Valerie Mmanthe Mampshika,[ Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English].
Ebrahim Patel is a South African cabinet minister, who holds the position of Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. He previously served as Minister of Economic Development from 2009 to 2019.
It has not been a good couple of weeks for the government’s protectionist policies which is not a bad thing. First we had SA’s transport and taxi industries protesting against moves to enforce anti-dumping tariffs on tyre imports that would increase the cost of transport for people and goods.
The Tyre Importers Association of South Africa (TIASA) has started taking legal steps to revert the decision taken by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) to enforce provisional anti-dumping duties on tyres imported from China.
Charl de Villiers who represents TIASA made remarks on Wednesday to explain that the association’s attorneys served notice last week to South African Revenue Service (SARS), as required in terms of Section 96 of the Customs and Excise Act, that TIASA will start with legal proceedings against SARS by lodging a high court application to revert the decision.
Section 30 of the International Trade Administration Act 71 of 2002 is not effective,not accepted by government,and not finalised in parliament.
The provisional anti-dumping duty will stay in place until March the following year and will lapse if ITAC has not delivered a final resolution by then.
Ebrahim Patel mentioned that the idea of not dumping cheap tyres will be served by the Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana;Mr Patel himself; SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter; ITAC; and the South African Tyre Manufacturing Conference (SATMC). SATMC’s members are the four domestic tyre producers known as Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear and Sumitomo.
Patel also added that the purpose of the import levy hike was to provide relief to the local tyre producers who say affordable imports from China are costing them revenue and jobs.
Patel promised to discuss with his fellow cabinet colleagues and apply his mind to the interim levy whilst people comment on the decision made by ITAC.
Ebrahim Patel has promised that consumers will not suffer improperly due to anti-dumping import duties on tyres imported from China.
Patel attempted to reply to questions from members of Parliament (MPs) in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, in the wake of an interim excise duty escalation of 38.33% being introduced by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) in the earliest months of this year in a bid to dishearten the notion of dumping.
Meanwhile,The South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) had applied to ITAC for relief from cheap tyre imports from China. SATMC said exposure to the low prices would cause local producers material injury and cause the sector to lose plenty jobs, and as a result Minister Patel said that the idea in discussion will be overlooked extensively.
Unhappily,Mr Patel said the two-stage process of anti-dumping duties involves an ITAC investigation, after which the commission calls for comment. If ITAC has evidence to prove that the injury is substantial and can prejudice local firms, then they can introduce an excise duty for six months.
Patel said the interim import levy determined by ITAC could be enforced , extended, adjusted or removed, depending on his decision following the public comment and Cabinet consultation process.
When asked how import levies would provide growth for the auto sector and the South African economy, Patel said the sector could use the levies as an opportunity to take up space that local and continental producers have not had a chance to employ.
Tyres make up a portion of the ecosystem in the auto industry,and Patel believes that South Africa is the largest car maker in Africa.Africa makes up 17 percent of the world's population,but at the same time less than 1 percent several cars and steel output are produced which happens to be the obstacle that all the African countries grapple with annually.
To close it off,it is quite intriguing that Minister Patel said there would always be the import of tyres due to the structure of the sector in South Africa,in addition there will always be a supply of tyres from other countries,and lastly the government is currently consulting in terms of the sector on import requirements for various classifications of tyres.
