JOHANNESBURG—South Africa has introduced a 45 percent tax on all clothing imports, with the measure aimed specifically at “exploitative” online marketplaces based in China. Labor unions say the tariff will protect the local clothing manufacturing industry and save thousands of jobs. But many South Africans are unhappy with the measure, which has kicked in just before Christmas.
Siphithi Sibeko, spokesperson for the South African Revenue Service, told The Epoch Times the hefty surcharge is a “targeted response” to two Chinese “fast fashion” online marketplaces that have been described as China’s answers to Amazon. Shein and Temu, which launched in South Africa in 2020 and 2024 respectively, export products from China directly to consumers around the world, using loopholes to escape tariffs. Their clothes have been extremely popular worldwide, including in South Africa, because they’re much cheaper than locally-produced apparel.
“I bought jeans on Temu for 325 rands ($18). In the shops here in Johannesburg those jeans will sell for almost one-thousand rands ($55),” said Mavis Nxumalo, waiting in line for a taxi in the city center. “I am one of many people who cannot afford the clothing made here in South Africa,” she told The Epoch Times.
“It’s easy for the government to say, ‘Buy local,’ like you see them saying on TV. They are rich; we are not. That’s why I am against this tax that now makes Temu goods just as expensive as the local goods.
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