South Africa'S Textile Industry Is In Trouble

In November 20th, South Africa's Texfed, Brian Brink, said that South Africa had imposed quotas on Chinese textiles and clothing and did not appear to have made the garment manufacturers turn to the expected domestic market. The new quota system only caused importers to seek sourcing from suppliers outside China, making exporters of India, Indonesia and Malaysia a big winner.

I doubt that the import restriction is really unassailable.

Brink believes that if Chinese companies are not using new business addresses to circumvent quotas, it is South Africa's unknowingly inspiring the garment industry in remote areas of the world.

It is expected that the legitimate import of textiles and garments from India and Indonesia will continue to grow.

Brink said it did not foresee that the quotas would be so fast and easily evaded. The DTI of the South African government must then believe that quota measures could prevent imports from China surging.

In addition, according to the WTO regulations, the quota restrictions imposed on China should be terminated by the end of 2008, and the defective protection provided by the quota system to South African textile manufacturers will also disappear.

To some extent, Texfed has nothing to complain about.

Texfed supports DTI's import quota restrictions on Chinese textiles since January 2007, and also on behalf of its South African textile industry members on major issues.

The number of employed people has decreased from 70 thousand and 500 to 50 thousand and 500 since 2003, and some textile factories have already laid off factories.

The number of imports reached the highest level in the calendar year.

At the same time, DTI announced a plan of action to adjust the capital and upgrade of the clothing and textile industry in South Africa.

DTI plans to raise funds for research, development and technology upgrading.

The government will increase efforts to prevent illegal imports, and illegal imports will be seen as the biggest threat to many manufacturers.

But this proposal is too small and too late.

(Brink) the position of the association is that the minimum space provided by the import restriction should be used to encourage investment so as to upgrade the manufacturing plant and improve the technology.

The investment award was not released until July, but the deadline is almost over.

The whole problem was more obvious when the manufacturer used imported cloth processing and then turned to domestic suppliers after encountering difficulties.

Some local manufacturers in South Africa complained to South African media about the loss of orders in South Africa due to poor local fabric quality, high price and delayed delivery.

* DTI also proposed plans to improve the competitiveness of the South African garment industry, including levying new import duties on textiles and simplifying the existing complex system.