Importers, LCCI Reject Vehicle Import Tariff Hike

Automobile importers and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry have kicked against the proposed increase in import tariff for new and used vehicles.

The National Automotive Design and Development Council on Thursday proposed higher import tariffs of 100 per cent on fully built new vehicles and 125 per cent on used cars, whose current rate are 70 per cent.

The Director, Policy and Planning at the NADDC, Mr Farouk Umar, said in Abuja at the Stakeholders’ Review on Draft Automotive Policy and Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan that this was part of the proposed amendment to the national automotive policy.

But the Director General, LCCI, Dr Muda Yusuf, in an interview with The Punch described the proposal as unrealistic.

He said, “The vehicle tariff increase is not a realistic proposition. The automotive policy in its present form has done incalculable damage to the transport sector. Cost of vehicles has become prohibitive and beyond the reach of most Nigerians.

“The entire vehicle assembly value chain has been disrupted making cost of vehicles prohibitive. The whole idea of the auto policy needs a complete rethink. A country that is practically totally dependent on road transportation will not contemplate such an atrocious review of import tariff on vehicles.”

Some vehicle importers also expressed doubt about such proposal working in Nigeria.

A car importer, Fanu Lasisi, said a tariff of 100 per cent on new cars was too high.

He said, “It is not nice to expect somebody who bought a car for N20m to pay N20m as import duty for the car. The tariff should be as low as 10 per cent to encourage buyers.”

Fanu said this was the method deployed in Ghana to discourage purchase of used cars.

He also noted that the government of Ghana had put infrastructure in place to allow people to buy new cars and keep them in good condition.

Another importer, Eddy Akwaze, doubted if the proposal would ‘fly.’

He said, “They are trying to copy Ghana but that is not the way the Ghana tariff is structured. It is 45 per cent for used cars and 10 per cent for new cars.”