A tributação do comércio internacional: uma visão aduaneira

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to analyze taxation on international trade in Brazil, especially as regards imports, in order to shed new light on concepts which have been little studied by the doctrine though they are fundamental in a globalized geopolitical scenario. To this effect, we will present a brief introduction on the history of the development of international trade relations and the varied participation of different States, with their intrinsic differences, in such process. We will analyze modern mechanisms for international trade regulation, and discuss the degree of cooperation and commitment assumed by countries in view of different multilateral agreements signed as of the second half of the 20th century. Our study will follow the steps outlined by the Brazilian Constitution with a view to seeking validity for Customs Law in the Constitution. Within the limits of this paper, Customs Law shall be understood as a focal point of interest, composed by the set of legal rules concerning merchandise imports and exports in a certain territory or within an economic integration process. We will then discourse on taxes applied to imports, especially as to their mechanisms of incidence, comparing these mechanisms with constitutional precepts to investigate their suitability to the archetypes designed by the original constitutional power so that we can offer solutions for any dissonant hypotheses. And finally we will seek to demonstrate that Brazilian positive law provides for the coexistence of the tax and customs subsystems, each of them tied to its own principles and characteristics - a circumstance whose perception and analysis will greatly contribute to the country s development