Peter van Binsbergen was responding to questions on remarks to parliament by the country’s International Trade Commissioner, flagging the gap between SA’s 25% duty on imported vehicles and the 50% maximum rate allowed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In the same parliamentary sitting on Tuesday, Deputy Trade Minister Zuko Godlimpi told lawmakers that his ministry is reassessing hiking tariffs on imported vehicles.
“Fifty percent is the bound rate within WTO. I can tell you now, no one’s asking for that from the industry side. That must be very clear,” van Binsbergen told journalists. “He (the Commissioner) was just saying what’s possible.”
“We’re looking for a fine-tuning of all the levers withinthe Automotive Production Development Programme and not just one big hammer,” said the CEO, who is also president of the country’s car industry body National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA, referring to SA’s automotive production incentive scheme.
A jump to the 50% ceiling would be “a shock to the system”, said van Binsbergen, warning of unintended consequences for consumers, “the worst being affordability for the entry-level consumer”.
–Reuters–
