Global Trade Alert

The rate of duty on shovels and spades with a maximum blade width of 150mm but not more than 200mm have been increased from free of duty to 20% ad valorem. Lasher Tools (Pty) applied for the tariff increase stating that these shovels and spades were imported free of duty even though they competed with larger domestically manufactured shovels and spades with attracted a duty of 20%.
 
The applicant manufactures blades with a width between 150mm and 200mm on a smaller scale compared with its core range of production of blades between 200mm and 320mm. The smaller shovels and spades are however substitutes for the larger ones and the existing tariff dispensation eroded the tariff protection afforded the domestic manufacturers.
 
Affected trading partners
The GTA retrieves its data on affected trading partners from UN Comtrade. However, for the year 2008, the database was not able to provide the affected trading partners for Botswana, Swaziland, and Lesotho.