The International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) is investigating allegations that new tyres from China are still being dumped in SA via Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Former minister of trade, industry & competition Ebrahim Patel and Itac imposed anti-dumping duties on passenger, truck, and bus tyres imported from China in July 2023.
In an notice on its website the commission said the SA Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC), which includes brands such as Goodyear, Bridgestone, Continental, and Sumitomo Rubber RSA, had provided sufficient evidence of a prima facie case of country hopping and material injury, justifying the investigation.
Country hopping refers to a country whose products are subject to anti-dumping duties using another country or customs territory to ship those products to avoid the duties.
The local tyre industry initially requested action against dumped imports from China in November 2021 and was granted provisional relief for six months, with Itac imposing a provisional payment on the relevant products in September 2022.
The current tariffs, which are due to remain in place until July 2028, range between 7.18% and 43.6% on passenger, truck and bus tyres imported from or originating in China.
The SATMC said while there had been a marked decrease in Chinese imports, it had noted a “significant increase” in import volumes from the three Asian countries, suggesting the tariffs were being avoided by country hopping.
In this year’s application SATMC alleges that after the imposition of the provisional measures and the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports, Chinese exporters shifted exporting the products to related companies in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“The imports from these countries continued to flow into SACU [Southern African Customs Union] and fluctuated during the period, with the uncertainty in the market playing a key role,” the SATMC said.
It has provided a list of related companies of the Chinese exporters that were identified in the original investigation and are alleged to have operational or ownership links in the three Asian countries, undermining the anti-dumping measures.
“From SA Revenue Service data it is also clear that the importers anticipated that final anti-dumping duties would not be imposed ... with import volumes from China reflecting major increases across all of the tariff subheadings concerned, for the period May 2023 to July 2023.”
The Tyre Importers Association of SA (Tiasa) has acknowledged the recent application submitted by the SATMC and will issue a detailed response in due course.
Tiasa chair Charl de Villiers said it the body believed the present anti-dumping duties imposed on tyre imports from China had already been factored into market prices.
“However, should the allegations of country hopping be substantiated, there is a possibility of increased prices from the countries under investigation. This could potentially result in consumers bearing the brunt of higher costs for tyres, impacting their purchasing power,” De Villiers said.
Tiasa fully supports all measures aimed at preventing duty circumvention and illicit trade and that a level playing field was essential for the sustainable growth of the tyre sector in SA, he added.
The SATMC said it has been monitoring Sars trade data for imports of the relevant products since January 2018, before the submission of the dumping application, and continuing through May 2024.
Former Numsa parliamentary officer, Woodrajh Aroun said the union had a direct interest in the matter and a moral obligation to protect the jobs of workers in the tyre industry.
“Throwing their weight behind SATMC will strengthen the application brought before Itac for remedial action to curb the flow of cheaper imports into the SACU region,” Aroun said.
“Numsa’s intervention in Itac will reinforce the confidence of members in the union and possibly avert attempts by foreign companies to undermine our local industry”, he said.
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