Vietnam to ax food, alcohol import tariffs
HANOI - Vietnam will either reduce or eliminate import tariffs on 20 commodities, mostly poultry, meat and alcohol, in the years to come, according to a recent decision of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. As part of the country's 2005-2013 road map of the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs protocol of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), sausages and similar meat products, will receive the biggest tariff cuts to 30 percent by 2010 and five percent by 2013 from the current 50 percent, Vietnam News reported Thursday.
The import tariff on fowls is to drop to 10 percent in 2005, five percent in 2007 and zero percent in 2008. Alcohol and wine taxes will be sliced to 20 percent in 2005, five percent in 2006 and removed in 2007. Items being imported after Jan. 1, 2005 are subjects to new tariffs. Importers who have already made tax payments will be refunded the differences.
Xinhua - February 17, 2005
Vietnam to slash automobile import taxes
HANOI- Vietnam will axe import tariffs on automobiles considerably between 2006 and 2009, according to local newspaper Vietnam Economic Times on Wednesday. The country plans to lower the tariff on automobiles with 10-30seats to 20 percent in 2007 and 0-5 percent in 2008, and that on imports with 2-10 seats to 20 percent in 2008 and 5 percent in 2009. It also plans to slash taxes on under-five-ton lorries from the current 100 percent to 20 percent in 2006 and 5 percent in 2007.
Local experts predicted that prices of locally-assembled automobiles will fall from 2007, although Vietnam will apply the same special consumption taxes on both locally-assembled and imported vehicles in the year. Now, the special consumption tax on imported automobiles with five seats below is as high as 80 percent. The experts said the demand for automobiles of Vietnam with the current population of 82 million people will remain high in the coming years, citing the country's high economic growth and low penetration of cars among local residents as major reasons. Now, every 142 Vietnamese people have a car, compared with the rate of 4-5 in Malaysia, 9-10 in Thailand and 30-32 in the Philippines.
Eleven automobile joint ventures in Vietnam posted total sales of 40,138 units in 2004, down 6 percent against 2003. They have proposed the Vietnamese government reduce special consumption taxes on locally-assembled automobiles and develop the production of vehicle accessories and spare parts. Vietnam imported 22,000 automobiles worth 324 million US dollars in 2004, posting respective year-on-year rises of 5.2 percent and 21.9 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office. It also spent 573 million dollars on importing automobile parts.
Vietnam currently imposes high import tariffs on automobiles, which are 2-3 times higher than those of regional countries. The tariffs on tourist cars and trucks with tonnage of over five tons but below 10 tons stand at 100 percent and 60 percent, respectively.
Xinhua - February 16, 2005
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