Vietnam may raise auto import duties to ease traffic jams
Vietnam may raise automobile import duties to cut worsening traffic congestion fuelled by surging sales of imported and locally-assembled cars, state media reported Friday.
As traffic is choking the streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked government ministries to draw up suitable tax policies on both imported cars and spare parts, Vietnam News Agency reported.
Proposals range as high as 70 percent import duty rates.
Customers who have heard about the possible tax increases are rushing to buy cars in anticipation of higher prices.
January sales of vehicles assembled in Vietnam rose year-on-year 156 percent to over 12,000 units, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said, pointing to a 350 percent increase in the commercial vehicle sector.
Imports of completely built units shot up by an even steeper 421 percent year-on-year, with about 3,000 units worth almost US$50 million imported into Vietnam in January, said the Industry and Trade Ministry.
Vietnam moved from mainly bicycles to motorcycles in the 1990s and is now witnessing a rapid rise in car ownership, especially in the big cities.
The South East Asian country of 86 million people, last year cut car import duties several times from 90 percent, before it joined the World Trade Organization in January 2007, to the current level of 60 percent.
Source: AFP
Vietnam may raise automobile import duties to cut worsening traffic congestion fuelled by surging sales of imported and locally-assembled cars, state media reported Friday.
As traffic is choking the streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked government ministries to draw up suitable tax policies on both imported cars and spare parts, Vietnam News Agency reported.
Proposals range as high as 70 percent import duty rates.
Customers who have heard about the possible tax increases are rushing to buy cars in anticipation of higher prices.
January sales of vehicles assembled in Vietnam rose year-on-year 156 percent to over 12,000 units, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said, pointing to a 350 percent increase in the commercial vehicle sector.
Imports of completely built units shot up by an even steeper 421 percent year-on-year, with about 3,000 units worth almost US$50 million imported into Vietnam in January, said the Industry and Trade Ministry.
Vietnam moved from mainly bicycles to motorcycles in the 1990s and is now witnessing a rapid rise in car ownership, especially in the big cities.
The South East Asian country of 86 million people, last year cut car import duties several times from 90 percent, before it joined the World Trade Organization in January 2007, to the current level of 60 percent.
Source: AFP
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