On 18 September 2015 Itac announced the proposed increase in the ‘General’ rate of customs duty on steel wire rod classifiable under tariff subheadings 7213.91 and 7227.90, from free of duty to 10% ad valorem.
The application was lodged by South African Iron and Steel Institute (SAISI) who reasoned that (i) Chinese wire rod capacity has continued to expand and it is far outstripping local demand; (ii) Third-country markets are increasingly unavailable to the Chinese product due to their own domestic oversupply and trade measures against Chinese imports; (iii) Without any immediate action being taken, the increase in imports from China experienced in the market will increase exponentially. This will further exacerbate the injury already being experienced by the domestic manufacturers; (iv) The local industry wire rod producers (all primary steel manufacturers) have been at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to the imported product, thereby incurring significant injury due to low-priced imports; and (v) The imposition of tariff protection will help to restore the competitive position of the local manufacturers, ensuring that end-users have a reliable environmentally sustainable local source of wire rod supply. Also it will curb job losses and restore the economic and financial stability within the value chain.
Comment is due by 02 October 2015.