Clothing, textile and footwear imports from China have increased very significantly since the turn of the century. Many newspaper articles relate the problems the industry faced, specifically highlighting the huge number of job losses in South Africa. The Textile Federation (Texfed) on behalf of its members has lodged a number of anti-dumping applications, both in respect of original investigations and also reviews, against specific products imported from China. Several of these cases were successful, and anti-dumping duties are currently in place against a number of textile products from China.

This working paper focuses on the import quotas imposed on certain clothing and textiles imported from China and uses the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the People’s Republic of China (China) as reference. The paper compares the quotas imposed to the actual imports under the relevant tariff headings and the protection originally requested by Clotrade and the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) and considers whether the clothing, textiles and footwear industry has received sufficient, too little, or too much protection. It also considers the implications of the MoU on South Africa. The paper then draws conclusions as to whether South Africa is better or worse off after agreeing on the MoU and the quotas.

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