The Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association (Asociación de Industriales) and the Centro Unido de Detallistas joined other organizations advocating for eliminating the so-called 'crudita,' a petroleum products tax, during a hearing before the Senate’s Finance Committee (Comisión de Hacienda). The tax generates about $500 million annually. Alan Taveras Sepúlveda, president of the Centro Unido de Detallistas, argued that while Puerto Rico cannot control international oil prices, it can control the cost of doing business on the island.
Attorneys Karen Mojica and Carlos Serrano represented the Manufacturers Association. Serrano explained that the 'crudita' combines several components totaling $15.50 per barrel for products subject to all of them. He noted the levies historically funded obligations tied to the Highways and Transportation Authority (Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportación) but now flow into the General Fund.
Serrano said any solution must be fiscally sustainable under the current Fiscal Plan and PROMESA, and must provide substantial relief to industrial, commercial and other sectors sustaining tax revenue and production. The Manufacturers Association proposed evaluating the tax as part of a comprehensive tax reform, expressing support for continued fiscal and legislative analysis of its eventual elimination, while showing more caution than other groups pushing for outright repeal.