Francisco Ralda, president of AGEXPORT, said they face challenges in three of the main commercial blocks for the country: United States, Europe and China.
The most recent is that of the United States, where, due to the 10% tariff to imports from Guatemala, buyers are asking exporters to absorb the cost. The estimated impact would be more than US $ 460 million annually, equivalent to 10% of the total exported in 2024.
Another challenge comes from Europe, which has established regulations that, according to Ralda, hinder exports. Although the market is not closed, there is a high bureaucracy and access complications.
The third challenge is the case of China, where containers of Macadamia and Café have stopped, which has limited and practically closed that trade.
“Then, in a global context, Guatemalan exporters face difficulties for access to the three main commercial blocks of the world, which cannot be easily compensated by other regions, such as Mexico,” he explained. He added that only 4% of Guatemalan exports are directed to Mexico, a country that, despite their great consumption, presents non -tariff barriers.
“If one puts on the exporters shoes, the situation is very challenging,” since the problem of infrastructure and the impact of the exchange rate due to the revaluation of the currency, he said.
Although destinations diversification has been announced, he explained that developing new markets has been. “Exporters punished in the United States do not know if they will have time to be converted,” he added.
Exchange rate impact
The quetzal exchange rate against the dollar has been appreciated in recent months, which, according to exporters, affects them.
The president of AGEXPORT indicated that they have raised the issue to the Monetary Board, since the exchange rate establishes a very strong competitive barrier, especially in front of countries such as Mexico and Colombia, which have experienced important devaluations in the last 10 years.
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Guatemala has maintained a stable exchange rate for about 20 years. However, there is a constant increase in minimum wages, which has affected the export sector and has caused the loss of large agribusiness.
In summary, he said that over the years the destruction of export sectors has been observed due to exchange policy and increased minimum wages. He considers that there is no sector that resists with this type of barriers and that competitiveness is seriously compromised.
He added that the exchange rate is always on the export sector agenda and is discussed with the Bank of Guatemala.
“We understand that the Bank of Guatemala makes the best efforts with its policies to support the exchange rate, but the avalanche of remittances does not stop; they have increased by 20% so far this year, so it is difficult to handle an exchange policy in the face of this flood of currencies,” said Ralda.
Therefore, he considers desirable to reassess monetary policy taking that factor into account.
In figures
- Guatemala exports closed in 2024 with an amount of US $ 14,500 million.
- In the first quarter of 2025, the total exported amount grew 10.7% and reached US $ 4,012.3 million.