Glassmakers Propose 20 per cent Import Tax

The Vietnam Glass Association (Vieglass) has proposed the Prime Minister to raise the import tax on construction glass from ASEAN to 20 per cent to address difficulties for domestic makers, Thoi Bao Kinh Te said.

 

The association also proposed reducing domestic fuel oil (FO) prices to regional price level and setting up technical barriers on construction glass imports to prevent trade frauds in order to protect interests of consumers and ensure safety for glass-using construction works in Vietnam.

 

Vieglass said around 30 million square meters of construction glass are now in stock nationwide while the national combined capacity is roughly 100 million square meters a year.

 

Facing the situation, several glass production factories have been halting operations, or reducing capacity, making many workers in the industry to lose jobs.

 

The situation is mainly attributed to too high prices of fuel oil (FO), nearly doubling the regional prices. With advantages of FO prices and low import tax of 5 per cent, glass from other ASEAN countries has strong competitiveness and is narrowing the market share of Vietnamese producers on both domestic and export markets.        

 

Vieglass also said trade frauds in construction glass imports are sharply increasing, causing unhealthy competition, making big losses for domestic glass makers.

The Finance Ministry November 15 slashed wholesale prices of mazut (key materials for refining glass) by VND1,500/kg to VND9,000/kg. Earlier, mazut prices increased to VND13,000/liter from VND9,500/liter July 21. (Vneconomy, VNA)