In a recent development, the government has dropped its proposal to ban the import of CBU (complete built-up unit) vehicles in favour of imposing a regulatory duty of up to 50% on the imports of electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and regular gasoline vehicles for a limited time in order to contain and reduce the rising import bill.
“A country cannot limit imports under the WTO framework.” However, in order to minimise the import bill, it can raise taxes on imports, thus we’ve decided to raise the duty on automobiles imported into the country,” a senior official from the Ministry of Industries and Production told The News. “As a result, a proposal has been made to raise the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on vehicles built locally from the existing 5% to 10%.”
According to the source, the ministries of industries and commerce will present suggestions to the Tariff Policy Board for approval, and once approved, they will be presented to the prime minister for final approval. According to an official document obtained by The News, the relevant ministries have recommended imposing a 50 percent regulatory fee on the import of electric vehicles with battery packs larger than 50 KWH.
