South Africa introduces anti-dumping duties on Chinese tires

Cape Town – The South African government has introduced five-year anti-dumping duties on new pneumatic tires originating from China.

On 28 July, the International Trade Commission of South Africa (ITAC) announced duties ranging from 7.18% to 43.6% on passenger car tires and truck & bus tires manufactured in China.

The measures follow an earlier 'provisional levy' of 38.44% introduced last September, in response to a petition by the South African Tyre Manufacturing Conference.

In its latest announcement, ITAC said it had determined that the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) industry would “continue to experience material injury” if measures were not imposed.

“The industry is unable to sell more volumes as it has to compete with dumped imports,” explained the commission.

According to ITAC, the “dumped imports” gained market share whilst the SACU industry lost market share and it is “unable to produce at full capacity.”

“The reduction in production has led to a reduction in the number of employees. If this trend continues it has the potential of further affecting the SACU industry negatively,” it added.

Among the Chinese manufacturers listed by ITAC are: Sailun Group, Prinx Chengshan, Double Coin, Wanli Group, Aeolus Tyre, Kumho Tire (Tianjin), Triangle Tyre, Giti Tire and Zhongce Rubber Group.