Automobile Manufacturers and Importers Association in Nnewi, Anambra State, has expressed dissatisfaction over the Federal Government’s continuous hike in customs duties.
Austin Jideofor, the association’s president, said on Wednesday that the nation’s hardships and their detrimental effects on final consumers are the result of the federal government’s daily increase in customs duties.
He stated that his association was shocked to learn that the government appeared to have instructed customs to keep raising tariffs on a monthly basis.
According to Jideofor, “It’s unclear whether they believe it will solve economic issues in Nigeria. The masses of Nigeria suffer further from this ongoing increase in customs duties. The government has also refused to hear us out of a desire to make money.
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“When you clear your goods, you add up your expenses to the price of the goods. This explains why the cost of goods has been rising steadily for a long time, including rice, cement, other building materials, spare parts, generators, and many other items. This affects the ordinary Nigerian more.
“Duties on containers increased three times in January alone. Therefore, we face a significant challenge in the importing industry.
“The percentage increase is more than thirty percent. The benchmark payment we were making was approximately N4 million. Today, it is over N6 million, almost N9 million. How do you explain the continued increase?
“As soon as Tinubu orders a halt to the increase in import duties, hardship will drop,” he said.
Jideofor further stated that the increase in the price of dollars should not determine the increase in import duties.
“They are using the increase in exchange rate to calculate the duties we must pay. We’re in a terrible situation.
“But the same thing will continue to happen if the regulators look at the price of dollar to fix petroleum products prices,” he added.
He also added that he travelled to Iran not long ago and a friend of his, a citizen of that country told him he is entitled to 50 litres of fuel every day because they are owners of oil, what about Nigeria? Nigeria owns oil and they should follow the Iran example.
The reports from the Automobile Manufacturers and Importers Association came due to the constant increase in duties payable on reported goods at Nigerian ports. This has led to the case where Nigerians pay more to clear their goods at the port.
As of 2023, the federal government increased import duty three times in one year, a development that worsened the inflationary trend in the country.
The Customs Administration had announced a series of adjustments to the exchange rate of payment throughout the latter half of 2023 and into 2024. Commencing on June 24, 2023, the exchange rate was revised from N422.30 per dollar to N589 per dollar. Just twelve days later, on July 6, 2023, another adjustment was made, setting the exchange rate at N770.88 per dollar.
As the year progressed, the fluctuation in exchange rates persisted, with subsequent adjustments made on November 14, 2023, and December, resulting in rates of N783.174 per dollar and N951.941 per dollar, respectively. These rapid adjustments likely had far-reaching implications for various sectors of the economy and inflationary pressures.
The volatility continued into the new year, with the exchange rate reaching unprecedented levels. On February 2, 2024, the exchange rate surged to N1,356.883. On February 3, 2024, the rate soared even higher, hitting N1,413.62 per dollar, reflecting the ongoing challenges faced by the domestic economy. Most recently, the exchange rate rose to N1,417.635 per dollar.
This constant hike in customs duties is said to have led to several interconnected effects, such as economic hardship, significant increases in food and goods prices, and inflation within a country.