Vietnam mulls zero tariff on oil, mineral imports

By Dat Nguyen February 18, 2019 | 11:03 pm PT

Vietnamese workers stand on a drilling platform in the South China Sea. Photo by Reuters

Vietnam is considering scrapping import tariffs on crude oil and minerals.

The Ministry of Finance recently proposed eliminating the 5 percent tariff to "take away difficulties faced by businesses" that import crude oil.

It had earlier received a petition from state oil firm PetroVietnam to scrap the tariff.

The country’s first oil refinery, Dung Quat, is not running at full capacity due to a shortage of crude oil, the ministry said.

Saying non-renewable resources in the country are low, it pointed to a need to import minerals and ores to serve the growing demand from the manufacturing sector.

Mining output was down 2 percent last year, while crude oil production fell by 11.3 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

The country imported $2.75 billion worth of crude oil last year, 5.7 times that of 2017, according to Vietnam Customs.