The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) has launched an investigation into the dumping of vehicle windscreens in the Southern African market by China.
The investigation by Itac was initiated after Shatterprufe, a division of PG Group, alleged that windscreens for vehicles to be used in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) market as aftermarket replacement glass, originating in or imported from China, were being dumped on the Sacu market.
Sacu is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
Shatterprufe is South Africa’s leading windscreen and auto glass manufacturer, with its auto glass products used by professional fitment centres throughout the country.
“The applicant submitted sufficient evidence and established a prima facie case to enable the commission to arrive at a reasonable conclusion that an investigation should be initiated on the basis of dumping, material injury, threat of material injury and casualty,” Itac said in its notice.
It further said the allegation of dumping is based on the comparison between the normal value in China and the export price from China.
“The applicant submitted evidence showing price undercutting, price depression, price suppression, decline in sales volumes, market share, net profit, productivity, return on investment, capacity utilisation, cash flow, growth and employment.”
The commission said the period of investigation for the purposes of determining the dumping margin in the exporting country of origin will be from January 1 2021 to December 31 2021, while the period of investigation for purposes of determining material injury will be from January 1 2019 to December 31 2021.
“In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation, the commission will send non-confidential versions of the application and questionnaires to all known importers and exporters and known representative associations.
“The trade representative of the exporting country has also been notified.”
Itac is a public entity established in terms of the International Trade Administration Act No 71 of 2002.
Earlier this year, the South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference applied for anti-dumping duties on car passenger, truck and bus tyres from China. Itac initiated the investigation at the end of January. Tyres worth R5.7-billion were imported into South Africa in the investigation period (August 2020 to July 2021), with 47% coming from China.
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