The norm, in detail
Zero tariff on cellphone imports: electronics opens up
Decrees 333/2025 and 334/2025 (Official Gazette May 20, 2025)
in forceNATIONAL
Trade opening
What changed and who it applies to
What changed
Decree 333/2025: (1) the Extra-Zone Import Duty on cellphones (NCM 8517.13.00 'smartphones' and 8517.14.31) drops to 8% on entry into force and to 0% as of Jan 15, 2026; (2) game consoles (NCM 9504.50.00) leave Annex V of Decree 557/23: the tariff falls from 35% to 20% of the Common External Tariff; (3) the excise tax (Art. 70, Excise Tax Law) is set at 9.5% for a range of electronics and at 0% for those manufactured by Law 19,640 beneficiaries with Tierra del Fuego origin (through Dec 31, 2038). Decree 334/2025: a simplified small-shipments regime from the Fuegian Special Customs Area to the mainland, exclusively for end consumers: up to 3 identical units per year per recipient, maximum FOB of USD 3,000 per shipment, with the Law 19,640 exemptions (VAT included). The prior 16% import duty on cellphones and the previous excise rate (19%) are press/communiqué figures, not from the operative text. verif · May 20, 2025 ↗
In force
2025-05-20 (0% import duty on cellphones from Jan 15, 2026) verif · May 20, 2025 ↗
Who it affects
Importers and retailers of consumer electronics; end consumers (prices converging toward international levels); Tierra del Fuego's Law 19,640 industry (Newsan, Mirgor, BGH and their chain), which keeps a 0% excise tax and gains a direct small-shipment channel; logistics and courier operators (TdF→mainland flow). verif · May 20, 2025 ↗
The norm
Decretos 333/2025 and 334/2025 of the national Executive Branch, signed on May 19, 2025 and published in the BO on May 20, 2025. verif · May 20, 2025 ↗
Our reading
The opening reaches the consumer's pocket: imported cellphones stop paying tariffs and game consoles drop from 35% to 20%. More competition and converging prices without dismantling Tierra del Fuego, which gains a brand-new direct channel to sell to the mainland (R4 · opening and deregulation). thesis
Where it lands, province by province
Applies the same nationwide
We looked at this rule from each of the five provinces we track and found no effect that lands differently in any of them: it applies the same across the country.
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Ignacio Aredez· Chief analyst
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How to read the seals → verif primary source · prob primary source pending · unconf not sufficiently backed · estim our own calculation · thesis our reading