Building capacity to help Africa trade better

2021: Review of ITAC Investigations in a Pandemic Environment

Trade Reports

2021: Review of ITAC Investigations in a Pandemic Environment

2021: Review of ITAC Investigations in a Pandemic Environment

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The aim of the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC), as mandated by the International Trade Administration Act, 2002 (the ITA Act), is to foster economic growth and development to raise incomes and promote investment and employment in South Africa and within the Common Customs Area by establishing an efficient and effective system for the administration of international trade subject to the ITA Act and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Agreement, 2002.

Over the past seven years, tralac has been monitoring and reporting on investigations and reports prepared by ITAC that fall within its core functions. To date over 170 investigations and reports have been conducted and most applications for tariff support were the result of a fragile global and domestic economic environment and largely in response to relatively low-priced imports mainly from emerging economies. The COVID-19 pandemic has not eased the situation and has led the Commission to change working arrangements to mitigate challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Trade Report aims to understand ITAC’s core functions. We provide a summary of tariff investigations and trade remedies, followed by a review and summary of all the investigations concluded in 2020/21 and the trade remedies, if any, that were implemented during this period. We also undertake a seven-year review of ITAC’s investigations and reports, highlighting sectors where most applications and reviews were undertaken. Subsequently we look at the COVID-19 impact on South Africa’s trade. We conclude by looking at the impact of ITAC’s investigations and to what extent the common external tariff (CET) was affected during this review period.


Readers are encouraged to quote and reproduce this material for educational, non-profit purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. All views and opinions expressed remain solely those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of tralac.

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