From TimesLive. Story by Reuters.

South Africa’s government will conditionally introduce a 10-percent import tariff on steel imports to protect the struggling industry with the possibility of more hikes soon, an industry body said on Monday.

Cheap imports from China are hurting South Africa’s steel makers with ArcelorMittal South Africa warning it could close a plant that employs 1,200 people while smaller rival Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium have been placed in the hands of administrators to rescue the business.

The World Trade Organisation allows countries to raise tariffs up to 10 percent to protect local industries.

“The first application for tariffs at 10 percent of the WTO-bound rate will be signed off next week with conditions which are not yet finalized,” the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa said in a statement, referring to one of several requests for measures to protect the sector.

One of the conditions for the tariffs to be increased was that the steel industry could not raise the price of steel to “unaffordable levels,” the industry group said.

Read more at TimesLive.