According to Emol, President José Antonio Kast held a private conversation at La Moneda Palace with Sergio Pérez, president of the National Confederation of Freight Transport of Chile (CNTC). The meeting took place after the launch of SME Week 2026, amid the risk of strikes in the trucking sector.
According to the outlet's account, Kast was posing for photographs with small and medium-sized business leaders between the Los Naranjos and Los Cañones courtyards. Pérez approached and spoke into his ear. After a couple of photographs, the President asked him to wait in the corridor leading to the Montt Varas Hall, away from the cameras.
The backdrop is the sustained rise in fuel prices. Another increase is projected for October 22. Both the CNTC and the National Confederation of Truck Owners (CNDC) have warned of possible strikes over escalating diesel prices. According to Emol, the government is preparing measures for the sector that it will announce this week.
After the conversation, Pérez told Emol that the President had told him he "has ordered his ministers to find a solution" and was also speaking with Congress, because this was "a solution for the country".
The leader said they had met with the president of the Senate, who would reportedly be willing to expedite a measure benefiting truckers with annual revenue of less than 15 thousand UTM, approximately a billion pesos. According to Pérez, larger companies already have formulas for adjusting their rates.
The associations are also requesting a fuel surcharge mechanism, used in other countries. Under it, the shipper would have to adjust the rate immediately whenever oil prices rise.
The third demand concerns the negative specific tax, which Pérez described as a "hidden tax". According to him, it currently stands at around 100 pesos and cannot be passed on through rates or recovered through Form 29, the monthly tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
Pérez said he has been working with the other confederation, chaired by Juan Araya, since March of this year. Freight transport costs affect the prices of products delivered throughout the country, so a strike would have direct effects on supplies.
On a possible strike, the leader avoided making a commitment. He explained that the CNTC brings together five federations and associations from Arica to Punta Arenas. Whatever the government announces will be relayed to the membership, and they, he said, will decide the way forward. Emol does not report a date for that decision.
