Vietnam is set to lower to zero percent the import tariff for thousands of goods in 2018 as part of its commitments on special preferential import duty rates within the framework of 10 free trade agreements (FTA).
The free trade deals are the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), ASEAN-China, ASEAN-Republic of Korea, ASEAN-Japan, ASEAN-India, ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand, Vietnam-Japan, Vietnam-RoK, Vietnam-Chile, and Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), said a report from state-run VNA.
Deputy head of the International Relations Department under the Ministry of Finance Pham Tuan Anh revealed the information at a press conference in Hanoi on January 5, as he introduced the 10 decrees stipulating preferential import tariffs for the 2018-2023 period.
Under the Vietnam-EAEU FTA decree, 5,535 tariff lines have been reduced to zero percent as of 2018, while 3,720 others are following suit this year, such as milk, dairy products, automobile and spare parts, iron and steel, and steel products.
For the ASEAN-China FTA, products to be subjected to the zero percent import tax rate in 2018 include chicken, coffee, raw tea, processed food, fabrics, clothes, electronic equipment, and electric appliances.
The Vietnam-Japan FTA will see the zero percent rate applied to 456 tariff lines, mainly for the groups fat, sugar, machinery, equipment, and vehicle parts.
Seafood, wheat, confectionery, diesel fuel, machinery, and electronic equipment are among the 704 tariff lines that will be cut to zero percent this year under the Vietnam-RoK FTA.
Regarding the ASEAN ATIGA decree, Vietnam had basically completed eliminating tariffs within ASEAN in 2015, with only 7% of tariff lines being cut down to zero percent in 2018, including automobiles, motorbikes, vehicle components, vegetable oil, tropical fruits, home electronic appliances, milk, and dairy products.
Meanwhile, the ATIGA allows the keeping of a tariff rate of 5% for some sensitive agricultural products such as poultry, citrus fruits, brown rice, processed meat, and sugar.
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