Cape Town - The Tyre Importers Association of South Africa (TIASA) has applied to the High Court to compel the SA Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) to disclose information regarding its application for the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imported tyres.
The application also challenges the way customs entity, the ITAC, is conducting investigations.
TIASA noted that the SATMC - made up of Continental, Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Sumitomo - had applied to ITAC for the imposition of additional duties of between 8 and 69% on passenger, taxi, bus and truck vehicle tyres imported from China.
There are already import duties levied on tyres of between 25 and 30%.
Charl de Villiers, Chairperson of TIASA, said: “We are operating in the dark when it comes to this application for additional duties, and the stakes are high for South Africa. If ITAC decides to impose the maximum duty percentage requested by SATMC, we could see price increases range from 41% for taxi tyres, 38-40% for passenger tyres and an average of 17% for truck and bus tyres.
“These increases will have dire consequences for commuters, the transport sector, and consumers, who are struggling with climbing inflation. Last week, Stats SA announced that consumer inflation had accelerated to a new 13-year high of 7.8%, saying that the usual suspects of food, fuel and transport costs were the main drivers.”
Donald MacKay, chief executive of XA Global Trade Advisors said: “This information is critical, as causality is a foundational principle of an anti-dumping case. In other words, it’s necessary to prove that any injury to the local industry must have been caused by the dumping, and not by something else. If SATMC members are importing a significant volume of tyres themselves, they would be inflicting their own injury, which would need to be offset for any injury they claim. They would therefore need to demonstrate a compelling reason for the imports.
“This is not confidential information, and it is material to their import duty application and their rationale. For example, we know Continental and Goodyear import 100% of truck and bus tyres, yet these domestic producers are importing these tyres instead of purchasing them from the other domestic producers who do manufacture them locally. Why? SATMC has refused to share any of this information with TIASA, and ITAC has accepted this. We have therefore been forced to apply to court to compel them to do so.”
Cape Times