The call by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) for steep tariffs on vehicle imports from fellow Brics member states China and India highlights genuine pressure in the domestic automotive sector (“SA weighs antidumping duties on Chinese and Indian cars”, January 28). What is striking though is not the warning itself but how late and narrowly framed the response has become. Import competition from Asia did not emerge suddenly last year.
It has accumulated over years alongside stalled localisation, policy uncertainty, rising logistics costs and persistent infrastructure constraints. During this period global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) adjusted supply chains towards jurisdictions offering greater reliability in energy, ports, rail and regulation. Tariffs can provide temporary relief, but relief is not the same as recovery.
Protection does little to address underlying cost structures, productivity gaps, skills shortages or systemic inefficiencies. Without progress on these fundamentals, tariffs risk delaying adjustment rather than restoring competitiveness. There is also an unresolved tension in the debate.
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Measures that improve competitiveness in capital-intensive industries, such as automation, productivity-linked remuneration and flexible work practices, have often faced resistance. Yet when market share declines, the focus shifts to protection at the border. This reflects understandable social concerns but it also reveals the limits of policy tools when competitiveness inside the system remains constrained.
Government continues to articulate a vision of South Africa as a manufacturing hub for Africa and beyond. Yet industrial policy has remained largely reactive, with weak alignment between trade strategy, infrastructure delivery, procurement and labour market frameworks. In that environment, protectionism becomes an attractive signal, even when its economic impact is limited.
If tariffs are introduced they should be explicitly temporary and conditional, linked to credible commitments on localisation, skills development, technology transfer and infrastructure reform. Otherwise they risk becoming a substitute for reform rather than a bridge to it. The deeper issue is not the call for tariffs but the prolonged failure to rebuild competitiveness.
Until that changes, protection will remain a signal of strain rather than a path to renewal. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments toletters@businessday.co.za. Letters of more than 200 words may be edited for length.
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