Ministry Of Commerce: Lower Import Tariffs On Luxury Goods

"Further reduction Imported Tariff, including medium and high grade commodity The tariff is the general trend and every department has a basis and consensus on this point. Yao Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, told reporters at a monthly regular press conference yesterday.

　　 Implementing the expanded import strategy

In fact, adjust the import of goods. tariff The overall expansion of imports strategy A part.

Yao Jian said that since last year, the Ministry of Commerce has been very concerned about imports. The import issue involves the overall framework of macroeconomic policy. During this period, the import issue involves many aspects. First of all, it involves enterprise Business, business and service industries. In addition, from the policy point of view, involving many departments of the State Council, we need to jointly study and design this policy. The Ministry of Commerce has carried out a good communication with various departments, and most importantly, expanding imports is an important task of the State Council this year during the two sessions. The strategic goal of expanding imports and achieving equal emphasis on export and import is China's scientific and Technological Development and the macro policies and measures that must be adopted at this stage. It is not a temporary policy, but a sustained and long-term one.

The Ministry of Finance website recently issued a notice on Issuing the Interim Provisions on the import and export of animation and animation production and production products exempt from import tax, and clearly stated that the animation enterprises independently developed and produced animation direct products confirmed by the relevant departments of the State Council, and the goods that need to be imported can enjoy the policy of exemption from import duties and import value-added tax. People familiar with the matter revealed to our reporter that this is also the embodiment of the ministries and commissions starting to implement the import rules.

And last month, the first Financial Daily reporter has learned from the relevant people that the current rules for expanding imports have been written and submitted to the State Council for approval, and this year is expected to be introduced. The contents of the detailed rules involve a general idea and principle of the coordination of the ministries and commissions, including the range of products, categories, etc., as well as the reduction of tariffs on high and middle grade commodities.

"This is only a very principled thing, but it is not clear how to adjust tariffs and how to define high-grade commodities." The above sources said, "in addition, even if the rules are approved, whether to adjust tariffs, there is also a question of timing and scope."

Earlier, a person close to the decision-making level told reporters that the relevant departments have been deliberate on the import tax rate adjustment, but the reasons why they have not yet been finalized include that the price reduction of related products may impact domestic competitive brands of similar industries, and may cause high-income earners to spend more money on luxury goods with less money and avoid higher tariffs.

"In fact, the specific calculation has been going on, because this is an adjustment that leads to the whole body, and the impact is too great, so the progress is slow." He said, but did not rule out the acceleration of the reform process on specific consumer goods.

　 Luxury consumption returns to China

The direct effect of lowering taxes on medium and high grade commodities will be the return of luxury goods to China.

At present, the world is concerned about China's huge purchasing power of luxury goods. Data released by the World Luxury Association 9 show that Chinese consumption abroad is 4 times as much as that in the domestic market, and consumption is seriously shifting.

Ouyang Kun, the chief representative of the World Luxury Association, thinks that this is mainly due to the separation of luxury goods at home and abroad. The current rate of China's luxury goods market is the highest in the world. A set of data released by Yao Jian in March this year showed that 20 kinds of high-end consumer goods, such as watches, bags, clothing, wine and electronics, were 20 higher than the mainland market, 45% higher than Hongkong, 51% higher than the United States, 72% higher than France.

The World Luxury Association report predicts that by 2012, China's luxury goods market will reach US $14 billion 600 million, reaching the peak of global luxury consumption.

The huge price difference between luxury and inside goods, besides unfair to consumers, has led to an underestimation of China's imports and a great deal of customs tariffs.

Yao said: "some people say that China's individual overseas purchases amount to about $1000. So many overseas tourists from China buy goods back. Because these goods are not counted in customs statistics, this actually leads to the underestimation of China's imports by tens of billions of dollars, and it will also affect the judgment of trade balance."

However, for the current widespread attention of all walks of life in the "high-end commodity tax reduction", Zhang Yansheng, director of the Foreign Economic Research Institute of the national development and Reform Commission, disagreed. He believes that if we really want to lower import tariffs, the goal should be to benefit the most ordinary workers, and not only to reduce taxes on high-end commodities. "Middle and high-end consumer goods are products consumed by a few people. We must not be old before they are rich, and then extravagant before they get rich." He said.

He believes that lowering the import tariffs of products should be considered from the perspective of changing the mode of economic development, rather than maintaining trade balance through the consumption of high-end goods and even luxury goods. On the one hand, compared with the import of bulk commodities, the overall amount of middle and high-end consumer goods is relatively small, and the effect of promoting the balance of payments needs to be evaluated. On the other hand, the current trade imbalance is the inevitable result of globalization.