Ecuador's Foreign Trade Committee announces approval of zero import tariff on EVs

(Excerpt)

Ecuador's Foreign Trade Committee (Comex) has announced the approval of a zero import tariff on electric vehicles (EVs), reports M-Brain. According to the decree, which is in line with the tax incentives implemented with the new productivity promotion and investments law that established a zero-percent value-added tax (VAT) on EVs, a zero import tariff will be levied on EVs, charging equipment, as well as batteries. Before the decree, the electric cars with a value of up to USD40,000 were exempt from import tariffs, while the remaining vehicles were subject to a duty of 30%, and a tariff of 25% applied on replacement parts and batteries.

Significance: In November 2018, Saucinc, a transport operator in the city of Guayaquil (Ecuador), decided to convert its entire fleet of transit buses to EVs with the purchase of 20 units of 12-metre buses with a capacity of 80 passengers each. To promote EV use, in March 2015, Ecuador's Coordination Ministry of Production, Employment and Competitiveness (CMPEC) signed a framework agreement for the promotion, marketing, and manufacturing of batteries and EVs in the country. In January 2019, the Indian government also cut the customs duty on EV parts by nearly half, from 15-30% to 10-15%, in a bid to promote domestic assembly of such vehicles, and it is looking to facilitate lending by banks to consumers buying EVs.

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