COLOMBO: The new Customs duties imposed on Japanese motor vehicles would discourage the trend of importing old Japanese motor vehicles to Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Customs spokesman Leslie Gamini said.
On being asked if the new duties would mean that the importers or the buyers of Japanese motor vehicles had to pay exorbitant sums of money as custom duty to get their goods cleared, Leslie Gamini said, “to put it rightly, the buyer must pay for the freight collect or freight charges which will be assessed based on the manufacturer’s value of the motor vehicle, which we call the FOB, plus the transportation and the insurance cost.”
“There will be no reduction of charges in terms of its age. Charges are assessed solely on the basis of the manufacturer’s value of the motor vehicle,” he said.
“The cost is not going to be a problem for new motor vehicles, but for older ones,” he explained. “One can assume that this could raise the prices of motor vehicles in the market,” he added.
Meanwhile, Co-Treasurer of the Vehicles Importers Association of Sri Lanka, A G. Yaseer Arafath said that the increased duties imposed on Japanese cars by the government could affect their imports and the business.
“Japanese motor cars such as Aqua’s will see a price hike by Rs 700000 – Rs 800000, Prius by Rs 1.2 million, and a Toyota Premio by Rs 1 million because of the imposed custom duties,” he said.
The Association is planning to discuss this situation with the Finance Minister Ravi Karuananayaka and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
However, the situation has not affected the imports of Japanese motor spare parts, motor spare parts importers said.
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