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VSA shouting about trade fraudulence in steel import
A lot of wire rod steel products have been enjoying the low tax rate of 0% since the beginning of the year instead of 5-12%. Trade fraudulence has been occurring due to the unclear tax regulations.
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) has sent a document to the Prime Minister, saying that it has found trade fraudulence with wire rod imports.
VSA Chairman Pham Chi Cuong said that foreign steel exporters, especially the ones from Russia, Ukraine and China, have been trying to dodge the laws to bring steel to Vietnam.
In the first months of 2009, ASEAN-sourced steel was imported in large quantities into Vietnam, mainly wire rod. According to VSA, steel importers, while making customs declarations about the imports, corrupt use was made of the unclear regulations to make trade fraudulence. For example, they made corrupt use of the unclear regulations about the product coded 7214, which bears the tax of 5%, and the product coded 7213, which bears the tax rate of 0%, to avoid tax.
As a result, the steel imports to Vietnam in the first two months of the year soared to over 47,000 tons. The steel imports in February were 10 times higher than in January.
VSA has also pointed out that several thousand tons of China-sourced wire rod, with Bo substance, was considered as alloy steel when it was imported to Vietnam, which could enjoy the tax rate of 0%. Meanwhile, the quality of the imports is just like the normal construction steel, which should have been taxed 12%.
The tax evasion made the imported wire rod steel cheaper by VND800,000-1 million/ton, thus making local enterprises unable to sell their products.
Cuong said that VSA and relevant ministries are collecting evidence to ask the police to investigate the cases with trade fraudulence signs.
“The most dangerous thing is that if enterprises use the loans they get from the interest rate subsidy programs to import the steel, this means that the Government’s preferential loans are being used to stimulate the production of foreign, not Vietnamese enterprises,” VSA said.
In the latest news, the Ministry of Finance has decided to raise the import tax rates on several types of steel products by 3-10%, commencing from April 1.
VietNamNet, TP
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