Fate of customs dollar on imported vehicles still undetermined

Fate of customs dollar on imported vehicles still undetermined

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2023-01-17 | 14:28

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Fate of customs dollar on imported vehicles still undetermined

One billion and 799 million US dollars is the amount with which Lebanon imported cars in 2022.

These high numbers confirm the following:

First, the Lebanese rushed to buy cars before the customs dollar was raised, which was LBP 1,500.

Second, importers also rushed to buy cars at low prices and then sell them for high prices. This was confirmed in a report prepared by LBCI in February 2022, when the customs dollar rate was still LBP 1500.

However, more than 4,000 cars are parked in the port of Beirut, and the reason is that importers refuse to let their vehicles in before fulfilling one of the two requirements:

First, to allow the entry of all cars at a customs dollar of LBP 8,000 rate. Furthermore, the Finance Ministry promised that this pricing would be applied only to vehicles shipped before December 1, 2022. Still, it agreed with the Lebanese customs to require the signing of importers a pledge guaranteeing the payment of any additional amount if needed later.

Second, to accept the entry of cars on customs dollars of LBP 15,000, importers require modifying the mechanism for imposing fees so that lower costs are