Acicam cannot understand Ecuador tariff decision

30/01/2015
The president of Colombian footwear and leathergoods association Acicam, Luis Gustavo Flórez, has expressed concern about the introduction of high tariffs on imports into neighbouring Ecuador of products including shoes and leathergoods.

Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, introduced new tariffs of up to 21% on imported goods from January 15.

Luis Gustavo Flórez said the great pity in this was that trade between the two South American countries had been flowing healthily until now and, in recent years, Ecuador has been the biggest export market for Colombian footwear manufacturers.

He said he could not understand why Ecuador had taken the new measure and told local media: “It would be like saying you were leaving a party because you were having fun.”