Argentina is Brazil's second-largest Mercosur partner and a natural market for anyone who already imports from China and resells beyond Brazil too. The trouble is that much of what people "know" about importing into Argentina still comes from an earlier phase, full of layers of control that simply no longer exist today. Treating 2026 Argentina with the 2022 playbook costs two opposite kinds of mistake: wasting time on a step that no longer exists, or ignoring a new certification that the Chinese factory will not solve on its own.
First, the warning this subject demands. Argentina changes foreign trade rules by resolution, and the pace of that change has picked up over the last three years. What is here was checked against official sources (Boletín Oficial, ARCA, the Central Bank, ENACOM) as of the publication date. Before closing a deal, confirm the current figures with an Argentine customs broker or accountant: this guide is a map, not a legal opinion.
Prior import licensing no longer exists
Until a few years ago, clearing goods in Argentina meant a prior declaration subject to approval from an agency beyond customs: first SIMI, then reshaped as SIRA in October 2022, and finally replaced by SEDI (Sistema Estadístico de Importaciones). It was exactly the kind of step that trips up an importer used to direct clearance: a licence request that could sit stalled, subject to another ministry's judgement, before the goods even reached port.
That step is gone. Joint General Resolution 5651/2025, from ARCA together with the Secretariat of Industry and Trade, repealed SEDI on 26 February 2025, along with the earlier rules that had supported it. Today, the importer goes straight to the Sistema Informático Malvina (SIM), the customs platform that processes clearance, with no prior automatic or non-automatic licensing step.
What this changes in practice: an Argentine import project no longer stalls at an approval step from another ministry before the goods are cleared. The bottleneck today, where it exists, is in technical documentation and product certification, covered further below, not in commercial licensing itself. A recent update confirms this direction: Resolution 5842/2026, from May, simplified the regime further, allowing a customs guarantee to be posted as a sworn statement within the SIM itself, instead of requiring more complex instruments.
The exchange rate got freer, but it is not 100% free
The second classic obstacle was currency controls ("el cepo cambiario"): the control that limited access to dollars and had held back payments to foreign suppliers for years. On 11 April 2025, the government announced the end of the cepo for resident individuals, with a moving exchange-rate band between US$1,000 and US$1,400. The Central Bank's Communication "A" 8226, in force since 14 April 2025, formalised free currency access for individuals and eased import payment terms.
In practice for today's importer: goods with an already-official customs declaration have free currency access from the declaration date, known as spot payment. For goods with a customs registration still pending, the term is 90 days for general goods and 270 days for capital goods, counted from currency access, with an advance of up to 30% possible via MLC for capital goods, not exceeding 80% of the total FOB value.
Not everything became free. Anyone trading MEP or CCL dollars faces a cross-restriction on access to the official exchange rate. Profits and dividends accumulated in fiscal years before 2025 remain blocked from being remitted abroad, even though distribution is now free for new fiscal years. And companies less than 365 days old with foreign-currency liabilities above US$5 million still need prior Central Bank approval. For an importer buying finished goods from China through an already established company, these three points rarely matter, but they are worth checking when the corporate structure is new or has an international component.
The taxes that vanished, and the ones that stayed
An entire tax left the picture. The Impuesto PAIS, which at one point taxed any payment abroad at up to 17.5%, was cut to 7.5% by Decree 777/2024, in September of that year, and simply stopped existing at the end of December 2024, when the legal term that sustained it expired and the government chose not to extend it.
What remains is the common import-tax structure, the same one described in the guide on importing from China to Mercosur: Argentina applies the Mercosur Common External Tariff by NCM code on the CIF value, from 0% to 35%, with no specific trade agreement with China to lower that bill. Add to that the Tasa de Estadística, 3% of the CIF value, extended until December 2027, capped at US$180 per shipment for operations under US$10,000, and the general VAT of 21% on the CIF value plus duties.
Anyone registered as a responsable inscripto, the formal status that qualifies a company to import on a recurring basis, still pays two additional withholdings at clearance: 20% VAT and 6% Ganancias (income tax). Both are recoverable as tax credit, not a final cost, but the VAT credit can only be used starting from the ninth tax period following clearance, which locks up working capital for almost a year before it turns back into cash. It is worth planning cash flow around that lag, not just around the rate.
ARCA replaced AFIP, and the customs broker stopped being mandatory
AFIP, the tax and customs authority any importer who has dealt with Argentina knows by name, no longer exists. Decree 953/2024 abolished it and created ARCA (Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero) in its place, merging what used to be the Directorate General of Taxation and the Directorate General of Customs. The formal change took place on 25 October 2024.
To register as an importer with ARCA today, the company needs an active CUIT with no inconsistencies and a level-3 Clave Fiscal, and applies for the "Importador/Exportador" profile within the Registros Especiales Aduaneros, on ARCA's own website, through the company's Administrador de Relaciones. The process may ask for a background check and updated biometric data, but no longer goes through a separate prior registration like the old structure.
The other point that caught many people off guard: the customs broker stopped being a legal requirement. DNU 70/2023, in force since 29 December 2023, amended the Customs Code to let the importer itself, or anyone it authorises, document clearance without needing a licensed customs broker. In practice, the complexity of tariff classification, with the same NCM and LETEC nuance described in the Mercosur guide, and of customs valuation, still makes hiring a broker the choice most operations make. The activity itself remains regulated, now under ARCA Resolution 5818/2026. The difference is that it became a choice, not a legal imposition.
Technical certification is where Argentina still slows down, and it changed again in 2026
While commercial and currency red tape eased, product technical certification went the other way: it became more structured, and remains the point where an Argentine import project stalls if handled lightly.
