Truckers call government proposal on fuel a ‘tabajara solution’

In the opinion of Abrava’s president, Wallace Landim, known as Chorão, the exemption from federal taxes does not alleviate the situation of road hauliers.

The Brazilian Association of Motor Vehicle Drivers (abrava) classified the proposal that provides for a ceiling for the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) us fuels and the exemption of federal taxes on the product, presented on Monday, 6th, by the federal government, as a “tabajara solution”. “Withdrawing ICMS from fuel, which is not a federal income, is like taking money from a neighbor to pay a bill for my house,” said Abrava president Wallace Landim, known as Chorão, in a press release.

The representative of the self-employed also highlighted that the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) needs to be approved in two rounds, by two-thirds of parliamentarians, in the Chamber and Senate to be validated.

In Chorão’s assessment, the exemption from federal taxes does not alleviate the situation of road hauliers. “The exemption from the Social Integration Program (PIS), from the Contribution for Financing Social Security (Cofins) and from the Contributions for Intervention in the Economic Domain (Cide) represent 6% in the composition of the price of diesel, does nothing to refresh the life of the truck driver, and does not solve the inflation that is killing the poorest people with hunger,” he said in the note.

According to Abrava, the measures do not face the increase in fuel prices. “Fuel prices will continue to rise. The problem is not being addressed. This move is just a stopgap to increase diesel again. If you don’t raise the price, diesel will run out of gas stations, as a result of the pricing policy of Petrobras, a company created with public money and in which the government is the majority shareholder,” added Chorão.

The organization defends the end of Petrobras International Price Parity Policy (PPI)which links the domestic price of fuels to the international price of a barrel of oil and to the dollar.

Finally, again, the association did not rule out a new stoppage of the category. “President Bolsonaro is worried about his re-election. Truck drivers and the Brazilian people are concerned about putting food on their families’ table. We don’t see light at the end of the tunnel. The country will stop!”, concluded Chorão in the note.

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