Trade turnover through border gates in the HCM City has been declining. Firms have made efforts to overcome difficulties but they have not recovered, making it difficult for HCM City Customs to meet the revenue target this year.

Customs officers at Sai Gon Port Zone 1 Customs Branh inspect
imported goods. Photo: L.Linh

Imports and exports goes down

Due to the serious impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, imports and exports through border gates in the HCM City in August fallen and are forecast to plunge in September.

The HCM City Customs reported in August, total trade rose by 11.61% year-on-year to US$86.116 billion (as of August 12). The exports fell by 0.11% to US$ 34,47 billion while the imports grew 21% to US$51.645 billion.

According to the report, total trade by ports in the HCM City as of August 15 increased 30.8% year-on-year to US$91.46 billion. The city shipped goods overseas worth about US$34.59 billion while it spent some US$56.88 billion on imports.

However, only in the second half of August, total imports and exports saw a significant decrease. By the end of August, imports and exports fell by 27.6% year-on-year to US$95.6 billion. Of which, exports reduced 2.7% year-on-year to US$35.8 billion and imports plummeted 56.8% year-on-year to US$59.8 billion

According to the Import-Export Tax Division under the HCM City Customs Department, in the first quarter of 2021, imports grew 9.67% year-on-year to more than US$30 billion but exports turnover fell by 4.29% year-on-year to US$12.8 billion.

However, from March, exports recognised slight increase of 1.9% year-on-year US$ 15,406 billion. This growth momentum was maintained until July. But from August, both export turnover and import turnover through HCM City border gates began to plunge. Therefore, the import and export target of HCM City in the year is unlikely to be achieved in such very difficult conditions.

Revenue reduces by VND180 billion per day

The pandemic situation has not been contained yet. The HCM City has expanded social distancing according to Directive 16 and applied the toughest measures, which have affected the activities of firms, making it very difficult for them to maintain production, business and trade.

Deputy Head of Department in charge of Import-Export Tax Division Nguyen Quoc Toan said the State budget revenue of HCM City Customs Department in July and August began to plummet. The city collected about VND300 billion in tariffs per day. This figure fell by about VND180 billion compared to it from April to June.

According to HCM City Customs Department, in August, the budget revenue of HCM City Customs Department decreased sharply to more than VND7,000 billion, down nearly VND3,000 billion from July. It is estimated that by the end of August, HCM City Customs Department earned VND78,650 billion or 72.8% of the target and 69.7% of the desired target.

It is expected that in September, the revenue will continue to decrease, as many businesses will suspend their operation, so they will not carry out import procedures at border gates.

In addition, some high-tax commodities experienced reductions in their imports. This directly impacted on the budget revenue of the unit.

Facing the downturn of State budget revenue, in the remaining months of 2021, in addition to establishing working teams to support businesses amid the difficult period, HCM City Customs Department designed scenarios to support businesses during and after the Covid-19 pandemic; step up the implementation of solutions to support the business community to increase the export and import of goods through HCM City border gates, to raise revenue for the State budget.