South Africa's National Treasury has published two tariff amendments in Government Gazette No. 55269 of 28 August 2026 — raising the customs duty on sugar imports and imposing provisional anti-dumping duties of up to 28.11 % on coated flat-rolled steel products from China.
South Africa has amended its customs tariff regime through two separate notices issued under the Customs and Excise Act, 1964, and published in Government Gazette No. 55269 on 28 August 2026.
In the first notice, R.7864, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana amended Part 1 of Schedule No. 1 to the Act under section 48, raising the customs duty on sugar imports to 697.92 cents per kilogram, up from 483.72 cents per kilogram. The new rate applies uniformly across tariff subheadings 1701.12 (beet sugar), 1701.13 (cane sugar specified in Subheading Note 2 to Chapter 17), 1701.14 (other cane sugar), 1701.91 (sugar containing added flavouring or colouring matter) and 1701.99 (other sugar), and applies equally under the General, EU/UK, EFTA, SADC, MERCOSUR and AfCFTA trade regimes, with no preferential exemption granted under any of South Africa’s trade agreements. The increase follows a rise in the Dollar Based Reference Price, the international benchmark used to calculate the variable sugar tariff, from USD680 per ton to USD785 per ton, pursuant to International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) Report 781.
In the second notice, R.7865, Franz Tomasek, Head: Legislative Policy, Tax, Customs and Excise, imposed a provisional payment in relation to anti-dumping duty under section 57A of the Act, targeting flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 millimetres or more, painted, varnished or coated with plastics, classifiable under tariff subheadings 7210.70.20, 7210.70.30, 7210.70.40 and 7210.70.90. Following ITAC Report 788, the measure applies to goods originating in or imported from China and will remain in force up to and including 27 February 2027.
The provisional duties are levied at varying rates depending on the producer or exporter. Zhejiang Huapu Eco-Friendly Materials Co. Ltd faces the lowest individual rate of 8.79%, while Hefei HBIS New Material Technology Co. Ltd, including related party Hefei Suzhou, is subject to a rate of 18.83%. A group comprising Shandong Yehui Coated Steel Co. Ltd, Shandong Shinmade Material Technology Co. Ltd, Linqing Hengtai Metal Materials Co. Ltd and Shandong Boxing Huaye Industry and Trade Co. Ltd will pay 13.81%. All other Chinese producers and exporters not named individually, including Yie Phui (China) Techno Material Co. Ltd and Tianjin Xinyu Color Plate Co. Ltd and its associated exporters, face the residual “all other” rate of 28.11%.
Both notices took effect from their date of publication and form part of South Africa’s ongoing use of tariff and trade-remedy mechanisms to manage import pricing pressures across agricultural and industrial sectors.
