{"id":95848,"date":"2026-02-13T16:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry"},"modified":"2026-02-13T17:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:28:18","slug":"cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry","title":{"rendered":"COSATU Warns China Trade Deal Could Harm SA Car Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has warned that South Africa\u2019s new trade agreement with China could potentially \u201cdestroy\u201d the country\u2019s car manufacturing industry.<\/p>\n

The two countries recently signed the framework agreement on economic partnership for shared prosperity, which will see China provide duty free access for South African exports, while also increasing its investment in the country.<\/p>\n

The deal comes on the back of increased calls for higher import duties and excise taxes on imported vehicles from China.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the sidelines of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, COSATU\u2019s parliamentary co-ordinator, Matthew Parks, said government must prioritise local manufacturing automotive plants, which provide jobs to thousands of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cTariff free access of South African goods to China sounds great but an exchange, if we reciprocate for tariff free access of Chinese goods to South Africa, that would destroy our manufacturing industry because China is just so far down the road ahead of us in its manufacturing capacity, cost, et cetera.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Minister of Trade Parks Tau said the trade union federation\u2019s concerns are misplaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only have seven original equipment manufacturers in South Africa, so it\u2019s not like every product that\u2019s sold in South Africa is produced in South Africa. So, we need to be realistic about what constitutes the automotive sector in SA.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we working with existing industry to help it survive, grow and transition? We certainly are. The president [Cyril Ramaphosa] just announced an incentive for New Energy Vehicles and industry has been part of that, so we shouldn\u2019t be in a situation where we say we have current investors, let\u2019s not allow new investors.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has warned that South Africa\u2019s new trade agreement with China could potentially \u201cdestroy\u201d the country\u2019s car manufacturing industry. The two countries recently signed the framework agreement on economic partnership for shared prosperity, which will see China provide duty free access for South African exports, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-95848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nCOSATU Warns China Trade Deal Could Harm SA Car Industry - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has warned that South Africa\u2019s new trade agreement with China could ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COSATU Warns China Trade Deal Could Harm SA Car Industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has warned that South Africa\u2019s new trade agreement with China could ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T16:39:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T17:28:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770990968.843592.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"COSATU Warns China Trade Deal Could Harm SA Car Industry\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T16:39:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T17:28:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry\"},\"wordCount\":305,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770990968.843592.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/cosatu-warns-china-trade-deal-could-harm-sa-car-industry\",\"name\":\"COSATU Warns China Trade Deal Could Harm SA Car Industry - 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