Six electronic joint venture companies in Vietnam, four local civil electronic firms under the Vietnam Electronics and Informatics Corporation, as well as the Vietnam Electronic Enterprises Association have signed a petition to send to the Ministry of Finance to reduce the import taxes on electronic accessories, according to State media.
The enterprises propose the ministry to reduce the import tariff on picture tubes imported from countries outside ASEAN to 10 per cent from the current 12-15 per cent and those imported from ASEAN nations to 0 per cent from 5 per cent currently. The import tax on hi-tech flat-screens such as Plasma and LCD, which Vietnam cannot produce at the moment, need to be reduced to 0 per cent from 5 per cent.
They also want a reduction in the tariff of deflection yoke (DY) and transformers imported from countries outside ASEAN to 3 per cent and those from ASEAN to 0 per cent.
The firms propose to decrease the tax on loudspeakers imported from ASEAN to 0 per cent and those from other markets to 3 per cent, from the 20 per cent for imports both inside and outside ASEAN currently.
Implementing CEPT/AFTA commitments from January 1 this year, electronic firms in Vietnam must bear a tariff of 10-14 per cent for their imported accessories and components from ASEAN countries, while the import tax on complete electronic products from ASEAN stands at 0-5 per cent. But up to 60 per cent of their imported accessories and components come from countries outside ASEAN such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Therefore, the firms cannot enjoy preferential tariff from CEPT/AFTA, but must be in charge of a Most Favored Nation (MFN) tax, resulting in the import tariff on their accessories and components being higher than the import tax on complete electronic products.
Moreover, imported accessories and components now account for 85-90 per cent of the production cost of electronic products made in Vietnam.
If the situation is not swiftly improved, electronic makers in Vietnam would be forced to change their production fields, thus affecting the local accessories and components industry and making around 10,000 workers unemployed.
The 100 per cent-foreign-invested Panasonic Holding in Vietnam has mapped out a plan to invest in other ASEAN countries to make electronic products for import to Vietnam.
The Vietnamese market consumed $1.6 billion worth of electronic products in 2005, compared to $1.4 billion in 2004.
Vietnam Economic Times, Justice
Vietnamese
