If you are thinking of buying a “tokunbo” car then now is probably the time to expedite that process going by the statement of the Minsiter of Trade, Segun Aganga. In a Punch article, the Minister was quoted as saying “The importation of Tokunbo vehicles will not be a major threat to the automotive development plan. The tariff for the importation of cars has been reviewed upward and will be announced soon,” He added that importers could still clear imported vehicles at the old rates until February 28, 2014, provided “they can prove that they had opened a letter of credit for the vehicles before October 3, 2013.”
This is all part of the Government’s implementation of the Automotive Industrial Policy Development Plan. The plan aims at promoting the manufacture and assembling of vehicles in Nigeria. As expected, the Government believes one way to guarantee success of the scheme is by introducing trade barriers that inhibit the importation motor vehicles. Its a typical script the Government likes to follow whenever a new scheme aimed at reviving a sector in the economy is announced.
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