WTO Notifies the Initiation of a Safeguard Investigation into Imported Threaded Fasteners at the Request of the Delegation of South Africa

WTO Committee of Safeguards announced on March 04 2019 that South Africa has notified the initiation of a safeguard investigation into imported threaded fasteners of iron or steel. The subject product is described as threaded fasteners of iron or steel: bolt ends & screw studs, screw studding, and other hexagon nuts (excluding those of stainless steel and those identifiable for aircraft) under tariff subheadings: 7318.15.41, 7318.15.42 and 7318.16.30.

The application was lodged by South African Iron and Steel Institute (SAISI) on behalf of the South African Fasteners Manufacturers' Association (SAFMA) and its members producing the subject
products. The claim is that the subject product is being imported into the SACU market in such increasing quantities in absolute terms and relative to SACU production and under such conditions, to be causing serious injury to the SACU industry..
 
The period of investigation for data evaluation for the purposes of determining the allegation of serious injury is 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2018.
 
Interested parties must make themselves known within a period of 20 days after the initiation of the investigation.
 
Any information which the interested parties may wish to submit in writing and any request for a hearing before the Commission that they may wish to put forward should be submitted within 20 days following the initiation of this investigation to the Directorate: Trade Remedies II at the following address: The DTI Campus, 77 Meintjies Street, Sunnyside Pretoria, Block Uuzaji, Ground Floor, tel: +27 12 394 3600, fax +27 12 394 0518.