South African Anti-Dumping Decision "Means Level Playing Field"

An article on the South African website Business Report reported on the ruling of the High Court in South Africa to set aside the decision, made in 2007 by the Trade and Industry Ministry, to terminate anti-dumping probes against Chinese tyre exporters, bringing "fair competition" to the tyre manufacturing industry.

This was welcomed by the tyre industry, which had allegedly been harmed by lower prices and volumes due to Chinese imports. Judge Willie Hartzenberg said the International Trade and Administration Commission of SA (ITAC), which recommended the termination of the investigation, had failed to investigate the market economic status of China before taking this decision. 

The SA Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC), representing Bridgestone, Continental Tyre, Dunlop Tyres International and Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Holdings, had alleged that the Chinese economy was not an open market economy and, due to government intervention, its tyre prices were artificially low.

Etienne Human, the chief executive of SATMC, said that the latest judgment would level the playing fields between the local manufacturers and other tyre sellers. “There will now be fair competition in the (high) turnover industry, which employs 6 000 people throughout South African factories,” he said. “In the two-and-a-half years that the China tyre dumping nightmare had been going on, the industry lost more than 1 000 jobs. This whole thing harmed the industry because prices got lower and the volumes dropped substantially.”