In the media
How trade restrictions affect consumers: the case of frozen chicken
Lawrence Edwards, Matthew Stern
How agro-processing can boost regional integration – and development
Anthony Black, Lawrence Edwards, Ruth Gorven, Willard Mapulanga
African manufacturing firms and their participation in global trade
Lawrence Edwards, Industrial Analytics Platform, UNIDO
Global value chains and South Africa
Lawrence Edwards, VOX video, 2017
Zimbabwe trade imbalance could be understated
Tawanda Musarurwa, Bulawayo24 News, 10 March 2014
Zimbabwe's trade deficit could be significantly understated in view of indications by a World Bank study that partner countries have reported much lower import figures from the country.Read more...
AGOA Rules: The intended and unintended consequences of special fabric provisions
Lawrence Edwards and Robert Z Lawrence, VoxEU.org, 20 November 2013
Preferential import policies that allow developing markets to export to advanced economies are intended to dynamically promote development rather than just provide basic gains from trade. This column argues that the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act achieves the latter but not the former, distorting incentives along the value-added chain. While beneficial, preferential trade deals are not a panacea and are certainly not a replacement for pro-development policies.Read more...
Lawrence Edwards, Financial Mail, 1 July 2013
Frozen chicken will become one of the most protected products in the SA economy if poultry producers manage to persuade SA's trade authorities that high tariffs on frozen poultry imports are warranted. Read more...
Competition from China ‘cut $900m off SA trade’
Mariam Isa, BDLive, 31 August 2013
China flagCompetition from Chinese products has led to the loss of thousands of jobs in South Africa’s factories and deprived the country of about $900m in trade with the rest of Africa, according to new research from a collaboration between Lawrence Edwards from the University of Cape Town and Rhys Jenkins from the University of East Anglia. It indicates that Chinese competition may be one of the reasons South Africa’s manufacturing sector has shrunk so sharply since China became a member of the World Trade Organisation in 2001. Read more...
Tariff reforms should be extended to products produced in SA
Lawrence Edwards, Business Day Live, 6 August 2012
The customs duty reductions on machinery and capital equipment recommended by the International Trade Administration Commission of SA are to be welcomed. Tariffs on products not produced in SA, or on products with no potential for production in the country, do not warrant protection, unless the object is revenue generation. But, I would like to see them go further. Read more...
On my mind - Against the grain
Lawrence Edwards and David Kaplan, Financial Mail, 2 April 2012
In appealing against the competition tribunal's decision to allow the Walmart/Massmart merger, government is seeking additional conditions commensurate with the supposed harm resulting from the deal. The options are the imposition of a domestic content requirement on Walmart's sales and/or an increase in the R100m Walmart offered to boost local supply networks. Read more...
Lawrence Edwards and Robert Z Lawrence, Mail & Guardian, 16 May 2008
South Africans are too pessimistic about South Africa's ability to compete. In the apartheid period trade protection seriously impeded both exports and imports and the economy depended on favourable global commodity price trends to avoid running into an external constraint. Read more...
A piecemeal approach will not do the tariff trick for SA
Lawrence Edwards and Robert Z Lawrence, Business Day, 28 Nov 2007
The recent call by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in his medium-term budget policy statement, to foster competitiveness and export growth through tariff simplification and reform, has initiated an important debate on the future direction of trade policy in SA. Read more...
Faltering mechanism of SA trade needs bolder repairs
Lawrence Edwards, Frank Flatters and Matthew Stern, 5 Sept 2007
Trade policy is back on the agenda. But the trade and industry department's National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF), as well as most responses to it, reveal confusion over the role and economic effects of trade and tariffs. The NIPF begins well. It recognises, correctly, the contribution of trade liberalisation to growth, efficiency, competition, specialisation and productivity. SA began a programme of tariff and trade policy reforms in the early 1990s. Read more...
Why quotas won’t mend job woes
Lawrence Edwards and Mike Morris, Business Report, 26 October 2006
A compelling reason for imposing quotas on Chinese clothing and fabric imports has been local employment decimation. The department of trade and industry and the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) claim that, using Statistics SA data, 67 000 workers have lost their jobs since 2002/03. They also argue that quotas will reverse this decline and create 50 000 new jobs. A compelling reason for imposing quotas on Chinese clothing and fabric imports has been local employment decimation. The department of trade and industry and the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) claim that, using Statistics SA data, 67 000 workers have lost their jobs since 2002/03. They also argue that quotas will reverse this decline and create 50 000 new jobs. Read more...