produce televisions and monitors, such as LG and the Chinese Konka, all products that are now appearing on Argentina’s radar from abroad.
The arrival of televisions from Egypt, as well as refrigerators and washing machines and even turnkey warehouses and buses from China, are part of the landscape of the end of 2025 and a postcard of what could come in the next two years of the Milei government.
While the government sees this as an example of increased competition favoring consumers with lower prices for popular goods, The industry warns of the possibility of a corporate massacre that they have to close the leaving People on the street Given the impossibility of competing with companies that receive government subsidies and pay salaries well below the ones paid here.
Some voices come from the establishment, like that of Paolo Rocca, the leader of the organization Techinthave highlighted the need for an “industrial policy” to create a “level playing field” so that local production can resist the avalanche of imports, especially from various Asian countries with China at the forefront.
In the last few hours the Minister of Economic Affairs, Luis Caputohas said that “the best industrial policy is the one that does not exist”, emphasizing that the function of the executive is to maintain the macroeconomic order, without, however, referring to what to do with the arrival of Chinese products that border on unfair competition, which concerns, for example, the official ally, the President of the United States. Donald Trump.
In the electricity sector in particular, the government has promoted a reduction in tariffs for all imported goods that can compete on the market with those produced in Tierra del Fuego, a policy that is still to be deepened new general discounts from January.
Mobile phones: The iPhone is here
For example, look at the universe of mobile phones. In May, Decree 333 reduced import tariffs from 16% to 8% From January 15th they will be completely abolished.
So a combination of more imported supply with lower taxes and a fall in demand as a result of the fall in income ultimately led to a fall in prices not seen in a long time. According to the consulting firm Ecosur Smartphones are down 17% this year, and the decline could be even greater in 2026.
A postcard of this new context at the end of the year can be seen on the advertising posters on public roads: the offer of various stores that offer installment payments for the purchase of the latest iPhonewhich in some cases is the same price as locally manufactured phones.
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