The currency rate used by Customs to determine tariffs at seaports was lowered to N1,544.511/$, but it was reviewed upward to N1,560.511/$ after just three days.
On Thursday, March 7, 2024, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) official trade portal displayed the 1.1 percent increase revision.
On March 4th, the import duty rate was lowered by the government from N1,630.159/$ to N1,544.081/$.
Since the import tariffs are indexed to the value of the dollar, importers opening Form M will have to pay extra to clear their debts.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has instructed Customs to compute import tariffs using the exchange rate in effect on the date of filing Form M.
Taiwo Fatomilola, the public relations officer for the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, bemoaned the foreign exchange rate volatility of the cargo clearance, stating that it had grave implications for companies.
Additionally, he stated that the tariff exchange rate has developed into a crucial policy with significant ramifications for the nation’s international trade.
“They’ve forgotten that imports will become extinct at the current rate of exchange. How do you get the money back to return to the market if you have working capital to purchase a good and the price is high at the clearing point? What is the purchase rate and strength of Nigerians, and how do you sell it to them? These will have a compounding effect on all Nigerian product solutions,” he said.
Amos Uchenna, an importer, claimed that trade volume, prices, and investments are all impacted by the fluctuating tariff exchange rate.
According to Ajanonwu Vincent, the head of the Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee of the Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN), it is abnormal in a normal business environment for the Federal Government to continuously raise taxes, particularly on imports, and to continuously adjust duty rates upward in order to generate more revenue.
“When a government believes in over-taxation and applies desperate fiscal policies to actualize them to the detriment of the citizens, massive revolt and consequent revolution might not be ruled out,” he said.
