A lot of import items enjoy preferential tariffs since 2012

A lot of import items enjoy preferential tariffs since 2012

A lot of import items can enjoy further tax cuts in 2102, while many of which bear the tax rate of zero percent under the Vietnam’s commitments in the free trade agreements FTAs.

As for bilateral trade, Vietnam has signed and is implementing the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement VJEPA. In ASEAN, Vietnam has committed to gradually remove the tariffs in order to implement the ATIGA (ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement), and the FTAs between ASEAN and five East Asian countries, including ACFTA (ASEAN-China FTA), AKFTA (ASEAN-Republic of Korea), AJCEP (ASEAN-Japan), AANZFTA (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand) and AITIG (ASEAN-India).

A lot of imports from ASEAN taxed zero percent

According to the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Vietnam has committed to cut 9368 tax categories. Under the initially set plan, from January 1, 2012 to 2014, Vietnam will gradually reduce the tariffs in accordance with the roadmap stipulated in the Decision No 36 of the Ministry of Finance.

However, after the latest amendment, in 2012, about 1600 tax categories of the industries in PIS list would be lowered to zero percent instead of five percent as stipulated in the above said Decision No 36. For example, seafood, rubber and rubber products, textiles, information technology products, healthcare equipments and products, wooden products and electronics now can enjoy the zero tax rate.

Besides, under the commitments, in 2012, the tariffs of some “sensitive” farm produce to be imported from ASEAN to Vietnam would be halved. According to MOF, 44 tax categories in chicken, rice, brown rice, lemon, pomelo and pork products (sausage, canned meat), the products made of buffalo and cows see the tax rated down from 10-20 percent to 5-10 percent.

In order to enjoy the preferential tariffs, the imports from ASEAN must have the ASEAN made content of at least 40 percent, while importers must show D-form certificate of origin C/O. The imports from non-tariff areas to the domestic market can also enjoy the preferential tariffs, if they can meet the requirements in terms of origin and have D-form C/O granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

200 tax categories of Chinese goods see tariffs down

About 200 tax categories of the Chinese imports have seen the 5-10 percent cut in comparison with 2011, while the other 8700 categories will still keep the same tax rates as in 2011.

The sharpest cuts of 10 percent have been applied to kitchenware, household appliances, vans and motorbikes and some other kinds of goods.

The goods that see the tariffs down from 15 percent to 10 percent include rice, some kinds of vegetable oil products, mineral water, drinks, cosmetics, wooden products and some others. Meanwhile, webcams and cameras have seen the tariff decrease from 15 percent to 5 percent, and electric fans from 20 percent to 15 percent.

In general, Vietnam was slow in cutting the tariff in the first five years of the implementation of ASEAN-China FTA, since it was signed in 2004, but the tariff cut process goes more rapidly in 2010-2015. Since January 1, 2008, Vietnam has been applying the zero tax rate to unprocessed farm produce imported from China.

The imports from Japan on April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012 all enjoy the tariff cuts of 0.5-3 percent in comparison with the tariffs applied from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011 under the VJEPA.

In general, if compared with ATIGA and ACFTA, the roadmap of tax cut of VJEPA and ASEAN-Japan FTA, ASEAN-Republic of Korea has been going more slowly, while the tariff cuts are less sharp.

vietnamnet