Electrical products, the most common item among anyone reselling consumer electronics, still require electrical safety certification, now under Resolutions 236/2024, 16/2025 and 17/2025 from the Secretariat of Industry and Trade, which reorganised the general conformity-assessment framework. Resolution 16/2025 is the one that matters to anyone already certifying in Brazil: it eases acceptance of a certificate issued abroad by an accredited laboratory or certifier, avoiding a repeat test. Since 1 October 2025, QR-code conformity marking has been mandatory, and the transition period for the new regime ended on 26 February 2026: as of this guide's publication date, the new regime is already fully in force, with no more adjustment period.
Toys still require the Certificado de Importación de Juguete (CIJ), issued by the Secretariat of Industry, Trade and SMEs based on ex-SCT Resolution 163/2005, with bodies such as IRAM and INTI acting as certifiers.
And telecommunications is the most recent case, and the one most worth following: ENACOM Resolution 57/2026, published in February, completely restructured telecom equipment type approval, creating certification agencies, registration by product family, and a requirement that online sales display the RAMATEL registration number. The start date was set for 1 September 2026, but ENACOM itself acknowledged it was not ready to apply its own rule, and postponed implementation to 1 December 2026, through Resolution 843/2026, published on 28 August. As of this guide's publication date, the old RAMATEL regime still applies, and will keep applying until that date.
The pattern behind all three technical cases is the same: Argentina is increasingly accepting the certificate a Chinese supplier already obtained to sell in another demanding market, instead of requiring a local test from scratch. That cuts cost and time, but does not remove the step: the foreign certificate still needs to be validated and registered locally by an accredited Argentine body.
📌 It is worth rechecking the ENACOM case close to December 2026, because a postponement has already happened once, and there is no guarantee the new date will hold.
Timeline: the dates behind this guide
Ten decisions, in just over three years, tell the whole story:
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| 29/12/2023 | DNU 70/2023 comes into force: the customs broker stops being a legal requirement, and the Executive loses the power to freely restrict foreign trade by its own rule. |
| 02/09/2024 | Impuesto PAIS drops from 17.5% to 7.5% (Decree 777/2024). |
| 25/10/2024 | ARCA replaces AFIP (Decree 953/2024). |
| Dec/2024 | Impuesto PAIS is abolished, with no replacement. |
| 26/02/2025 | SEDI is repealed (Joint Resolution 5651/2025): prior import licensing ends. |
| 14/04/2025 | End of currency controls for individuals, exchange-rate band, Communication A 8226. |
| 01/10/2025 | QR-code electrical conformity marking becomes mandatory. |
| 26/02/2026 | Transition to the new electrical certification regime ends. |
| 04/05/2026 | Resolution 5842/2026 simplifies customs guarantees within the SIM itself. |
| 28/08/2026 | ENACOM postpones the new telecom regime's start date from 1 September to 1 December 2026 (Resolution 843/2026). |
Where BCVN comes in
Putting the pieces together: between 2023 and 2026 Argentina removed prior import licensing, eased currency access for supplier payments, abolished an entire tax on remittances abroad, and took the customs broker off the list of legal requirements. In the same period, it reorganised technical certification for electrical products and telecommunications, and is still adjusting the calendar on that second front, as the ENACOM postponement shows.
For anyone already importing from China into Brazil and looking at Argentina as a neighbouring market, the design that still works best is the same one described in the guide on importing from China to Mercosur: the same tariff classification by NCM, the same LETEC logic by country, and the same Chinese factory behind the formal Argentine supplier, without depending on an exception regime that can change with the next resolution. BCVN follows both ends of that operation: the purchase at the Chinese factory, with quality inspection before shipping, and understanding which Argentine body will need to validate what before the goods leave China.
Frequently asked questions about importing from China to Argentina
Does prior import licensing (SIRA/SEDI) still exist in Argentina?
No. SEDI (Sistema Estadístico de Importaciones) was repealed on 26 February 2025 by Joint General Resolution 5651/2025, from ARCA together with the Secretariat of Industry and Trade. The importer now goes straight to clearance in the Sistema Informático Malvina, with no prior automatic or non-automatic licensing step.
Is hiring a customs broker mandatory to import into Argentina?
It has not been a legal requirement since DNU 70/2023, in force since 29 December 2023, which amended the Customs Code to let the importer itself document the clearance. In practice, the complexity of tariff classification and customs valuation still leads most companies to hire a customs broker by choice, not by obligation.
Do currency controls still apply to paying a Chinese supplier in Argentina?
Currency controls for individuals ended in April 2025, with Communication A 8226 from the Central Bank. For import payments, currency access is already free for goods with an official customs declaration, and follows a term of 90 or 270 days for the rest, depending on the type of good. Residual restrictions remain for anyone trading MEP or CCL dollars, for profits accumulated before 2025, and for very young companies with high foreign-currency liabilities.
What taxes apply today to an import from China into Argentina?
The Impuesto PAIS was abolished at the end of December 2024 and no longer exists. What remains in force are Import Duties under the Mercosur Common External Tariff by NCM code (0% to 35% on the CIF value), the 3% Tasa de Estadística, the general 21% VAT, and, for anyone registered as a responsable inscripto, two further recoverable withholdings of 20% VAT and 6% Ganancias (income tax).
When does ENACOM's new telecommunications type-approval regime come into force?
ENACOM Resolution 57/2026 was published in February 2026, but its start date, originally set for 1 September 2026, was postponed by ENACOM itself to 1 December 2026, through Resolution 843/2026. Until that date, the previous RAMATEL regime remains in force.
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