The government will not invoke World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules to block the flow of cheap Chinese clothing into South Africa, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said on Sunday.

However, tariffs on raw materials such as yarn used by local textile and clothing manufacturers may be reviewed in order to reduce input costs for the embattled sector.

WTO rules

Referring to calls by business and labour to invoke Article 16 in China's WTO accession agreement, and so block the imports of cheap Chinese clothing into the country, he was not convinced this was the way to go.

Article 16 allows any WTO member state to impose safeguards on the basis of a demonstrated surge in imports from China.

Speaking at a parliamentary media briefing, Mpahlwa said huge pressure had built up in South Africa for the government to go for safeguards on the issue of clothing and imports from China.

Labour had recently made a submission to the government calling for it to invoke Article 16.

Industry in a downward spiral

However, while conceding the clothing and textile industry was in a downward spiral, he said the government was not "absolutely convinced" this was the best or only thing to do.

"We wanted to look at the totality of the relationship that we have with China, and keep that in mind as we deal with the particular pressures we have in clothing and textile.

"Our view is that the relationship is actually much broader, and it is growing. Much broader than just clothing and textiles. China sources a lot of things from South Africa, and that is a trend that is growing," he said.

Industry needs viable working strategy

The government had also taken the view that the clothing and textile sector needed to begin to look at going beyond "just this issue of safeguards and quotas and so on".

What the industry needed was a viable working strategy.

Mpahlwa drew a comparison between the clothing and textile sector and South Africa's automotive industry - which had, at one point, also enjoyed high protection - to make his point.

Industry must transform

"The difference between the two is the automotive sector has undergone a massive transformation; the clothing and textile sector had not undergone this kind of transformation. We continue to be convinced that this is the route to go."

The government was currently engaged in talks with China "at different levels" in an effort to resolve the import problem, without having to invoke Article 16, which it did not want to do.

Other interventions government would make in the sector at local level included improving customs inspections in order to reduce illegal or under-invoiced imports of clothing, Mpahlwa said.

'Far too little, far too late'

Reacting to the Minister's announcement to review tariffs on raw materials, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday that the steps taken were "far too little, far too late".

"The Department of Trade and Industry's handling of the growing crisis in the textile industry has so far been hopelessly inadequate and incredibly slow," spokesperson Robert MacDonald said in a statement.

"The task team set up to address this crisis produced almost nothing of use and only met a few times since it was formed about two years ago.

"In addition, reports of appeals to the Minister from the SA Textile Federation going unanswered are indicative of a ministry frozen in crisis."

MacDonald said the Minister seemed to be trying to pass the buck on to the industry itself instead of answering for the effects his department's decisions have had on the sector.

Business.iafrica.com