Countervailing Duties

TRADE REMEDIES

With extensive ITAC experience, we help manufacturers prepare and file countervailing duty complaints.

Countervailing duties offset the impact of subsidies granted to foreign manufacturers exporting to the SACU market. A subsidy is a financial contribution by a government or public body that benefits recipient companies.

While some subsidies support legitimate domestic or social policies like job creation, unfair foreign subsidies can distort the SACU market, create unfair competition, and damage local industry competitiveness.

SACU Countervailing Cases

SACU manufacturers can apply for countervailing duties to counteract foreign subsidies, provided the subsidy is specific to a particular firm, industry, or group in the exporting country.

For a successful investigation, the application must be properly documented with evidence proving the following key aspects:

That the local industry, as a whole or the major proportion of it, has been materially injured or is threatened to be injured by imports originating from the country providing the subsidies.
The imports of the subsidized product are increasing in the SACU market.
A causal link between the increase of subsidized imports and the material injury of the local industry or threat should exist.

Successfully imposed countervailing measures remain in place for 5 years. A review may be conducted near the end of this period to determine if the measures are still necessary—for instance, if the exporting country’s government demonstrates the subsidy no longer exists the duty maybe withdrawn.