Imported merchandise needs to be super cheap to begin with as transportation and duty costs are reflected in the final price. The end result if the wholesale price is not low enough to begin with is a product few can afford (or would choose) making the exercise of importing the item moot. Everything imported always costs more on an island. Just look at the price of a new car or a top of the line Sealy/Serta mattress.
A great example:
I bought two new TGM inverter air conditioners at the beginning of last year. These are the "Toyota of air conditioners" because you can get parts for them everywhere.
As my luck would have it, one of them had the compressor go bad a month after the guarantee was up.
I went to Refriparts to buy one, and of course, they didn't have them. Why? Because they never go bad. (DR logic for you)
They said they could order one for me, but it might take a while.
I jumped online and started searching. I called a bunch of A/C places in Miami to buy one, and of course, heard the same comment again and again: "Wow, that's strange, those never go bad"
I finally found a new one for the bargain price of $160. (8000 Pesos) The guy said he'd ship it for free. Nice gesture on his part.
It took the local broker 4 days to get the thing cleared. DGA charged me $9200. On a part that cost 8000.
The A/C guy had to remove the outside unit, remove the old compressor and install the new one, reinstall the unit, then do the vacuum and charge the gas. That was 5000 pesos.
22K to repair an A/C I paid 20K for a year ago.
I will kindly refrain from giving my opinion of the local tax folks.
