The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance announced the complete cancellation of import tariff exemptions for cross-border small parcels starting from February 18th, marking a new stage in the country's cross-border trade regulation. Previously, cross-border packages worth less than 1 million Vietnamese dong (approximately 42 US dollars) were eligible for tax-free treatment. After the implementation of the new policy, all imported goods must be declared and taxed at the current tax rate.
According to the General Administration of Customs of Vietnam, approximately 4-5 million cross-border packages enter Vietnam from China daily, accounting for 62% of Vietnam's cross-border e-commerce transactions.
The cancellation of the small goods tax exemption policy in Vietnam also means that the cost of Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers expanding into the Vietnamese market will increase. The top three affected categories are electronic products and accessories (1.2 million orders per day), clothing, shoes and hats (850000 orders per day), and household daily necessities (700000 orders per day).
Data shows that the average annual growth rate of e-commerce in Vietnam remains at 18% -25%. In 2024, the e-commerce market in Vietnam will exceed 25 billion US dollars, an increase of 20% compared to 2023. The rapid growth of e-commerce has enabled it to account for one-third of the value of Vietnam's digital economy.
It is understood that Vietnam's small goods tax exemption policy began in 2010. At that time, the Vietnamese government considered that the customs declaration system was still in the manual operation stage and introduced this policy to speed up the customs clearance time.