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DONALD
TRUMP’S ECONOMIC POLICY OF PROTECTIONISM: HOW FAR CAN HE GO?
Resulting
from Mr Donald Trump's promises during his election campaign, there are now
many concerns that his anti-globalisation mantra will spread protectionism
around the globe, put up unnecessary tariff and non-tariff barriers and curb
global economic growth. It is however unlikely that these promises will
ever materialise.
The World
Trade Organization (WTO) fights protectionism in a number of ways and WTO
Members may not follow policies of protectionism. WTO Member states agree to
abide by WTO trade rules aimed against protectionism. In the event of the
suspicion of unfair trade practices by a member, other members may use the
WTO dispute settlement system in enforcing those agreements and rules. The
WTO also monitors the trade policies of members through various mechanisms
to make sure that WTO rules are not violated or circumvented.
In January
2016, the New York Times reported that Mr. Trump said he would favor a 45
percent tariff on Chinese exports to the United States.
If anyone
in South Africa wants to impose such high rates of duty an application
should be submitted to the International Trade Commission of South Africa (ITAC),
and it should be investigated by ITAC. The applications should be made for
individual products as South Africa, as a WTO Member has made offers to the
WTO on each tariff line. These bindings were “offered” to the WTO during
the WTO Uruguay Round of the WTO which led to WTO 1994 (The Marrakech
Agreement).
The
following is an indication about procedures that must be followed if a
Government wants to take remedial action against increased imports from a
country or region:
The
International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC)
initiated an investigation for remedial action in the form of a safeguard
against the increased imports of flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy
steel, or other alloy steel but excluding stainless steel, of all widths,
cold-rolled (cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated and not further
worked than cold-rolled (cold-reduced), through Notice No. 469 of 2016 of
Government Gazette No. 40171 dated 29 July 2016. It was not just decided to
impose high tariffs (customs duties) on the commodities in question, or to
any product imported from China.
Upon
initiation of the investigation, interested parties were invited to submit
comments on the initiation of the investigation.
On the
basis of the information at ITAC’s disposal, it made a preliminary
determination that there were unforeseen developments which led to the surge
of imports; the SACU industry is suffering serious injury; and there is a
causal link between the serious injury suffered by the SACU industry and the
surge of imports. ITAC considered whether there were critical circumstances
where a delay in imposition of provisional measures, would cause damage that
would be difficult to repair threatening injury.
ITAC made a
preliminary determination not to request the Commissioner for South African
Revenue Service (SARS) (Customs) to impose a provisional payment on the
commodities in question.
Investigations of this nature are conducted in accordance with the
International Trade Administration Act, 2002 (ITA Act) and the International
Trade Administration Commission Safeguard Regulations (SGR), read with the
World Trade Organization Agreement on Safeguards (the Safeguard Agreement).
Interested
parties are normally invited to comment in writing to ITAC’s preliminary
determination within a specific period, in this instance 14 days from the
date the preliminary report is made available.
Interested
parties are also invited to submit comments on whether it will be in the
public interest to impose definitive safeguard measures on the subject
product, in accordance with Section 20.2 of the SGR. These should be
submitted separately from the comments on ITAC’s preliminary determination.
Interested
parties may or may not wish to attend public hearings to make the process
fair and transparent, and to comply with national and international
legislation. The dates of the public hearings will differ, depending on the
dates of the investigations. The dates are published in the Notice relating
to the investigation.
On 4
November 2016 ITAC published a notice of the preliminary determination
in the investigation for remedial action in the form of a safeguard against
the increased imports of flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, or
other alloy steel but excluding stainless steel, of all widths, cold-rolled
(cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated and not further worked than
cold-rolled (cold-reduced). (See Notice 1385 which was published in
Government Gazette 40404 of 4 November 2016.
In this
case ITAC said the following about the public hearings and the dates
therefore:
“Interested
parties that do not wish to attend public interest hearings but want to make
submissions on public interest, should indicate such on or before 18
November 2016 at 15h00, and may make their submissions in writing including
a non-confidential version to the Senior Manager: Trade Remedies I on or
before 25 November 2016 at 15h00.
All
interested parties wishing to attend the public hearing on public interest
and wish to make oral representations to the Commission (ITAC) on public
interest, should indicate their intention to attend on or before 18 November
2016 at 15h00 to the Senior Manager: Trade Remedies I.
All
interested parties wishing to address the Commission on public interest
should submit a detailed version, including a non-confidential version, of
the information to be discussed at the public hearing, in writing to the
Senior Manager: Trade Remedies I on or before 25 November 2016 at 15h00. A
party that did not timeously submit a non-confidential version of the
information to be discussed at the public hearing will not be allowed to
take part in the public hearing.
A public
hearing is scheduled for 29 November 2016 at 10h00 at the address as
indicated below. Parties requesting to attend the public hearing should note
that this will be an open hearing with all parties present and only
non-confidential information should be presented during the public hearing.”
Should you
have any queries regarding this case, contact the investigating officers, Mr
Zuko Ntsangani at telephone number +27 12 394 3662, Mr Busman Makakola at
telephone number +27 12 394 3380 or Ms Mosa Sebe at telephone number + 27
394 1850 or at fax +27 12 394 0516.
From the
above you can clearly see, that, it is not possible for anyone, even the
leader of a country, to take any action they want against “cheap imports”.
WCO HS 2017 COMPLIMENTARY
PUBLICATIONS
In addition to the entry into force of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC)/European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)/Mercosur Free Trade Agreement
which necessitated the replacement of Schedule No. 1 Part 1 of the South
African Customs and Excise Act, which is also the HS-based Southern African
Customs Union (SACU) Common External Tariff (CET), the Harmonized System
will also be replaced by a new version, HS 2017, with effect from 1 January
2017.
This will be the sixth version of the HS since its introduction with effect
from 1 January 1988. In terms of SACU’s commitments under the HS
Agreement, large parts of Schedule No. 1 Part 1 will once again be amended
with effect from 1 January 2017. All complimentary World Customs
Organization (WCO) HS publications will be replaced by new publications and
products.
LexisNexis acts as an agent for the WCO. We import their publications from
Belgium for our local customers. Please see below the latest WCO update with
regards to delivery of the 2017 editions.
Due to legal requirements the 2012 edition of the Online HS Database is
applicable until 31 December 2016. If you are subscribed to the online
database, your database will automatically be updated with the 2017 online
edition on 1 January 2017.
Some of LexisNexis’ clients have already ordered their HS 2017 publication.
LexisNexis received correspondence from the WCO stating that there has been
a delay with the delivery of the 2017 printed publications. The
following new dates have been supplied by the WCO:
HS 2017 Explanatory Notes and
Nomenclature:
Subscribers can expect delivery in early December 2016.
HS 2017 Alphabetical Index:
Subscribers can expect delivery at the end of January 2017.
The updated Compendium of Classification Opinions will be dispatched with
either the Explanatory Notes or the Alphabetical Index.
See
https://www.lexisnexis.co.za/Promotions/LexisNexis_WCO_2017/WCO_6th_Ed_Flyer.pdf
for more information about the HS 2017 publications and products. |
