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– Cross-border trade means that we move jobs from Norway abroad. So we think cutting rates is a way to ease the pressure and the desire to buy as much as possible in Sweden, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum tells TV 2.
On Wednesday he presented the alternative budget of the Center Party, in which the party promises 9 billion in reduced taxes in this country so that Norwegians buy more here at home than in Sweden.
But not a single crown agrees to cut Norwegian alcohol taxes, which are the highest in the Nordic region.
– Is it bad for Norwegian workplaces that the tax difference is so large in Norway and Sweden?
– At least it makes running a store and a food industry in Sweden easier. We want to have as many jobs as possible in Norway and use tax policy to make it more profitable to have jobs in Norway rather than Sweden, says Vedum, adding:
– We believe that cutting the alcohol tax abruptly so that it really has an effect on cross-border trade means that we fear that total alcohol consumption in the country will increase. Therefore, we have not reduced the tax on alcohol.
– But those who want cheaper alcohol can only go to Sweden?
– Yeah, well … That’s right, yeah. We have thought that the tax level we have today in Norway is prudent, says Vedum.
There is no doubt that cross-border trade is of great importance for alcohol sales in Norway. Recent October Vinmonopolet figures for Viken County municipalities show a 76 percent turnover increase in October this year compared to October last year.
– Naive of Vedum
Espen Tollefsen is the CEO of Oslo Håndverkdestilleri. He believes that the SP leader “has seriously misunderstood.”
– If you think that by lowering the price of juices and soft drinks, people stop crossing the border into Sweden, then you have misunderstood something serious, Tollefsen tells TV 2.
The company produces world-class Norwegian spirits and has received an award for the best aquavit in the world in the world’s largest spirits competition ‘The Spirits Master’.
– It is quite naive for Trygve Slagsvold Vedum to believe that it is to buy juices and sugary drinks that most cross the border to buy. There’s a reason why alcohol sells for over two billion at the two poles in Strømstad. It is several times more than all the poles of the city of Gothenburg, which has a million inhabitants.
Tollefsen also criticizes the Center Party raising the wealth tax for Norwegian business owners.
– It does not reinforce the position of us that we are less deep and we will be viable. If you are going to be punished for building a business that is expensive to run and that gives you capital that is there, but is dead. If we are going to increase the tax, we will be punished twice.
CRITICISM: Espen Tollefsen believes Vedum should understand that alcohol tax cuts will create jobs in Norway. Photo: Sverre Saabye / TV 2
Public health first
Trygve Slagsvold Vedum himself acknowledges that more jobs could have been created if Norway reduced alcohol taxes.
– If we had cut the alcohol tax, could we get more jobs in Norway then?
– I think we could have. But I also think we could have more injuries. That’s the politics, and then we’ve made a decision, he says.
– So you sacrifice Norwegian jobs?
– We believe that we ensure better public health if we do not have excessively low alcohol taxes in Norway.
– You also sacrifice Norwegian jobs?
– I hope there are as few as possible, answers Vedum.
