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Chinese steel importer accused of tariff evasion
Prime Minster Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered the Ministry of Finance to inspect an alleged case of tax fraud in which carbon steel imports were reported as alloy steel to benefit from a zero tariff policy.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) have been asked to assist in the inspection.
According to VSA members, Thanh Long Steel Company in the northern province of Hung Yen claimed 29,000 tons of steel imported from China in January and February were alloy steel.
However, a testing center of the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality found that the steel products were in fact carbon steel with only a small amount of boron added. Boron is added to steel products to increase hardness.
Carbon steel imports were subject to a tax rate of 12 percent at that time. With the zero tax rate, Thanh Long was able to sell the imports at VND800,000-1 million per ton less than domestic products.
Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the VSA, told Thanh Nien last week that sluggish activity in the construction industry has hit steel consumption.
To help local steel firms liquidate their growing stockpiles, the Ministry of Finance decided to increase the import tax on steel billet from 5 percent to 8 percent and the tax on finished steel from 12 percent to 15 percent, starting April 1.
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