BANGKOK, 16 July 2012 – Ministry of Finance has reduced tariffs on auto-parts imported from Japan, in accordance with Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement or Jtepa.
Permanent Secretary of Commerce Ministry Yanyong Phuangrach has disclosed that he has been informed by the Department of Trade Negotiation (DTN) that the Finance ministry has made an announcement on commodity tax and tariffs cut on auto-parts imported from Japan, stating that the tariffs will be reduced to as low as 0 percent, down from the 10-20 percent originally, in line with the Jtepa agreement that has been in force since November 1 of 2007. He added that the new agreement will be retrospective since April 1 of this year.
The products which are to be retroactively exempted from taxes include cranks, shafts, gears, airbags, and benzene and diesel engines.
The purpose of the tax reduction is to help cut down production costs and increase capacity of Thailand’s automobile industry in order for it to play an important role in the ASEAN automobile market.
