Vietnam : Textile industry opposes hike in tax on PET & fiber

Increase in tax rates of PET and other kind of fibers to five percent from zero to one percent led to strong resistance from different enterprises.

Import tariff on 100 items were low and 16 items like PET and polyester fibers were included under slab of higher tax rate. This hike in tax rate is mainly aimed to protect local market.

But according to Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) and HCM City Plastics Association this increase in tax rate will concern local plastics and garment companies as they mainly rely on imported materials. It will influence competitiveness of Vietnamese products due to high cost of production.

According to Statistics import turnover of the fibers, on which tax is increased, was $349mil a year. While for first half of current year imports were $161mn.

Analysts pointed out that increase in tax rate is less compared to 20 and 40 percent tax rate on same kind of material imported from other countries.