On 15 June 2023, Minister Ebrahim Patel extended the ban on the export of copper and steel (except stainless steel and manufacturing scrap) for another six months. If you already have an export permit in hand, it would seem you can still […]
The Bloomberg article by Stanlib’s Ndihuvo Netshitenze materially overstates the risk of South Africa’s stance on Russia. I have been quite outspoken that our pro-Russia stance, aka non-aligned, is harmful to our economy and if anything my view on this has strengthened, but […]
Off to an inauspicious start, my very first Trade Brief, contained an error. I had stated we only had one primary steel producer (ArcelorMittal) benefits from import duties of 10%. This is only true for flat products, although Columbus is apparently starting […]
The US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben E. Brigety, accused South Africa of sending guns to Russia onboard the Lady-R, the suspicious embargoed Russian ship that sailed into Simon’s Town in December 2022 with its transponders switched off. I doubt South Africa […]
Industrial policy is the fancy name governments use when they try to pick winners that the market misses. They do this by erecting barriers to imports (duties, import permits and so on) and through subsidies, sometimes called incentives. Subsidies as industrial policy […]
I am playing around with the idea of putting out periodic trade briefs, covering trade topics which are relevant right now. This is my first attempt. Competition Commission steel inquiry Last week the Competition Commission announced it would be conducting a market […]
The Sunday Times article of 9 April 2023, titled “Ramaphosa to send envoys to US to explain South Africa’s stance on Russia“, opens with the paragraph “President Cyril Ramaphosa is sending a delegation to Washington to smooth the way for Russian President […]
I open the second XA Import Duty Investigations Report with the words “[i]f you love localisation more than you love ice cream, then getting trade policy working properly is for you“. Trade policy is the implementation arm of our industrial policy, hence […]
The South African Fasteners Manufacture’s Association (SAFMA) applied to have the safeguard duties on set screws imported under tariff codes 7318.15.41, 7318.15.42, and 7318.16.30. The duty is currently set at 50.04%. SAFMA argues that if safeguard measures are removed, the recurrence of […]
President Ramaphosa, in admiration of China’s foreign policy posture on Russia, stated that “the ANC detested the domination by a single state or its nation’s military, economic power, and social and cultural influence over how the rest of the world ought to conduct […]