Argentina's minister wants to scrap book price law, sparking industry backlash

Argentina's Minister of Deregulation, Federico Sturzenegger, has publicly called for the repeal of Law 25.542, a 2001 regulation that establishes a uniform price for books sold to the public. This law dictates that publishers and importers must set a single price, which must be adhered to by independent bookstores, chains, supermarkets, and digital platforms.

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the law that we propose to repeal only prohibits offering discounts on books.

The current legislation allows only minor discounts, such as 10% or 20% for students and teachers at book fairs, and a special 50% discount for library programs. Sturzenegger argues that this law prevents books from being sold at lower prices. He cited an anecdote from a bookseller friend who was reportedly forced to raise the price of "The Chronicles of Narnia" from 40,000 pesos to 99,000 pesos due to the uniform pricing mandate.

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in Argentina there is a law that does not allow you to sell books cheaply, it forces you to sell them at a uniform price throughout the country.

However, the majority of the publishing and bookselling industry strongly opposes the government's initiative. They contend that similar laws in other countries have not led to lower prices and have instead resulted in market concentration. The sector warns that repealing the law would negatively impact cultural life and force many small bookstores, which cannot compete with large chains and digital retailers, to close. The sale of books through bookstores accounts for 80% of the total commercial publishing sector's sales.

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A bookseller friend told me that at the last book fair he wanted to sell The Chronicles of Narnia for 40,000 pesos, and that brandishing this law they forced him to raise it to 99,000 because it was the only admitted price.