Car import tariffs dropped another 10%. The biggest beneficiaries were actually

China's auto import tariffs will be reduced in an orderly manner!

"In terms of expanding imports, last year China has reduced the tariff rate on import tariffs on 187 products, from 17.3% to 7.7%." At the recently held Davos Forum, the director of the Central Financial and Economic Leadership Group Office and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission of China Liu He made it clear that in the future it will also intensify efforts in this area and will reduce automobile import tariffs in an orderly manner.

Not only is it honoring promises, it is also an initiative to open up

China's auto import tariffs have been successively lowered several times before and after, more than thirty years ago.

â—Ž As early as 1986, China used the automobile displacement as the tariff collection standard. The import tariff rate for fuel cars with displacements of 3.0L or more was 220%, and the tax rate for models with displacements less than 3.0L was 180%.

â—ŽIn 1994, China reduced the number of 105 items in the 175 car tax catalogs. Among them, the fuel tax rate for fuel oils with a displacement of 3.0L or more dropped to 150%, and the tax rate for models with a 3.0L or less price dropped to 110%.

â—Ž In 1997, China reduced the auto import tariff again. The tariff rate of imported automobiles with a displacement of 3.0L or more dropped to 100%, and dropped further below 3.0L to 80%.

◎ Many subsequent reductions were after China’s accession to the WTO. According to the terms of the commitment to join the WTO, starting on January 1, 2002, the state lowered the automobile import tariffs several times and fulfilled all the WTO commitments on July 1, 2006. The auto import tariff has been reduced to 25%.

â—ŽIt is reported that the further reduction of automobile import tariffs is an important consensus reached by the first China-US dollar meeting in 2017, that is, China will gradually reduce vehicle tariffs gradually in accordance with its own timetable and roadmap for expanding opening up. There are even reports that auto import tariffs may drop to 15%.

"After China's accession to the WTO, the gradual reduction of tariffs is an established policy. It needs to be clarified that the opening of the market is not merely to honor its commitments, nor is it being pushed open by others. It is an autonomous act and an initiative to open up." Ministry of Commerce According to Bai Ming, deputy director of the Institute of International Market Research, “China has become the world’s largest producer and seller of new cars for many years in a row. Its strength is no longer what it used to be. The market competitiveness of independent brands is also constantly improving, and import tariffs are gradually reduced. Industrial confidence."

Bai Ming also believes that from a global perspective, only by opening up can we optimize the allocation of resources. Openness is mutual. Only when we open ourselves, can we be more confident when we ask others to open up, and the ultimate goal is to achieve Multi-win.

Good Imported Cars Have Little Influence on Market Structure

The decline in auto import tariffs can often directly stimulate the growth of imported vehicle sales. Since China's accession to the WTO, as China’s auto import tariffs continue to decrease, the number of imported cars in China continues to grow. The data shows that in 2001, the number of cars imported from China was only over 70,000 vehicles, and in 2016 it had exceeded 1.07 million.

At the previous monthly information conference of the China Automobile Dealers Association, Wang Cun, director of the Import Vehicle Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, released data on vehicle imports in the first eleven months of 2017. According to the data, from January to November 2017, a total of 1.102 million imported cars were accumulatively imported, a cumulative increase of 18.2% over the same period of last year. It is estimated that the total annual automobile imports in 2017 will be 1.2 million.

According to Chen Haifeng, deputy director of the Auto Circulation and Aftermarket Policy Research Office of the China National Automobile Industry Center, the gradual reduction of auto import tariffs is a positive for the imported car market. “Now a lot of auto companies and distributors of imported vehicles are very concerned about this matter. The reduction in tariffs will certainly increase the competitiveness of imported cars in the market.” Chen Haifeng said, “In addition, it will also affect the strategy of multinational car companies, such as some imports. Whether the models need to be made domestically, especially some niche models, may not be considered for domestic production, but will be sold directly by way of imports.”

It is good for imported cars. Will this affect the pattern of the Chinese auto market? Chen Haifeng believes that gradual reduction is a gradual process and will not have a significant impact on the existing market structure. The displacement of imported cars is often relatively large, generally more than 2.0L models, small displacement cars are not much, the price is more than 200,000 yuan, and domestic models, especially the independent brands, most of the displacement in the 2.0L Below, the price is also below 200,000, so there will be no direct competition.

Many factors determine the price of consumers may not benefit

The reduction in import tariffs on automobiles is easy to assume from the visual judgment that the price of imported cars will decline and consumers will be cheaper to buy imported vehicles.

Some analysts believe that if the tariffs on imported cars will be reduced by 10%, that is, from the current 25% to 15%. Then about 700,000 yuan of imported cars, the price reduction is about 40,000 yuan. However, this analysis does not consider the actual situation and there are misunderstandings in understanding.

Lin Mingjun, chief executive of the parallel imported car e-commerce platform Haitao, said that the reduction in tariffs does have the potential for consumers to enjoy preferential treatment, but the price of imported cars is determined by multiple factors, not tariffs. The comprehensive tax of imported cars includes three items: tariff, consumption tax and value-added tax. The consumption tax is still set according to the size of the displacement. For example, the displacement is less than 1.0 liters (including 1.0 liters) and only 1%, while the exhaust volume is 4.0. As much as 40% or more.

In Lin Mingjun's view, the import tariffs on cars have decreased, and the good news is that dealers will reduce the cost of buying imported cars, and the profit of dealers will increase. The price to consumers is determined by the supply and demand relationship. “Like Toyota’s imported car Alfa, sales are booming, dealers increase 200,000, consumers are still hard to get a car, and car import tariffs are reduced. Do you think he will increase the price little, add 100,000 or 150,000 to sell it?” ?Certainly not."

In addition, the price changes of imported cars are closely related to changes in exchange rates and the replacement of models. "One-day changes in the exchange rate, may lead to the purchase of the dealer's cost fluctuations of one or two million, if there is a new replacement model is about to be launched, then the price of the old models will drop a lot." Lin Mingjun said.