Outside of a car showroom in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - The 50 per cent registration fee reduction scheme, previously proposed by the Government for cars made and assembled in Vietnam, should apply to imported vehicles as well, according to the Vehicles Importers Vietnam Association (VIVA).

VIVA, and all of its 12 members, have filed a petition to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance and the central Government.

The petition said the difficulties experienced by the automobile industry due to a severe decline in demand were not limited to Vietnamese car makers. VIVA said orders have been low since November last year, severely affecting car importers.

VIVA members have been even more affected as inventory remained high while demand showed no sign of improving in the foreseeable future, said the association.

Vietnam imported 12,842 cars in January this year, three times the number recorded during the same period last year. From October to December last year, the number of imported cars also jumped to more than 77,000 vehicles, from 25,700 vehicles during the same period in 2021.

In addition, scandals and arrests of many government officials from the Department of Vehicle Registration in the last two months delivered yet another blow to the domestic car market, putting great financial pressure on VIVA.

The association welcomed the Government's initiative in supporting businesses but stressed the importance of fairness, saying the reduction in registration fees should also be applied to imported vehicles.

VIVA said domestic cars have benefited from the last two registration fee reductions of 50%, while imported cars sat on the sidelines. The association warned this could be viewed as a violation of Clause III.4 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which Vietnam ratified.

Under GATT, Clause III.4 stipulates that members must not apply internal taxes or other internal charges, laws, regulations, and requirements affecting imported or domestic products to afford protection to domestic production.