The South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) has welcomed the International Trade Administration Commission’s (ITAC) publication of provisional payments on “unfairly traded (dumped) imports of passenger, truck and bus tyres imported from China”. Provisional payments in place for a period of six months amount to 38.33 percent ad valorem. The six-month period runs from 9 September 2022 until 8 March 2023.
South Africa is currently contemplating anti-dumping tariffs for tyres imported from China, and an investigation is currently in its preliminary phase. A healthy head of steam has already built up on both sides of the argument, with the recent debate including a claim from the Tyre Importers Association of South Africa (TIASA) that the tariffs will simply result in Chinese imports being substituted for tyres from Europe or Japan. The South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) has issued a statement countering assertions such as this.
South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) announced in January that it would look at allegations of dumping levelled against importers of tyres from China. This investigation is still ongoing, but opponents warn that if authorities decide to apply duties to these products, the cost of tyres could increase by up to 41 per cent, with price rises for transportation and essential products a knock-on effect.
The South African Competition Commission tyre price fixing hearing got underway in South Africa on 28 January 2022. The Competition Commission names Apollo Tyres South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Goodyear South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Continental Tyres South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Bridgestone South Africa (Pty) Ltd; and South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (Pty) Ltd its case and alleges that from around 1999-2007, the respondents “discussed and agreed to fix the prices of passenger, light truck, bus, off-the-road, agricultural and earthmover tyres”. This was allegedly done through the SATMC, an association for tyre manufacturers in South Africa. The respondents were members of the SATMC.
Amidst widespread economic and political unrest in South Africa, local tyre manufacturers have experienced significant disruption and even looting. Specifically, the Dunlop South Africa (formally Sumitomo Rubber South Africa Pty Ltd – SRSA) Durban Westville warehouse was “invaded” by trespassers and looters resulting in the loss of 90 million rand (£4.533 million; 5.255 million euros; US$6.190 million) of tyre stock. Such is the scale of the problem, the local tyre industry has embarked on a “say no to looted goods” campaign.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
Sora Shimazaki
SATMC