Includes the barriers (tariff and non-tariff) that U.S. companies face when exporting to this country.
Last Published: 1/9/2020

Uruguay, with its strong, democratic legal system, has a relatively open, reliable trade and investment regime, with few border restrictions and limited use of non-tariff measures.  Its trade strategy continues to liberalize trade and investment at both the multilateral and regional levels.  However, in recent years, increased import taxes have raised prices on foreign products.  The current government’s taxation of imports has been aimed at increasing revenue, not protecting domestic production, given the low incidence of manufacturing in Uruguay.  Uruguay has established particularly high tariffs for products that are imported from non-MERCOSUR countries.  Valued Added Taxes and Specific Internal Tax (IMESI) can significantly increase the prices on certain imported products.  Products that are subject to the highest IMESI rates are alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and refined petroleum products.

Restrictions on selling to the government of the country
The government procurement and contracting function is governed by the Harmonized Text of the Law on Accounting and Financial Administration. Over the past decade, Uruguay has taken steps to enhance the efficiency and transparency of government procurement procedures and to strengthen the system’s institutional framework.  At the same time, Uruguay has used the government procurement system as a tool for promoting domestic industry by granting preference quotas.  For products to benefit from preferential margins and qualify as national products, they must contain at least 35 percent of local components.
Import licensing requirements

Uruguay applies non-automatic import licensing to certain products, such as motor vehicles, sugar, acetic acid, textiles, shoes, and steel for structural uses.  Licenses should be requested prior to the product’s arrival in Uruguay to avoid demurrage costs at points of entry.  After being approved, the license is valid for 60 days (90 days for motor vehicles).
Anti-dumping and countervailing duty measures

At the moment, Uruguay is not making active use of any contingency measures.  No countervailing or safeguard investigations were initiated in 2018.  The country has not had any anti-dumping measures in force since 2006, when the anti-dumping duties imposed for three years on imports of pure refined vegetable oil from Argentina expired.

Measures for agricultural products
Although there are no quarantine measures for agricultural products, products of animal or plant origin require prior authorization from a government authority for sanitary, phytosanitary, safety, and environmental protection reasons.  In general, sanitary, and phytosanitary certificates are required depending on the level of risk and are issued by the country of origin.
 

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.