Affected by the epidemic in the past two years, Brazil's poor population has increased, the proportion of the middle class has shrunk, and the inequality between the rich and the poor has widened.
Inflation has caused the prices of basic materials in Brazil to rise again and again, and the prices of canned food, preserved food, olive oil, vegetables, beef, coffee, etc. have all continued to increase. In addition to Brasilia being the most expensive city, Salvador, Curitib and Belo Horizonte also saw very big price increases.
Wages can't keep up with inflation, and Brazilians have begun to reduce expenses, change the family diet, replace more expensive beef with chicken, sausage, cream, etc., and reduce life and entertainment activities.
In order to fight inflation and stabilize prices, Brazil recently announced a reduction in import tariffs on some commodities.
The Executive Management Committee (Gecex) of the Foreign Trade Commission (Camex) of the Brazilian Ministry of Economy announced:
1. From now until the end of this year, import taxes on seven products will be cancelled, including: ethanol (the original import tax is 18%, the same below), coffee (9%), margarine (10.8%), cheese (28%) ), pasta (14.4%), sugar (16%), soybean oil (9%).
2. From April 1 to the end of this year, the import tax rate levied on electronic products and mechanical equipment will be reduced by 10%. This measure aims to promote the purchase of equipment for industrial production and reduce the prices of some technical items. In March last year, the Brazilian government cut tariffs on capital goods and telecommunications imports by 10 percent. Overall, the cuts will be 20%.
The changes came into effect after they were published in the Brazilian Federal Official Gazette on March 23. Combining all the tax cuts, the tax cuts generated this year are around R$ 1 billion.
However, the skyrocketing sea freight has also affected the Asia-Brazil route. The current sea freight is 5.7 times higher than before the outbreak!
