Thousands of Japanese goods imported into Viet Nam will enjoy a zero percent tariff, in line with the Southeast Asian country’s commitments to lower tariffs, as outlined in the Viet Nam - Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA) and the ASEAN - Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP) for 2016-19.

Under Viet Nam’s new import tariffs, 5,545 products imported from Japan in 2018 will have lower tax rates than last year.

Of these products, a zero percent rate will be applied to 456 tariff lines, for items such as fats, sugar, construction stones, organic chemicals, wood, pulp, fabrics, pearls, iron, aluminum, tin, hand tools, machinery and equipment, vehicle parts and musical instruments.

More than two thousand tariffs on Japanese goods will enjoy rate cuts of 50-67 per cent this year, while another 2000 tariff categories will see a tax reduction of 4-45 per cent.

The tax rates will be applied to commodities directly transported from Japan to Viet Nam. The items must also meet origin regulations, as stated in the agreement, and exporters are to have certificates of origin in a form stipulated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

VJEPA was the first bilateral free trade agreement that Viet Nam entered into after the country joined the World Trade Organisation in January 2007. The agreement covers comprehensive contents, including trade in goods and services, investment and improvement of the Japan- Viet Nam business environment.

When VJEPA came into effect in October 2009, Viet Nam committed to eliminate some 90.6 percent of tariffs for Japanese products within 16 years, while Japan pledged to eliminate some 94 percent of tariffs for Vietnamese products within 10 years.

Meanwhile, under the AJCEP, the number of tariff lines enjoying import tax reductions and exemptions this year is 6,201, of which 3,426 lines will have tax rates of zero percent beginning April 1 this year. They include machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts, iron, steel, copper, metals and articles of iron, steel, base metals, fabrics, apparel and other articles.

Viet Nam’s key imports from Japan include machinery, equipment, computers, electronic products, iron and steel. Among other imports from Japan are cloth materials, petroleum and pharmaceutical products, paper and rubber. — VNS