Reportedly, South African Government will not extend quota restriction on Chinese apparels beyond December 31 this year.
Cheap imports of Chinese textile and apparel products had been troubling South African manufacturers for quite some time. Thousands of workers lost their jobs in one of South Africa's biggest manufacturing sectors, which was struggling to improve competitiveness in the face of declining exports.
In order to avoid negative impact of the same, South Africa, on January 1, 2007, introduced quotas to restrict Chinese textile and clothing imports in last year.
Mr Tshediso Matona, Director General in the Department of Trade and Industry, while speaking to reporters, Said, “We don't have any applications from anyone (to extend the quotas) and so my expectation is that if we don't get any, they will expire.”
According to Matona, even though there has been a reduction in imports from China, the impact of restrictions needs to be measured.
However, once restriction ends, clothing retailers in the region, will be relieved that now they can purchase cheaper products from China to compensate losses due to sharp decline in demand.
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